Darren McGavin seems like the kind of riverboat captain you wouldn't want to work for. He has his nose in everything and gives new meaning to the term,"micromanaging". He knows everybody's business, personally greets each passenger, conducts bed checks, inspects all cargo personally, and constantly offers advice. He's like a cross between Sigmund Freud and Dear Abby as he instantly diagnoses people's behavior disorders and offers unwarranted, contrary opinions.Oh - and the chicks really dig him while barely noticing 23-year-old stud Burt Reynolds. Then, he has to be the most macho guy in the West. Burt Reynolds cringes at gunfire while McGavin fearlessly delves into the fray, dodging ricocheting bullets and planting a well-timed fist to the face while sporting a rakish grin. No wonder Reynolds quit halfway through the first season. You can't compete with God. This show, which was half frontier Love Boat and half frontier Untouchables managed to chug along for two seasons.

'Riverboat' may not be considered a television classic, but it is one of the most enjoyable shows of the late 50's early 60's period! A 'big budget' show for it's time, it works mainly because of Darren McGavin, at his handsome, dynamic best as the dashing Captain Grey Holden of the riverboat 'Enterprise'. Plenty of big name guest stars, and up and comers like Robert Vaughn etc. keep it interesting. It's said that McGavin and Burt Reynolds didn't get on, why, no one's quite sure? Probably a clash of similar personalities? But as far as personality, charisma and acting ability goes, Darren McGavin wins hands down! At any rate, after the first 21 episodes, Reynolds was replaced by Noah Beery Jnr. Finally, all 44 episodes have been released onto DVD, picture and sound quality are pretty good, but unfortunately, not re-mastered like 'Rawhide' or 'Maverick', other shows from the same period, but then the Timeless Media Group don't appear to do that? Still, great to have this wonderful old series made available at last! I enjoyed it all those years ago when it was screened in Australia, and I'm enjoying it all over again now!

This was a very good series. In each town the riverboat stopped in, some little drama would take place, with crew members getting involved in the local intrigue. The plots were always watchable and interesting, with occasional but excellent humor, and the acting was first rate. Darren McGavin was dashing as the captain (think Kolchak minus fifteen years).Darren McGavin was the star of this series. Yet, on his page, he's credited with being in one episode, and on this page appears not at all. IMDb's television series pages used to be pretty accurate, now a lot of stars show as limited guests on their own shows. What happened?

I remember Darren McGavern speaking some decades later on two talk shows about this series. The series was based on the riverboat freight transport system that operated in the New Orleans and Lousiana area during the late 1800's.Mc Gavern stated on at least two occasions that there was great disharmony among the writers and producers because, he said, the network and the sponsors didn't want any Black people in the show.Rightly so, McGavern thought this restriction stupid, since at that time in that area depicted in the series, the majority of the laborers on the docks and piers were Black and Creole.Then again, it was the late 50's to early 60's and such was the policy of the networks.