Underplayed Gems

Bus Stop (1961)

Bus Stop poster
Directed by
Robert Altman
Genre
drama television series
Country
United States
Length
1 season, 26 episodes
Rating
10.0 of 10 from 1 voters
Elsewhere
IMDb
The 3D catalogue: film cases on wooden shelves, with the cat sitting at the counter next to its greeting.

The catalogue in 3D

The film shelves have a room of their own that you can walk around in. The cat behind the counter is the AI Catbot, and they pick real films from the same catalogue when you tell them what you feel like watching. Nothing is for sale, here or in there. Go in from here and this series is already out on the counter, with more like it waiting on the shelf next to it.

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How it feels

In a 1960s Colorado mountain town, a woman runs a bus station and diner where travelers and locals cross paths. The show follows the regulars and visitors as they share stories and face personal dramas. Eventually the focus shifts to the townspeople rather than the travelers who pass through.

datedconversation-drivensmall-townepisodicmelodramaticslow-pacedgrittybittersweet

What happens

Bus Stop is a 26-episode American drama which aired on ABC from October 1, 1961, until March 25, 1962, starring Marilyn Maxwell as Grace Sherwood, the owner of a bus station and diner in the fictitious town of Sunrise in the Colorado Rockies. The program was adapted from William Inge's play, Bus Stop, and Inge was a script consultant for the series, which followed the lives of travelers passing through the bus station and the diner. Maxwell's co-stars were Richard Anderson as District Attorney Glenn Wagner, Rhodes Reason as Sheriff Will Mayberry, Joan Freeman as waitress Elma Gahrigner, and Bernard Kates as Ralph the coroner. Increasingly, as it became difficult to have guest stars be characters arriving by bus every week, the stories became more about people in the town which left little for Maxwell's character to do and led to her leaving the series after 13 episodes. She said, "There was nothing for me to do but pour a second cup of coffee and point the way to the men's room." (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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