The series stars Vince Edwards as medical doctor Ben Casey, the young, intense, and

idealistic neurosurgeon at County General Hospital. His mentor is chief of neurosurgery

Doctor David Zorba, played by Sam Jaffe, who, in the pilot episode, tells a colleague that
Casey is "the best chief resident this place has known in 20 years." In its first season, the
series and Vince Edwards were nominated for Emmy awards. Additional nominations at the
14th Primetime Emmy Awards on May 22, 1962, went to Sam Jaffe, Jeanne Cooper (for the
episode "But Linda Only Smiled"), and Joan Hackett (for the episode "A Certain Time, a
Certain Darkness"). The show began running multi-episode stories, starting with the first five
episodes of season four; Casey developed a romantic relationship with Jane Hancock (Stella
Stevens), who had just emerged from a coma after 15 years. At the beginning of season five
(the last season), Jaffe left the show and Franchot Tone replaced Zorba as new chief of
neurosurgery, Doctor Daniel Niles Freeland.

1963 - Vince Edwards as Ben Casey with guest star Sammy Davis, Jr. Ben Casey.

Cast
 Vince Edwards as Dr. Ben Casey
 Sam Jaffe as Dr. David Zorba (1961–1965)
 Harry Landers as Dr. Ted Hoffman
 Bettye Ackerman as Dr. Maggie Graham (In real life, Bettye Ackerman was married
to Sam Jaffe.)
 Nick Dennis as Orderly Nick Kanavaras
 Jeanne Bates as Nurse Wills
 Franchot Tone as Dr. Daniel Niles Freeland (1965–1966)

Production notes
Creator James E. Moser based the character of Ben Casey on Dr. Allan Max Warner,[1] a
neurosurgeon whom Moser met while researching Ben Casey. Warner served as the
program's original technical advisor in 1961. He worked closely with the actors, showing
them how to handle medical instruments, according to an article in TV Guide (September
30 – October 6, 1961).
Ben Casey had several directors, including Irvin Kershner and Sydney Pollack. Its theme
music was written by David Raksin; a version performed by pianist Valjean was a top 40 hit
in the United States.

Filmed at the Desilu Studios, the series was produced by Bing Crosby Productions.

Spin-off

Main article: Breaking Point (1963 TV series)

Vince Edwards appeared on the television series Breaking Point as Ben Casey. The episode
was "Solo for B-Flat Clarinet" and debuted 16 September 1963. Both Ben Casey and
Breaking Point were produced by Bing Crosby Productions.[2][3][4] Cast members of Breaking
Point also had guest roles on Ben Casey.

Episodes
Main article: List of Ben Casey episodes
Originally aired
Season Episodes
First aired Last aired
1 32 October 2, 1961 May 28, 1962
2 31 October 1, 1962 May 13, 1963
3 33 September 9, 1963 April 22, 1964
4 31 September 14, 1964 May 17, 1965
5 26 September 13, 1965 March 21, 1966
Original run

The most frequent time slot for the series is in bold text.

 Monday at 10–11 p.m. on ABC: October 2, 1961 – May 13, 1963; September 14,
1964 – March 21, 1966
 Wednesday at 9–10 p.m. on ABC: September 9, 1963 – April 22, 1964

Home media
On October 9, 2019, CBS Home Entertainment released the first season on DVD in 2 volume
sets.[5][6]

No. of
DVD name Release date
episodes
Season 1, Volume 1 16 October 9, 2019
Season 1, Volume 2 16 October 9, 2019

Reception
Due to the combination of CBS' The Beverly Hillbillies and The Dick Van Dyke Show, Ben
Casey returned to its original Monday-night time slot in the fall of 1964, remaining there until
its cancellation in March 1966. Daytime repeats of the series also aired on ABC's weekday
schedule from 1965 through 1967.

Nielsen ratings

NOTE: The highest average rating for the series is in bold text.

