Trivia: Philadelphia-born James Darren came to Hollywood armed with far more impressive credentials than most teen idols, notably several years' training with Stella Adler. Signed to a Columbia Pictures contract in 1956, Darren was developed into a popular leading man-and, briefly, a recording artist. Columbia required him to show up in everything from 1958's Gidget to a 1965 episode of TV's The Flintstones (as "Jimmy Darrock"). In 1966, Darren was cast as Dr. Tony Newman on the Irwin Allen sci-fi TVer Time Tunnel, wherein he was given the unenviable task of reacting in alarm to miles and miles of 20th Century-Fox stock footage. After Time Tunnel folded in 1967, Darren's career was one of a few peaks and several valleys. Though he'd never really been away, Darren made what was labelled a comeback in 1982 in the solid supporting role of Officer Jim Corrigan on the weekly William Shatner TV vehicle T.J. Hooker. Since that time, James Darren has received a number of plum guest-star assignments on various TV dramatic and comedy programs, and has directed individual installments of such programs as Police Story.

Trivia: American leading man Robert Colbert made his first screen appearances as a Columbia contract player in the late '50s. His most thankless role during this period was as the romantic lead in the Three Stooges feature Have Rocket, Will Travel (1959). Seven years later, Colbert had another crack at the sci-fi genre as adventuresome scientist Dr. Doug Phillips on TV's The Time Tunnel. Each week, Colbert and co-star James Darren were plunked down into a crucial moment in world history, courtesy of the 20th Century-Fox stock footage department. In between these two assignments, Colbert played Brent Maverick, one of the stop-gap characters created to cover the defection of James Garner on the western series Maverick (1957-62). Daytime drama devotees are most familiar with Robert Colbert's decade-long tenure as Stuart Brooks on The Young and the Restless.

Trivia: Progressing from Miss San Francisco to Miss California, LA-born brunette beauty Lee Meriwether recited a monologue written by Irish playright John Millington Synge and won the 1955 Miss America contest. Lee's first television job was as Dave Garroway's "girl Friday" on NBC's The Today Show. She played small parts on such prime time TV series as Leave It to Beaver and Sergeant Bilko before securing her first recurring role on the 1960 daytime drama Clear Horizons. Subsequent series-TV assignments included Dr. Ann McGregor on Irwin Allen's 1966 sci-fier The Time Tunnel, the star's homespun housewife on 1971's The New Andy Griffith Show, and a regular panelist on the syndicated 1974 edition of Masquerade Party. Lee played The Catwoman in the 1966 theatrical feature Batman (she also appeared on the TV series of the same name, but not in the same part). While in the 1968 cinematic wallow Legend of Lylah Clare she essayed one of her favorite screen parts: a vituperative lesbian who beats the snot out of Kim Novak. Her best-known role was as Betty Jones, daughter-in-law and general factotum of folksy detective Buddy Ebsen, on the long running (1975-82) TV series Barnaby Jones. More recently, Meriwether exhibited a heretofore underexploited gift for broad comedy in the role of the ghoulish Lily Munster on the syndicated 1988 "retro" sitcom The New Munsters. For many years, Lee Meriwether was married to actor Frank Aletter.