Camp Runamuck

The series related the wacky goings-on at the titular boys' summer camp, and at Camp Divine, its girls' counterpart across the lake. Runamuck was run by Commander Wivenhoe (Arch Johnson), a man who couldn't stand kids, and senior counselor Spiffy (David Ketchum), his assistant of sorts.

Helping them out were counselor Pruett (Dave Madden), Doc Joslyn, and camp cook Malden (Mike Wagner). Eulalia Divine (Hermione Baddeley) was the owner of the girls' camp, which was run by chief counselor Mahalia May Gruenecker (Alice Nunn). Nina Wayne (younger sister of Carol) played Camp Divine's curvaceous counsellor Caprice Yeudleman. The competitiveness between the two camps and the incidents and accidents that would normally occur at such summer camps - missing kids, people falling into the lake, food poisoning, and so on - formed the basis of most of the show's plots.

The series was scheduled opposite CBS's The Wild Wild West and ABC's The Flintstones and struggled in the ratings. The series was canceled after 26 episodes, with the last new episode airing on April 15, 1966. Reruns aired on NBC until September 2, 1966.[1]

Composer and bandleader Frank DeVol (who also wrote the series' theme song) played the part of Doc Joslyn in the pilot episode but illness forced him to quit the role, and he was replaced by Leonard Stone for the actual series.[2] DeVol's original theme song was performed by Bobby Darin. Hugo Montenegro provided a new theme song and score to the episodes.

In April 1966, Dell Comics issued a Camp Runamuck comic book.[3]

Some of the characters on that show were based on some of the names described in the song "Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh" by Allan Sherman, including Joe Spivey.

• Arch Johnson as Commander Wivenhoe
• David Ketchum as Senior Counsellor Spiffy
• Dave Madden as Counselor Pruett
• Frank De Vol as Doc Joslyn (1)
• Leonard Stone as Doc Joslyn (2)
• Mike Wagner as Camp Cook Malden
• Hermione Baddeley as Eulalia Divine
• Alice Nunn as Mahalia May Gruenecker
• Nina Wayne as Caprice Yeudleman
• George Dunn as The Sheriff

The series aired in the UK by the BBC on Saturday mornings ten years after it aired in the United States. (Although this was the first network UK screening of Camp Runamuck, the series was aired by some ITV regional stations in 1969). In the United States, it briefly ran on Nickelodeon[4] and Comedy Central.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Camp Runamuck.

• Camp Runamuck at IMDb
• Camp Runamuck at TV.com
• Behind-the-scenes production photos Collection of Stephen Lodge.