Hong Kong is an adventure/drama television series which aired on ABC during the 1960âÂÂ1961 season. It starred Australian actor Rod Taylor, and co-starred Canadian actors Lloyd Bochner and Jack Kruschen. Hong Kong was created by Robert Buckner and sold to Peter Levathes at 20th Century Fox Television, who convinced Henry J. Kaiser to sponsor it. The series was filmed mainly at 20th Century's Hollywood studios, with four weeks of location shooting in Hong Kong. The show was known for its high budget and per episode costs, with Taylor rumored to be the highest-paid actor on television that season. Jack Kruschen quit midway through the filming season, and the ratings never could overtake NBC's Wagon Train. Henry J. Kaiser announced in April 1961 that he was dropping Hong Kong in favor of Follow the Sun, another new series from 20th Century Fox Television. Hong Kong was released for syndication in late September 1961.
Hong Kong was set in the then British Crown Colony of Hong Kong. Taylor portrayed Glenn Evans, an American journalist who worked in the Far Eastern city for an American-based publication. His search for stories led him into encounters with smugglers, drug peddlers, and agents of foreign powers, especially Mainland China. Taylor's costars were Lloyd Bochner, who portrayed Chief Inspector Neil W. Campbell, and Jack Kruschen as Tully Walsh, a former US Navy boatswain's mate who owned Tully's Bar.
In the television series, Evans' residential address is often given as the fictitious 24 Peak Road. As shown in various episodes, the interior of Evans' bachelor apartment (actually a Hollywood set constructed on a sound stage at 20th Century Fox Studios) includes a large, sliding-glass door which opens to a small patio with a sweeping vista that overlooks the harbor and distant peaks. Evans' regular drive was a white Series 1 Sunbeam Alpine.
The Los Angeles Evening Citizen News reported in February 1960 that 20th Century Fox Television would be making a series called Hong Kong to star Rod Taylor. Robert Buckner was credited with creating the series. Buckner sold the show idea to Peter Levathes at 20th Century. To demonstrate the series concept for potential sponsors, a thirty-minute pilot episode, costing $40,000, was made on the 20th Century Fox studio lot, with Alex Davion as the Hong Kong police inspector. A photograph from this pilot episode later appeared in newspapers, showing Rod Taylor with Alex Davion and guest star Joanna Moore.
Levathes persuaded Henry J. Kaiser to have his Kaiser Industries conglomerate sponsor Hong Kong. Kaiser Industries was already sponsoring the Warner Brothers television show Maverick on ABC. Kaiser had also cooperated with Warner Brothers on Hawaiian Eye for ABC in 1959, to promote his Hawaiian Village Hotel, but did not sponsor that program. The relevant parties met in Honolulu for final negotiations: Edgar F. Kaiser for Kaiser Industries; Oliver Treyz, president of ABC; Peter Levathes for 20th Century Fox Television; and Mort Werner for advertising agency Young & Rubicam.
On March 23, 1960, Henry J. Kaiser announced he would sponsor Hong Kong for Wednesday evenings on ABC in direct competition with Wagon Train on NBC. The show would star Rod Taylor, be one-hour in length, written by Robert Buckner for 20th Century Fox Television.
Herbert Hirschman was signed to produce Hong Kong in early June 1960, with William Self as executive producer. Though Alex Davion was still mentioned in connection with Hong Kong during May 1960, the executives were already negotiating with Lloyd Bochner to take on the police inspector role. Bochner signed for the part on June 10, 1960, and within a week flew to Hong Kong with Rod Taylor and the production crew for location shooting.
Rod Taylor, Lloyd Bochner, and director Christian Nyby spent several weeks in Hong Kong, shooting 55,000 feet of film. Rod Taylor wore the same set of clothes throughout to match with future studio work. Upon their return in late July the series would go into full production at 20th Century.
The series was largely filmed on the 20th Century studio lot. According to columnist Dwight Newton, Henry J. Kaiser committed $12,000,000 for Hong Kong, with a weekly budget of $130,000. Episodes usually took six or seven days to film, but Budd Boetticher spent nine days on the one he directed. Tully's Bar was on the studio's Midwestern Street, the Hong Kong slum areas were on Algeria Street, while Glenn Evans' apartment was a set on Stage 7. Technical advisor Dan Yee was responsible for ensuring these sets had authentic Hong Kong lettering and decorations.
By November 1960, the show's producer Herbert Hirschman was swamped, so Fletcher Markle was brought on as second producer. Later, Jack Kruschen gave notice, disappointed with the lack of development for his character Tully. His last appearance was in the twelfth episode, "The Dragon Cup". Kruschen's name was removed from the opening credits, and a new title card inserted announcing Roy Huggins, as overall producer for the series. To replace the set for Tully's Bar, the Golden Dragon Supper Club was substituted, with San Francisco entertainment personality Mai Tai Sing cast as owner-performer Ching Mei.
The premiere episode for Hong Kong was subject to counterprogramming by NBC, which broadcast an hourlong Fred Astaire special opposite it, instead of the season opener for Wagon Train. Critical attention in newspaper reviews the next day was centered on the Astaire special, to the detriment of the new adventure series. The general consensus of critical opinion for Hong Kong was that the production values were excellent, the acting very good, and the stories no worse than could be expected from an adventure series. John P. Shanley in The New York Times said "...although at times it trifles with credibility, it looks like another audience winner", and that "it had the virtue of not taking itself too seriously". Dwight Newton, after reviewing the backgrounds for Rod Taylor, Lloyd Bochner, and Jack Kruschen, said "These men are not novices. They are skilled artisans who may make Hong Kong a popular series if (always the "if") they get scripts to match their talents".
The series premiered on Wednesday, September 28, 1960, at 7:30pm. It's competition in that time slot was Wagon Train on NBC, and a new underwater adventure series, The Aquanauts on CBS. Hong Kong was immediately followed on ABC by Ozzie and Harriet, a half-hour sitcom bridge to another hourlong ABC adventure series, Hawaiian Eye. Henry J. Kaiser reportedly had asked for the timeslot, wanting to pit his new show against the toughest competition, believing it could duplicate the success of Maverick. Nielsen ratings from November 1960 showed Wagon Train with a 26 score to Hong Kong with 18, but the Arbitron rating was much lower for the new series.
The third episode of Hong Kong, called "Pearl Flower" was repeated on December 28, 1960. On January 25, 1961, Hong Kong was broadcast twice: a new episode "Night Cry" in the regular time slot, and a repeat of episode 13 "When Strangers Meet" pre-empting The Naked City at 10pm. The reason reported was to see if Hong Kong could "capture a new audience" in the later time slot.
The last new episode for Hong Kong was broadcast on March 29, 1961; ABC would continue airing reruns until September 27, 1960. By April 24, 1960, Henry J. Kaiser had decided to drop Hong Kong, in favor of another 20th Century Television series, Follow the Sun, a show with Roy Huggins as executive producer.
Newspaper columnists reported the network cancellation provoked protest letters from fans. Hong Kong was released for syndication in September 1961, being picked up for later time slots by some ABC affiliates that had carried the network broadcast. By December 1961 the syndicated Hong Kong was outperforming Follow the Sun, to Henry J. Kaiser's chagrin. It was the third most popular drama series on TV in Australia during 1961.
For the episodes below, the main and recurring cast listed above have been omitted for brevity.