Sea Hunt

Lloyd Bridges starred as former Navy diver and now freelance scuba diver Mike Nelson in “Sea Hunt.” The action-adventure series debuted in 1958 running for 4 seasons until 1961. The 151 episodes produced continued in reruns and can still be found on TV today. The show gave many notable actors a chance early in their careers, including VTVA alumni Leonard Nimoy, Robert Conrad, Ross Martin, film actors Bruce Dern and Jack Nicholson, and of course Bridges’ own children Beau and Jeff Bridges.

The show entered first-run syndication because ABC, CBS and NBC all rejected it, predicting audiences would not want to spend prime-time underwater. You could say they “missed the boat” as the show was #1 in ratings for its first 9 months, with 50% of the viewing audience in 50 cities. The show was filmed in Southern California, Florida, and The Bahamas, with Marineland of the Pacific in Long Beach providing facilities and technical advice.