Ensign O'Toole

1962

Ensign O'Toole

7.2 | en | Comedy

Ensign O'Toole is a military comedy that aired on NBC from September 23, 1962, to May 5, 1963, with 31-year-old Dean Jones in the title role of a nonchalant United States Navy ensign during the early 1960s. Jones, born in 1931 in Alabama and a Navy veteran of the Korean War, played an officer aboard the fictional U.S. Navy destroyer USS Appleby, which roamed the Pacific Ocean.

WATCH FREEFOR 30 DAYS

All Prime Video
Cancel anytime

Watch Now

Seasons & Episodes

EP32 Operation: Geisha

May. 05,1963

We don't have an overview of this episode, please check back later.

EP31 Operation: Contest

Apr. 28,1963

The crew miss their liberty in Hollywood after being quarantined.

EP30 Operation: Sabotage

Apr. 21,1963

The crew must expose the man assigned as a saboteur during a training exercise.

EP29 Operation: Tubby

Apr. 14,1963

An overweight member of the crew is told to lose 30 pounds in 30 days or be discharged.

EP28 Operation: Physical

Apr. 07,1963

Stoner is concerned his age may affect his impending physical so the crew try to help.

EP27 Operation: Arctic

Mar. 31,1963

We don't have an overview of this episode, please check back later.

EP26 Operation: Stowaway

Mar. 24,1963

A defector boards the ship while anchored close to the iron curtain.

EP25 Operation: Boxer

Mar. 17,1963

We don't have an overview of this episode, please check back later.

EP24 Operation: Re-enlist

Mar. 10,1963

The Admiral orders Stoner to encourage the crew nearing the end of their tour's to re=enlist.

EP23 Operation: Arrivederci

Mar. 05,1963

O'Toole schemes to host an art exhibition on board for an artist that catches his eye in Rome.

EP22 Operation: Souvenir

Feb. 17,1963

A ban is placed on bringing souvenirs aboard so St. John has to hide a cannon he bought.

EP21 Operation: Casanova

Feb. 10,1963

We don't have an overview of this episode, please check back later.

EP20 Operation: Whodunit

Feb. 03,1963

We don't have an overview of this episode, please check back later.

EP19 Operation: Royalty

Jan. 27,1963

We don't have an overview of this episode, please check back later.

EP18 Operation: Psychology

Jan. 20,1963

Lieutenant Commander Stoners brother in law, a professor of psychology, visits the ship.

EP17 Operation: Intrigue

Jan. 13,1963

O' Toole has shore leave in Hong Kong.

EP16 Operation: Treasure

Jan. 06,1963

The crew find a message in a bottle which they believe to be a treasure map.

EP15 Operation: Swindle

Dec. 30,1962

Chef Nelson doesn't know that he is being conned by his wife to be.

EP14 Operation: Brooklyn

Dec. 23,1962

O'Toole must persuade a sailor to reenlist.

EP13 Operation: Gaslight

Dec. 16,1962

We don't have an overview of this episode, please check back later.

EP12 Operation: Potomac

Dec. 09,1962

We don't have an overview of this episode, please check back later.

EP11 Operation: Hypnosis

Dec. 02,1962

We don't have an overview of this episode, please check back later.

EP10 Operation: Impersonation

Nov. 25,1962

We don't have an overview of this episode, please check back later.

EP9 Operation: Mess

Nov. 18,1962

We don't have an overview of this episode, please check back later.

EP8 Operation: Dinner Party

Nov. 11,1962

We don't have an overview of this episode, please check back later.

EP7 Operation: Birthday

Nov. 11,1962

We don't have an overview of this episode, please check back later.

EP6 Operation: Holdout

Oct. 28,1962

We don't have an overview of this episode, please check back later.

EP5 Operation: Jinx

Oct. 21,1962

We don't have an overview of this episode, please check back later.

EP4 Operation: Benefit

Oct. 14,1962

We don't have an overview of this episode, please check back later.

EP3 Operation: Daddy

Oct. 07,1962

We don't have an overview of this episode, please check back later.

EP2 Operation: Model 'T'

Sep. 30,1962

We don't have an overview of this episode, please check back later.

EP1 Operation: Kowana

Sep. 23,1962

We don't have an overview of this episode, please check back later.

7.2 | en | Comedy , War & Politics | More Info

Released: 1962-09-23 | Released Producted By: Four Stars Productions , Lederer Country: United States of America Budget: 0 Revenue: 0 Official Website:

Synopsis

Stream Online

The tv show is currently not available onine

Cast

Dean Jones , Jack Mullaney , Harvey Lembeck

Director

Producted By

Four Stars Productions , Lederer

Watch Free for 30 Days

All Prime Video Movies and TV Shows. Cancel anytime.

