Mr. Smith (TV series)

Mr. Smith is an American sitcom that aired on Fridays at 8:00 pm ET on NBC from September 23 through December 16, 1983. The title character was a talking orangutan.^[1] Mr. Smith was canceled after thirteen episodes had been aired.

Mr. Smith
Promotional photo for Mr. Smith
Genre	Sitcom
Created by	Stan Daniels Ed. Weinberger
Written by	Dari Daniels George Kirgo David Lloyd Douglas Wyman
Directed by	Stan Daniels Ralph Helfer Gerald Hirschfeld Ed. Weinberger
Starring	Leonard Frey Tim Dunigan Terri Garber Laura Jacoby Stuart Margolin
Voices of	Ed. Weinberger
Composer	Patrick Williams
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	13
Production
Executive producers	Stan Daniels Ed. Weinberger
Producer	Ralph Helfer
Running time	30 minutes
Production companies	Weinberger/Daniels Productions Paramount Television
Original release
Network	NBC
Release	September 23 (1983-09-23) – December 16, 1983 (1983-12-16)

The orangutan who played Mr. Smith had previously been featured in the 1978 film Every Which Way But Loose and its 1980 sequel Any Which Way You Can.^[2]

Synopsis

Originally a part of a traveling act called the Atwood Orangutans, Cha Cha and Bobo are separated from their trainer Tommy Atwood (Tim Dunigan) after he is knocked unconscious in a car accident while the act is traveling from Arizona to California. Frightened by the commotion caused by the accident, Cha Cha and Bobo both run away. Cha Cha is eventually found and sent to a government research center in Washington, D.C.. Weeks later, Cha Cha escapes from the center and ends up in a research lab where he finds an experimental mixture to increase human intelligence being developed. After drinking the mixture, Cha Cha is able to talk (his voice was provided by series executive producer Ed. Weinberger)^[3] and is later determined to have an I.Q of 256. He is then renamed Mr. Smith and, due to his high intelligence, becomes a political adviser. Mr. Smith's old trainer Tommy later becomes his assistant while Mr. Smith attempts to solve various political problems and his surrounding staff, which includes his secretary Raymond Holyoke (Leonard Frey), attempt to keep his identity hidden from the general public.

Mr. Smith's premiere episode brought in a weak 12.1/22 rating/share and ranked 47th out of 57 shows that week ^[4] and was panned by critics. Viewership decreased as the season progressed and the series was canceled (along with seven other NBC series) on December 14, 1983.^[5][6][7]

Cast

• Leonard Frey as Raymond Holyoke
• Tim Dunigan as Tommy Atwood
• Terri Garber as Dr. July Tyson
• Laura Jacoby as Ellie Atwood
• Stuart Margolin as Dr. Klein

US television ratings

Viewership and ratings per season of Show

Season	Episodes	First aired		Last aired		TV season	Viewership rank	Ref.
		Date	Viewers (millions)	Date	Viewers (millions)
1	13	September 23, 1983 (1983-09-23)	TBD	September 16, 2013 (2013-09-16)	TBD	1983-84	95	[8]

Episode list

No.	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original release date
1	"Welcome to Washington: Part 1"	Unknown	Unknown	September 23, 1983 (1983-09-23)
2	"Welcome to Washington: Part 2"
3	"Mr. Smith Finds His Brother"	Unknown	Unknown	September 30, 1983 (1983-09-30)
4	"Mr. Smith Operates"	Ed. Weinberger	David Lloyd	October 14, 1983 (1983-10-14)
5	"Mr. Smith Rescues Bobo"	Gerald Hirschfeld	Al Aidekman	October 21, 1983 (1983-10-21)
6	"Mr. Smith Falls in Love"	Gerald Hirschfeld	David Lloyd	October 28, 1983 (1983-10-28)
7	"Mr. Smith Gets Physical"	Unknown	Unknown	November 4, 1983 (1983-11-04)
8	"Goodbye, Mr. Smith"	Unknown	Unknown	November 11, 1983 (1983-11-11)
9	"Mr. Smith Loses a Friend"	Unknown	Unknown	November 18, 1983 (1983-11-18)
10	"Mr. Smith Plays Cyrano"	Unknown	Unknown	November 25, 1983 (1983-11-25)
11	"Mr. Smith Makes a Commercial"	Unknown	Unknown	December 2, 1983 (1983-12-02)
12	"Mr. Smith Goes Public"	Unknown	Unknown	December 16, 1983 (1983-12-16)
13	"Mr. Smith Goes to Court"	TBD	TBD	1983 (1983) or Unaired?

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Nominee(s)	Result	Ref.
1984	Emmy Award	Outstanding Achievement in Music Composition for a Series (Dramatic Underscore)	Patrick Williams (For episode "Mr. Smith Falls in Love")	Nominated
	Young Artist Awards	Best Young Actress in a New Television Series	Laura Jacoby	Nominated
		Best New Television Series	Mr. Smith	Nominated
1985		Best Young Actress in a New Television Series	Laura Jacoby	Nominated