Though he’s remembered as one of the great American movie stars, Robert Redford had several memorable roles on television, including one of the best episodes of “The Twilight Zone.” Less memorable was his appearance on “The Americans.” No,not that one–this was a 1961 drama about the Civil War that only lasted 17 episodes.
“The Americans” premiered on NBC on January 23, 1961, pegged to the centennial of the Civil War. Darryl Hickman and Dick Davalos starred as Ben and Jeff Canfield, two brothers who grew up in Harpers Ferry and found themselves on opposing sides when the Civil War began. Each week following the premiere alternated main characters, with some episodes following Ben as he fought for the Union and others tracking Jeff’s efforts with the Confederacy.
Redford appeared in the penultimate episode, “The Coward,” where he played the title character, a Confederate soldier named George Harrod who was set to be executed by firing squad. Carroll O’Connor, who a decade later would play Archie Bunker in the beloved ’70s sitcom “All in the Family,” also co-starred in the episode. Redford went on to star in “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid,” his breakout role, just a few years later.
The Americans went out of its way not to offend the North or South (and may have pleased no one)
Coming out a little less than a century after the end of the Civil War, “The Americans” faced a somewhat tricky prospect: How do you dramatize a story about the conflict without offending Northern or Southern viewers? The solution was seemingly to be as neutral as possible, giving equal time to both Ben as he served the Union and Jeff in the Confederacy. This “both-sides” approach has issues, of course; it all too neatly smooths out history and erases any culpability.
“We don’t deal with the issues of economics or slavery,” Darryl Hickman, who played the Union lead, admitted in a Sarasota Journal story. But even then, there were concerns that Southern viewers would be offended. Sponsors made them scrap the original title, “The Blue and the Gray,” for that reason. Hickman also complained that the producers didn’t let him have many action scenes so as not to make Southern viewers angry by the sight of rebels being killed. Dick Davalos’ Confederate soldier, meanwhile, got the glory. Hickman noted that this caution seemed to be coming from wary producers and advertisers; actual Southerners he’d spoken to said they wouldn’t have been bothered.
Despite (or perhaps because of) the efforts “The Americans” went out to please everyone — or, at the very least, not offend anyone –ratings weren’t great. NBC canned the series after 17 episodes. Executive producer Frank Telford blamed the time slot, arguing that 7:30 on Monday nights was simply too early for this sort of content.