Hell Town is an American drama television series that aired on NBC from September 11 until December 25, 1985. The series features Robert Blake.

Synopsis

Blake stars as Noah "Hardstep" Rivers, a hard-living Catholic priest at a church in a crime-ridden neighborhood on the east side of Los Angeles. Rivers was rather unusual for a priest, as he was a former criminal, played billiards, and didn't have the greatest of speaking skills. Despite all of this, Rivers was the perfect man to lead his church, as he grew up in the neighborhood, so he knew about the gangs and drug dealers who lived there and attacked his parishioners.

Cast

  • Robert Blake as Father Noah "Hardstep" Rivers
  • Whitman Mayo as One Ball
  • Jeff Corey as Lawyer Sam
  • Natalie Core as Mother Maggie
  • Vonetta McGee as Sister Indigo
  • Isabel Grandin as Sister Angel Cakes
  • Tony Longo as Stump
  • Rhonda Dotson as Sister Daisy
  • Zitto Kazann as Crazy Horse

Episodes

Production notes

The series' theme song was performed by Sammy Davis Jr., who also sang the theme for Blake's previous series, Baretta. The Hell Town pilot film aired on NBC on March 6, 1985.

Ratings

Following Highway to Heaven on NBC on Wednesday nights, the series got off to a flying start. The numbers for the premiere (17.5 or 15 million viewers) actually surpassed those of its lead-in. It finished 13th for the week. More good news followed in week two when the show cracked the top 10. Finishing at No. 7 (just behind its lead-in). Remarkably, the numbers grew from week one to week two by over a million viewers.

Then, ABC's mega hit Dynasty returned on September 25 and knocked the show from the 10 into the low 30's and shaved off about 25% of its audience in one night. Week 4 was more of the same as the series sunk to No. 46 and dropped nearly 40% of its lead-in audience. A two-week hiatus (for coverage of the Major League Baseball playoffs) followed.

Upon its return the numbers did improve slightly but the writing seemed to be on the wall. The November sweeps episodes featured it in a heated battle for viewers with its CBS competition Charlie & Co. and barely winning most weeks despite the much stronger lead-in. Ultimately, NBC decided the numbers were not good enough (though it was a top 50 show) and officially pulled the plug. The last original episode aired Christmas night 1985.

References

  • Hell Town at CVTA