Temperatures Rising is an American televisionsitcom that aired on the ABC network from September 12, 1972 to August 29, 1974. During its 46-episode run, it was presented in three different formats and cast line-ups. The series was developed for the network by William Asherand Harry Ackerman for Ashmont Productionsand Screen Gems. Set in a fictional Washington, D.C., hospital, the series featured James Whitmore as the no-nonsense chief-of-staff who is forced to deal with the outlandish antics of a young intern played by Cleavon Little, and three nurses (Joan Van Ark, Reva Rose, and Nancy Fox). For the first season, 26 episodes were produced and broadcast.
For the second season, Whitmore was replaced in the lead role by comedian Paul Lynde and Asher was replaced as producer by Duke Vincent and Bruce Johnson. The series was re-titled The New Temperatures Rising Show, and featured a new supporting cast consisting of: Sudie Bond, Barbara Cason, Jennifer Darling, Jeff Morrow, and John Dehner. Cleavon Little was the only returning member of the original cast. In this season, Lynde was presented as the penny-pinching chief-of-staff, with Bond as his nagging mother and owner of the hospital.
The New Temperatures Rising Show ran for 13 episodes before being placed on hiatus in January 1974 due to poor ratings. It returned in July in yet another incarnation. Asher returned as producer and restored the series to its original format—albeit with Paul Lynde continuing in the lead. Reverting to the original title of Temperatures Rising, Little remained in the show's cast and a new line-up of supporting players consisting of Alice Ghostley, Barbara Rucker and, returning from the first season's cast, Nancy Fox. Offered as a summer replacement on Thursday nights, the third version of the sitcom ran for seven episodes after which it was cancelled permanently.
Revised cast
For this new season, Johnson and Vincent dropped Joan Van Ark, Reva Rose, and Nancy Fox from the series, leaving Cleavon Little as the only returning cast member. His character, Dr. Jerry Noland, was now being presented as the hospital's only sane figure.[49] Paul Lynde played Dr. Paul Mercy, the sneering, unscrupulous, hospital administrator[50] while Sudie Bond was cast as Martha Mercy, his obnoxious, overbearing mother and the owner, and permanent resident, of the hospital. She constantly calls him with her pager to complain about everything.[49][51] Also in the new cast were Barbara Cason as Miss Tillis, the head of administrative and accounting: "... who would let you bleed to death filling out forms",[50] Jennifer Darling as the romantically inclined nurse "Windy" Winchester, Jeff Morrow as Dr. Lloyd Axton, a fraudulent surgeon who has published two books, Profit in Healing and Malpractice and Its Defense, and John Dehner as "society" Dr. Charles Claver.[
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