CTVA
The Classic TV Archive - US Comedy Series
On The Rocks (1975-76)
Episode Guide compiled by The Classic TV Archive
with contributions by:
Rina Fox, Charnetha Kimbrough
references:
TV Guide / Library of Congress (telnet://locis.loc.gov)
Internet Movie Database (https://us.imdb.com)
UCLA Film and Television Archive / Writers Guild of America (wga)
-------------
ON THE ROCKS
-------------
A John Rich Production
for
ABC (Thursdays 8:30 PM ET)(Sep75-Jan76)
ABC (Mondays) (Jan76-May76)
Created by Dick Clement & Ian La Frenais

US Comedy series 1975-76   23 episodes x 30 min Color

cast:
Jose Perez as Hector Fuentes
Hal Williams  as Lester DeMott
Rick Hurst as Cleaver
Bobby Sandler as Nicky Palik
*
Mel Stewart ...... Gibson
Tom Poston ....... Sullivan
Pat Cranshaw ..... Gabby (recurring)
Jack Grimes ...... Baxter (recurring)
Logan Ramsey ..... Warden Wilbur Poindexter

Music by Jerry Fielding

Premise:
Comedy about the inmates of Alamesa Minimum Security Prison.

*Based on the classic British show, "Porridge" (BBC)(1973-77) starring Ronnie Barker

############### On The Rocks ################
############## season 1975-76 ###############
##############################################
ABC Thursdays 8:30 PM Eastern

 1.1 On the Rocks: Pilot (wga)
11-Sep-1975 ABC Thurs (repeated 15Mar76)
Produced & Directed by John Rich
Written by Dick Clements, Ian La Frenais
Guest cast:
Sorrell Booke .......... Judge
Richard Stahl .......... Doctor
Synopsis:
Streetwise and wisecracking, Hector Fuentes returns just a little less
than triumphant to his minimum-security prison. He begins his latest
term by showing the ropes to naive first-time inmates. [RF]

1.2 On the Rocks: TO CATCH A THIEF (wga)
18Sep75 ABC Thur (rerun 03May76)
Synopsis:
Fuentes confronts the prisoners with a dramatic announcement: there is
a thief among them. Someone has stolen his six-pound can of chunky pineapples. [RF]

1.3 On the Rocks: WAGERS OF SIN (wga)
25Sep75 ABC Thur (repeated 19Apr76)

1.4 On the Rocks: ANATOMY OF A PRISON BREAK (NOT-wga)
02Oct75 ABC Thur (repeated 25Dec75)

1.5 On the Rocks: MR. LONELYHEARTS (wga)
09-Oct-1975 ABC Thurs (repeated 10May76)
Guest cast:
Geno Silva ............. Joey
Joseph Stern ........... Bernard
Dee Timberlake ......... Angie
Wayne Dvorak ........... Chuck
Janie Brandon .......... Marion
Ann Noland ............. Belinda
Sharon Ullrick ......... Rose
Synopsis:
The men are worried that their mates might be cheating on them, so
Fuentes writes a threatening form letter for everyone to send to their loved ones. [RF]

1.6 On the Rocks: HECTOR CONVINCES NICKY TO LOSE A FIGHT (NOT-wga)
possible aka CHAMPION (wga)
16-Oct-1975 ABC Thurs
Guest cast:
Vic Tayback ............ Big Max
Ray Sharkey ............ Opie
Buddy Arett ............ Inmate
Synopsis:
A thug gives novice boxer Palik his first lesson in behind-bars bouts:
he must pull his punches and lose whenever he is told to do so. [RF]

1.7 On the Rocks: PEACE AND QUIET (wga)
23Oct75 ABC Thur

1.8 On the Rocks: DEAR JOHN (wga)
30-Oct-75 ABC Thur (rerun 01Jan76)
Guest cast:
Anne Morgan Guilbert ... Mrs. Palik
Maria Grimm ............ Maria
Dee Timberlake ......... Angie
Pat Cranshaw ........... Gabby (recurring)
Synopsis:
When Palik's girlfriend breaks off their engagement his ego takes a
battering - and so does the prison cook who unwisely cracks a joke about the breakup. [RF]