Season Rank Rating

1) 1961–1962 #18 23.7
2) 1962–1963 #7 28.7 (Tied with The Danny Thomas Show)
3) 1963–1964
4) 1964–1965 Not in the top 30
5) 1965–1966

Television series tie-ins

Comics

Both a comic strip and a comic book were based on the television series. The strip was
developed and written by Jerry Capp (né Caplin) and drawn by Neal Adams.[7][8] The daily
comic strip began on November 26, 1962, and the Sunday strip debuted on September 20,
1964. Both ended on July 31, 1966 (a Sunday).[citation needed] The daily strip was reprinted in The
Menomonee Falls Gazette.[citation needed] The comic book was published by Dell Comics for 10
issues from 1962 to 1964. All had photo covers, except for that of the final issue, which was
drawn by John Tartaglione.[citation needed]

Novels

From 1962 through 1963, the paperback publisher Lancer Books also issued four original
novels based on the series. They were Ben Casey by William Johnston,[9] A Rage for Justice
by Norman Daniels,[10] The Strength of His Hands by Sam Elkin,[11] and The Fire Within,
again by Daniels,[12] small-print standard mass-market size paperbacks of 128 or 144 pages
each.[citation needed] The covers of the books featured photographs of Edwards as Casey, or in the
case of the last novel, a drawing of a doctor with Edwards' appearance.[citation needed]

1988 television film The Return of Ben Casey

In 1988, the made-for-TV-movie The Return of Ben Casey, with Vince Edwards reprising his
role as Casey,[13][14] aired in syndication. Harry Landers was the only other original cast
member to reprise his role (as Dr. Ted Hoffman). The film was directed by Joseph L.
Scanlan.[13][14] The pilot was not picked up by the major networks to bring the series back.[15]

In popular culture
In 1962, the series inspired a semicomic rock song, "Callin' Dr. Casey", written and
performed by songwriter John D. Loudermilk. In the song, Loudermilk refers to the TV
doctor's wide-ranging medical abilities and asks whether Casey has any cure for heartbreak.
The song reached number 83 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.[16]

During the Vietnam War, the term "Ben Casey" was used by American troops as slang for a
medic.[17][18]

In the popular Japanese medical drama "Doctor-X: Surgeon Michiko Daimon" the office cat
is named Ben Casey.

Parodies

The long-running Cleveland, Ohio, late-night movie program The Hoolihan and Big Chuck
Show and its successor program, The Big Chuck and Lil' John Show, regularly aired comedy
skits under the title "Ben Crazy" that parodied Ben Casey. The skits opened with a spoof of
the chalkboard sequence, adding one more symbol at the end — a dollar sign ($),
accompanied by a laugh track. "Big Chuck" Schodowski, one of the hosts of the show, said
that the skits continued to air for so many years after the 1966 cancellation of Ben Casey that
younger viewers probably did not recognize the opening, and also that real-life doctors would
send in ideas for skits, some of which were used on the show.[19][20]

Dickie Goodman released a novelty song in 1962 titled "Ben Crazy" that parodied Ben Casey
as "Ben Crazy", Dr. Zorba as "Dr. Smorba", and also parodied Dr. Kildare, the main
character on another popular 1960s medical drama series. Goodman's recording used his
"break-in" technique of sampling lines from then-popular songs to "answer" comedic
questions; it also sampled the Ben Casey title sequence and theme. The record reached
number 44 on the Billboard Hot 100.[21] [22]

The Flintstones featured several parodies of Ben Casey:

 "The Blessed Event" (season three, episode 23, 1963) features the birth of Pebbles
Flintstone. While wandering around the hospital looking for the maternity ward, Fred
Flintstone runs into caricatures of Ben Casey and Dr. Zorba. They help Fred on his
way, and then walk into a TV studio (which is inexplicably in a hospital), as Fred
remarks that they seemed awfully familiar.[23]
 "Ann-Margrock Presents" (season four, episode 1, 1963) features a dentist named Ben
Cavity, who is a parody of Ben Casey.
 "Monster Fred" (season five, episode two, 1964) featured a mad doctor character
named "Len Frankenstone" (voiced by Allan Melvin) and his associate, "Dr. Zero"
(voiced by Doug Young). These characters were parodies of Ben Casey and Dr.
Zorba.[24]

In "My Husband is Not a Drunk," a 1962 episode of The Dick Van Dyke Show, a hypnotized
Rob addresses the bald Mel Cooley as "Dr. Zorba," a rare instance of the show referencing
another actual TV series.

In Who's Minding the Store? (1963), Jerry Lewis watches Ben Casey on TV--the gag being
that he's also played by Lewis.
The veterinarian in The Simpsons, first introduced in the episode "Dog of Death" performing
surgery on Santa's Little Helper, was based on Ben Casey.[25] In addition, the Springfield
Hospital motif played at the start of a Hospital based scene is based on the opening of the Ben
Casey musical theme.

In his song, "One Hippopotomi," a parody of "What Kind of Fool Am I?" by Anthony
Newley, Allan Sherman sings the lyrics: "When Ben Casey meets Kildare that's called a
paradox."