One season wonder Lucas Tanner celebrates its 50th anniversary today. The NBC drama series starring David Hartman as a high school teacher debuted Wednesday, September 11th, 1974 at 9PM ET. It was one of nine new shows NBC introduced at the start of the 1974-1975 season. The network was happy enough with the show’s performance to pick it up for the entire season but not happy enough to renew it for the 1975-1976 season.
I reviewed the May 1974 pilot telefilm for the show back in November 2019. In May 2021, I published an in-depth article about the show. I’ve only watched the pilot telefilm and two episodes from the weekly series but I hope to have the opportunity to watch more episodes in the future.
Later today, in celebration of the show’s 50th anniversary, I’ll share a promotional spot for Lucas Tanner. Be sure to check back and if you watched Lucas Tanner during the 1974-1975 season, please share your memories and recollections in the comments.
Funny enough ABC ran a show about a teacher the following year, Welcome back Kotter.