Mr. Merlin

Mr. Merlin
Mr. Merlin Title Card
Genre	Situation comedy, Fantasy
Created by	Larry Rosen Larry Tucker
Written by	Larry Rosen (5 episodes) Larry Tucker (5 episodes) Tom Chehak (4 episodes)
Directed by	Bill Bixby (6 episodes) Harry Winer (4 episodes) James Frawley (2 episodes)
Starring	Barnard Hughes Clark Brandon Elaine Joyce Jonathan Prince Phil Morris
Composer(s)	Ken Harrison
Country of origin	United States
Language(s)	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	22
Production
Executive producer(s)	Larry Rosen Larry Tucker
Editor(s)	Robert F. Shugrue John Farrell Kenneth R. Koch
Cinematography	Chuck Arnold Ronald W. Browne
Running time	30 minutes
Production company(s)	Larry Larry Productions
Distributor	Columbia Pictures Television
Broadcast
Original channel	CBS
Picture format	Film
Audio format	Monaural
Original run	October 7, 1981 – March 22, 1982

Mr. Merlin, a Larry Larry Company Production in association with Columbia Pictures Television, was a 1981–82 sitcom starring Barnard Hughes as Merlin the wizard, disguised as Max Merlin, a mechanic in modern-day San Francisco.

Plot

Merlin hires Zachary Rogers, played by Clark Brandon, to work in his garage, and when Zac pulls a crowbar out of a bucket of cement, the crowbar is revealed to be Arthur's sword Excalibur and Merlin must reveal himself to Zac and make him an apprentice. Leo Samuels (Jonathan Prince) is Zac's best friend, who naturally has no idea his best buddy is a "wizard in training". Elaine Joyce is Alexandra {"Alex"}, Max's equally magical liaison with an unseen "council" (who insisted Merlin take on an apprentice or lose both his powers and immortality).

Cast

• Barnard Hughes as Max Merlin, Merlin the Magician who now works as a mechanic in San Francisco.
• Clark Brandon as Zachary Rogers, Merlin's apprentice.
• Jonathan Prince as Leo Samuels, Zac's best friend
• Elaine Joyce as Alexandra, Merlin's fellow magician
• Phil Morris as the Kid.

Guest cast

• Richard Basehart in "A Moment in Camelot" (Episode 7)
• Stacy Keach, Sr. in "Take My Tonsils... Please!" (Episode 9)
• Scott McGinnis in "Not So Sweet Sixteen" (Episode 11)
• Mel Stewart in "Alex Goes Popless" (Episode 14)
• Catherine Mary Stewart and Rita Wilson in "Everything's Coming Up Daisies " (Episode 15)
• Eugene Roche in "Change of Venue: Part 1" (Episode 18)
• Holly Gagnier in "I Was a Teenage Loser" (Episode 22)

Episodes

№	Title	Director	Writer	Original airdate
1	"Pilot"	John Astin	Larry Tucker, Larry Rosen	October 7, 1981
2	"The Cloning of the Green"	Bill Bixby	Larry Tucker, Larry Rosen	October 14, 1981
3	"Starsand"	Herbert Kenwith	Larry Tucker, Larry Rosen	October 21, 1981
4	"The Music's in Me"	Harry Winer	Tom Chehak	October 28, 1981
5	"All About Sheila"	Harry Winer	Larry Tucker, Larry Rosen	November 4, 1981
6	"The Two Faces of Zac"	Bill Bixby	Tim Maschler	November 11, 1981
7	"A Moment in Camelot"	Harry Winer	William J. Keenan	November 18, 1981
8	"A Message from Wallshime"	Alan Myerson	Jeffrey Scott	December 2, 1981
9	"Take My Tonsils... Please!"	Bill Bixby	Parke Perine	December 9, 1981
10	"The Ache"	Larry Elikann	Stephanie Garman, Hollace White	December 23, 1981
11	"Not So Sweet Sixteen"	Alan Myerson	Tom Chehak	December 30, 1981
12	"Romeo and Dreidelwood"	James Frawley	Larry Tucker, Larry Rosen	January 6, 1982
13	"Getting to Know You"	Leo Penn	Ann Woodall, Paula Lintz	January 18, 1982
14	"Alex Goes Popless"	James Frawley	Tom Chehak	January 25, 1982
15	"Everything's Coming Up Daisies"	Jeffrey Hayden	Don Tait	February 1, 1982
16	"The Egg and Us"	Howard Storm	George Geiger	February 8, 1982
17	"How to Help a Gymnast in a Foreign Country"	Leo Penn	Martin Donovan	February 15, 1982
18	"Change of Venue (Part 1)"	Bill Bixby	Tim Maschler	February 22, 1982 *
19	"Change of Venue (Part 2)"	Bill Bixby	Tim Maschler	February 22, 1982 *
20	"An Absence of Amulets"	Harry Winer	Paul Haggis, Michael Mauer	March 1, 1982
21	"Arrivederci, Dink"	Alan Myerson	Julie Kirgo, Dinah Kirgo	March 15, 1982
22	"I Was a Teenage Loser"	Bill Bixby	Tom Chehak	March 22, 1982

* Originally presented as an hour-long episode.

Note: a Mr. Merlin strip ran briefly in the British TV Comic.

External links

• Mr. Merlin at the Internet Movie Database
• Mr. Merlin at TV.com