1 9 6 4 – 1 9 6 5 (USA)
26 x 30 minute episodes
Widowed Californian horse ranch owner and veterinarian Kenneth Yarborough Jones (Dennis Weaver in his first starring role in a series after playing Deputy Chester Goode for nine seasons in Gunsmoke) learns his late wife had applied to adopt a nine-year-old Chinese orphan before she died.
The boy – Dwight Eisenhower “Ike” Wong (Ricky Der) – arrives shortly after her sudden death.
His handyman, former jockey Seldom Jackson (Harry Morgan) and the local Asian community help him adjust to being a new dad, and Kentucky learns to love Ike.
Social worker Edith Thorncroft (Nancy Rennick) looks in on things.
Kentucky Jones went against the grain of American sitcoms at the time, as it was produced without a canned laugh track. NBC told the producers to put a laugh track on the show or not get renewed, so canned laughter was added, against the wishes of the producers.
The series was cancelled at the end of a single season anyway and replaced with I Dream Of Jeannie.
TRIVIA
Jones acquired the nickname ‘Kentucky’ because he signed his name “K.Y. Jones”
Kentucky Jones
Dennis Weaver
Seldom Jackson
Harry Morgan
Dwight Eisenhower ‘Ike’ Wong
Ricky Der
Edith Thorncroft
Nancy Rennick
