McKeever and the Colonel

Family comedy series set against the antics of a young military school cadet and his fellow cadets, and the subsequent frustrations of the school's commandant. "McKeever and the Colonel," a half-hour filmed situation comedy series set in a military school, with Allyn Joslyn and Scott Lane starred in the key roles, premieres on NBC-TV Sunday, Sept. 23 (6:30-7 p.m.). Joslyn plays Colonel Harvey Blackwell, commanding officer of tradition-steeped Westfield Military Academy. Young Lane is seen as Cadet McKeever — first name Gary -- 12 years old and full of mischief. Co-stars are Jackie Coogan as Sgt. Barnes, Colonel Blackwell's aide, and Elisabeth Fraser as Miss Warner, the school dietician. In featured roles are Keith Taylor as Tubby and John Eimen as Monk, two of McKeever's fellow cadets. As Westfield's C. O., Colonel Blackwell finds that the daily tensions of being father, mother, counselor, sergeant-at-arms, nursemaid and molder-of-men to 212 boys, ages 10 to 17, produce nostalgic recollections of even his toughest experiences during 19 years of active Army duty. The attempts of McKeever and his fellow cadets to outmaneuver Colonel Blackwell constitute the weekly adventures in a series designed for family appeal.

"McKeever and the Colonel," created by Ray Allen Saffian and Harvey Bullock, is produced for NBC-TV by Four Star Television. Tom McKnight is the producer and Bill Harmon associate producer. Herschel Burke Gilbert is musical director of the series.