1.9 On the Rocks: SULLIVAN'S FINEST HOUR (NOT- wga)
13-Nov-1975 ABC Thurs
Guest cast:
Ron Feinberg ........... Moose
James Gleason .......... Skinner
Synopsis:
Sullivan's carelessness gets him a reprimand after a con steals his
bike and peddles off to Jamaica. [RF]

1.10 On the Rocks: HOMESICK BLUES (NOT - wga)
20Nov75 ABC Thurs (repeated 8Mar76)

1.11 On the Rocks: THE GREAT ESCAPE (wga)
27Nov75 ABC Thurs (repeated 22Mar76)

1.12 On the Rocks: THE HIGH AND THE MIGHTY: Part 1 (wga)
04Dec75 ABC Thurs

1.13 On the Rocks: THE HIGH AND THE MIGHTY: Part 2 (wga)
11Dec75 ABC Thurs

[--] 18Dec75 - no details
[--] 25Dec75 - rerun of #1.4 "Anatomy of a Prison Break"
[--] 01Jan76 ABC Thurs - rerun of #1.8 "Dear John"

1.14 On the Rocks: THE UNDERGROUND MOVEMENT: Part 1 (wga)
08Jan76 ABC Thur

-------------------------------
Moves from Thursdays to Mondays
-------------------------------

1.15 On the Rocks: THE UNDERGROUND MOVEMENT: Part 2 (wga)
12Jan76 ABC Mon

1.16 On the Rocks: FRIENDLY PERSUASION (wga)
19Jan76 ABC Mon (possibly postponed from 12/18/75)

1.17 On the Rocks: A TEST OF CHARACTER (wga)
26Jan76 ABC Mon

1.18 On the Rocks: FREE AND CLEAR (wga)
09Feb76 ABC Mon

1.19 On the Rocks: HIGH NOON (wga)
16Feb76 ABC Mon

1.20 On the Rocks: THE DESPERATE HOURS (wga)
23Feb76 ABC Mon

[--] 01Mar76 ABC Mon - no details
[--] 08Mar76 ABC Mon - rerun of #1.10 "Homesick Blues"
[--] 15Mar76 ABC Mon - rerun of #1.1 "Pilot"
[--] 22Mar76 ABC Mon - rerun of #1.11 "The Great Escape"

[--] On the Rocks: Unknown title
(rerun 28Mar76 ABC Sun ?)
Guest cast:
Karen Ciral ...... Nurse
Richard Stahl .... Doctor
Synopsis:
Fuentes takes excruciating pain in his bad knee to win a breather in
the prison infirmary, but winds up in a civilian hospital with watchdogs
Sullivan and Gibson. [RF]

1.21 On the Rocks: I'LL NEVER FORGET WHAT'S HER NAME (wga)
29-Mar-1976 ABC Mon
Produced & Directed by John Rich
Written by Dick Clements, Ian La Frenais.
Guest cast:
Rita Moreno
Yvonne Wilder
Hamilton Camp
Jane Dulo
Britt Leach
Roy Stuart
Paul Smith
Louis Quinn
Joe Medalis
Synopsis:
When a brash acquaintance of Fuentes’, an improverished ex-chorine who
is bent on stardom, shows up at prison the men go crazy. [RF]
*Note: This was a possible spinoff series for Rita Moreno.

[--] 05Apr76 ABC Mon - no details

1.22 On the Rocks: TESTING, TESTING, TESTING (wga)
12Apr76 ABC

[--] 19Apr76 ABC Mon - rerun of #1.3 "Wagers of Sin"
[--] 26Apr76 ABC Mon - no details
[--] 03May76 ABC Mon - rerun of #1.2 "To Catch a Thief"
[--] 10May76 ABC Mon - no details

1.23 On the Rocks: RESTROSPECTIVE (wga)(one-hour episode; last show of the series)
17May76 ABC Mon

=================
A Family Affair (wga)
Affairs of the Heart (wga)
The Legacy (wga)
Whatever Gets you through the Night (wga)

############### On The Rocks ################
################## the end #################
##############################################

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