Watch Now

Cast

Dean Jones

as Ensign O'Toole

Six by Sondheim Mandie and the Secret Tunnel Batman & Mr. Freeze: SubZero The Love Bug That Darn Cat Beethoven The Visual Bible - Acts Saved by the Bell: Hawaiian Style Beethoven

Jack Mullaney

as Lieutenant Rex St. John

Spinout It's About Time Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine Tickle Me Ensign O'Toole The Absent-Minded Professor All the Fine Young Cannibals South Pacific Kiss Them for Me

Harvey Lembeck

as Seaman Gabby Di Julio

Lily: Sold Out The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini Beach Blanket Bingo How to Stuff a Wild Bikini Bikini Beach Pajama Party The Unsinkable Molly Brown Beach Party Love with the Proper Stranger

Reviews

pensman A true waste of a potential great cast. I have to blame the writers here. This sitcom seemed to have weekly shows minus its two chief attractions: Dean Jones and Jack Mullaney. There were several episodes that didn't even have the cast in them, just the guest star. One almost has the feeling that the cast were all waiting for their real shows to turn up. Maybe the writers sensed that and decided not to bother about scripts. Unfortunately, while most of the cast had careers, no one really made super star status. Dean Jones cranked out some Disney films but never had that one role. If anyone came close it was probably Beau Bridges. Among several service comedies, Ensign O'Toole found itself just another casualty. The show was in good company. Hennessey with Jackie Cooper, Abby Dalton, and Roscoe Karns was probably the success. Broadside with Kathleen Nolan, Mr. Roberts with Roger Smith, and Operation Petticoat with John Astin, Jamie Lee Curtis, and Jim Varney ( Hi there Vern)-just sank. A few out there might recall C.P.O. Sharkey with Mr. Warmth himself, Don Rickles only set sail for two seasons. Maybe Navy comedies aren't right or write for TV. You might catch Ensign O'Toole sailing the shores of MeTV or Cozi or Decades for a few episodes and be able to try and figure out what might have been.

jimbo97-1 The only episode I can remember involved a little runaway girl who stowed away on the ship. Dean Jones sang (not bad really!) "Thank Heaven For Little Girls" to her.Great supporting cast with Jack Albertson as the captain, Harvey Lembeck, Jay C. Flippen, and even Beau Bridges (I knew I'd seen him somewhere before). :-)

winplaceshow I do remember the Stubby Kaye episode, but I think my favorite was the "destroyer syndrome" story.IIRC, a martinet transferred in from a carrier and immediately started upsetting the natural order of the ship with his demands for excessive military order and discipline. The crew, even O'Toole, decided he had to go and they immediately started going to great lengths to convince him that spaces in a destroyer were actually much smaller than they really are, in the hope that he would request transfer back to carrier service. Of course it worked.

Ben Burgraff (cariart) Service comedies have always been a television staple, with "Sgt. Bilko" defining the genre in the 50s, and "M.A.S.H." adding tragedy to the formula in the 70s, but the true halcyon years for military humor were, undoubtedly, the 60s, a decade that produced "Gomer Pyle, USMC", "No Time for Sergeants", "McHale's Navy", "Broadside" (a women-in-uniform comedy whose title would have feminists reeling, today), "Mister Roberts", and this 1962 entry, "Ensign O'Toole", a light but very pleasant NBC comedy that ran a little over a season before being 'discharged'.Starring a young Dean Jones as O'Toole, before he replaced Fred MacMurray as Disney's favorite leading man, the shipboard adventures generally involved schemes, concocted by rich but befuddled Lt. Rex St. John (Jack Mullaney) or conniving but likable Seaman Gabby Di Julio (Harvey Lembeck), that would inevitably fall apart, and require O'Toole's quick thinking to prevent discovery and retribution by Lt. Cmdr. Virgil Stoner (Jack Albertson, long before "Chico and the Man"). While the basic formula was predictable, veteran producer Jack Sonntag was not unwilling to experiment, occasionally offering a musical-themed episode, or a storyline geared to a guest star.A favorite episode featured guest Stubby Kaye as an obese sailor facing discharge unless he shed his excess weight. Despite O'Toole's diet and exercise regimen, the sailor seemed to be gaining weight, not losing it (he had stashed goodies all over the ship). Finally, O'Toole, realizing he couldn't 'force' Kaye to lose weight, gave him an "It's up to you" speech, which hit home. Kaye started dieting and exercising in earnest, and passed his physical, then transferred to submarine service. "If I gain weight there," he quipped, "we'll submerge!"Lacking the "Country Boy vs. Tough D.I." comic opportunities of "Gomer Pyle", or the 'Bilko'-like shenanigans of "McHale's Navy", "Ensign O'Toole" was, perhaps, too sweet-natured to become a hit series, but it could bring a smile, and was as affable as it's good-natured star.