Shark Bytes

I don't know what got me to thinking about it, but the words, "Man, woman, birth, death, infinity" went through my mind a short while ago. It was how Ben Casey started, with a man saying those words and they showed the symbols. Then I couldn't remember the name of the show, or the actor who played Ben Casey. Then I did remember it and Googled the show. On another site, I saw that they said that Bettye Ackerman was Vince Edward's real-life wife. I remembered that she and Sam Jaffe had been married. When did she and Vince Edwards get married?

Ben Casey was the influence of my wanting to be a nurse. It was rare if I missed a show. I even had the Ben Casey medical shirt , open at the neck, and wore it proudly to school. We had rival "clubs" . Ben Casey vs Dr. Kildare. Needless to say, Ben won!! I was the "President" of the local Ben Casey ( Vince Edwards ) fan club and did manage to get mail from him. I remember a postcard he sent me with his picture on it, autographed, I wish I had all of the items today. Why isn't there any DVD's of his show? The Ben Casey show was the start of all the "DR." shows we have on TV today. With all the cable channels we have you would think someone would repeat some of the TV shows of" the past ".

I watched Ben casey as a young women and went into the medical profession based on the encouragement I received from actress Bettye Ackerman Jaffe after writing her a letter (she played the role of Dr. Maggie Graham). I met and it was a this lovely women and her husband San Jaffe) in 1979. It was a totally enriching experience......talk about class, this women had it all. I am gratefuk to her for encourages me to study and apply myself. Bettye Ackerman Jaffe died on November 1, 2007. I have a wonderful painting that she did hanging on my living room wall, it reminds me daily of her and her impact upon my life. She was totally devoted to her husband Sam Jaffe and the 37 year difference in their ages did not measn a thing to her. Bettye was a person who understood the true meaning of unconditional love and regard.

Does anybody remember the Ben Casey Blouse? They were popular at our school.  Wish I had a picture of one????Also, wondering - does anyone remember the "Liz" blouse?  I need a picture of one of those too!Help settle an argument with me and my lifelong friend.  She doesnt remember either of these.

love ben casey and it never jumped shark just took a sbit of a turn the past season...outstanding stories a nd cast...classic tv i have all 153 episodes in case any one wants to look at them

Never jumped. An absolutely great, great dramatic show. Vince Edwards was perfect in the role. Many times he was really angry -- at some stagehand, script error, etc. and the producers were glad because then he'd use that anger in the next scene when the cameras were actually rolling. Too bad he was typecast for most of the remainder of his career.

Does anyone remember the 1988 syndicated made for TV movie "The Return of Ben Casey",which was one of those many forgettable subpar TV-reunion movies?Except for series stars the late Vince Edwards(Ben Casey,who else?),and original series co-stars Bettye Ackerman,and Harry Landers,and that it was wriiten by Ben Casey series writer Barry Oringer,it had an all-Canadian cast and production crew,and only evoked memories of the old series.Well,anyway,it jumped only twice:First,when the late Sam Jaffe left in the last season of the series,and in the so-called TV-movie reunion.

Vince Edwards wasn't the producers' first choice to play Ben Casey. Apparently the offer was first made to Cliff Robertson and Jack Lord. Robertson and Lord were fine actors, almost certainly much stonger than Edwards. But Edwards made an indelible impression as Casey, and its unlikely another actor could have been so riveting. Edwards brought great anger and fiery intensity to the role as well as a quiet integrity. He also had a pure animal attraction that was his alone. Edwards held his own against brilliant guest-stars like George C. Scott and Kim Stanley, and he became one of the hottest dramatic actors on television in the early 60's. Its hard to believe how poorly he was treated by the industry after the series ended. He returned to televison in a poorly excecuted show called "Matt Lincoln" and he never really recovered from that show's failure. Edwards wanted to be a movie star rather than a TV star. He said something to the effect that movies were like filet mignon and TV was like hot dogs. To bad he didn't realize when he was on Ben Casey that his series was almost like the filet mignon of television drama. Like most of us, he didn't know the good years when he was living them.

One of my favorite episodes was when Jerry Lewis guested as an intern who was always goofing off and not taking his job seriously enough. When he smiled wearing tooth black that did it.

I remember they would always start with some tragedy or accident, or am I confused and thinking of Kildare? There was one episode where this girl was riding in a car sitting atop the front seat with her friends, laughing and enjoying herself. All of a sudden someone hits the the brake too hard and you hear a horrible scream. One side of her glasses are shattered and there's blood! Her eye is out or something! I was horrified! And afraid of how nasty Casey would react to her foolishness for losing her eye!

I also think this show jumped during the last season. I agree this show was more "soapier" that year, especially with Casey falling in love with a woman who woke from a 13-year coma. The first four seasons however were well-written and more dramatic. The first episode itself is a classic. Casey gets stuck with a needle after it was used on a girl while being tested for rabies. The close up shots of his face looking fearful while drenched with sweat as he waits his thirty days to see if he will live are classic. In my opinion one of the best series of all time.

5th season was not as good as the previous four but the show still did not jump. Classic doctor show, way better than Kildare which was too nice. Casey was tough and he lost many patients. Could have done without the soap opera like last season but still a great show.

It's hard to say this thing actually "jumped the shark"; I just remember my stoned self and my very stoned roommates in a dumpy loft in Brooklyn watching back-to-back episodes of this thing EVERY SINGLE NIGHT FOR YEARS at 2 am and again at 3 am. We just thought it was the greatest thing the way that the entire show was just one severe, unpleasant talking head after the next, again and again and again. Ben, specifically, seems to have botoxed his entire face except his mouth.

During the last season, we lost Dr. Zorba (& his wonderful mixmaster hairdo) and the show was turned into a soap opera. Dr. Kildare had the same fate, but it was more tragic for this show. Unlike Kildare, Casey occasionally lost a patient. He was surly (like real surgeons, believe me, I know) and County General seemed like a real urban teaching hospital (the theme song perfectly conveyed the atmosphere of such places).

In a late episode where Ben Casey has a knife fight in the hospital parking lot. A quality show that so typecast Vince Edwards I think it stilted his career.