Flipper
American television programWikipedia
43
MENTIONS
4
EPISODES
4
PODCASTS
Search complete. 43 mentions across 4 episodes found for "Flipper".
Oct 16, 2026
Ben BroatmarkleHOST
[dramatic music] Native Floridian Ricou Browning is best known for portraying the Gill-Man in all of the underwater scenes for the three Creature from the Black Lagoon films.
Ben BroatmarkleHOST
Browning was also the creative force behind the film and TV series Flipper, and worked on many other projects, including the James Bond movie Thunderball.
Ben BroatmarkleHOST
Browning died in February 2023 at the age of 93.
Ben BroatmarkleHOST
We spoke with him in 2018.
Ricou BrowningSOUNDBITE_SPEAKER
I enjoyed it very much.
Ricou BrowningSOUNDBITE_SPEAKER
And, uh, we, we then moved to, to Nassau and shot the remaining couple of years of Sea Hunt over there.
Ben BroatmarkleHOST
After the success of Sea Hunt, Browning and co-writer Jack Cowden took the story of a very intelligent dolphin named Flipper to producer Ivan Tors.
Ricou BrowningSOUNDBITE_SPEAKER
We wrote it as a book, and, uh, we w- went to Lake Weir, Bruce Mozart's house, and we spent the whole week and weekend writing this little book.
Clif CampbellHOST
He was, he could obviously had some water experience.
Frank DietzGUEST
Well, I, I'm sure he just gave his, his old pal Flipper a call and said, "Yeah, you any, you know, you got any tips, uh, working in the water like that?"
Clif CampbellHOST
[laughs]
Frank DietzGUEST
But, uh, yeah, 'cause he was the older brother on Flipper for-
Clif CampbellHOST
Mm-hmm
Frank DietzGUEST
...
Frank DietzGUEST
however many seasons that show went.
Frank DietzGUEST
And, um, I think he, uh, uh, I, I, I don't know what other kinda genre stuff he might have done, but, um, but I was a big fan of, of, of Flipper.
David MortonGUEST
And his wife loved it, passed it on to her husband, and he ends up calling up Rico Browning and says, "Hey, uh, forget about, you know, the book.
David MortonGUEST
Let's, let's go ahead and make a movie." And that's how, uh, Flipper was made.
David MortonGUEST
So soon after that, NBC decided, and this is a very rare phenomenon at this point, uh, where you end up seeing a television show based on a movie.
David MortonGUEST
Long story short, I mean, what we end up seeing end up occurring is, um, a situation where, you know, a television show is based on a movie, and it becomes its franchise in its own right.
10 MINS LATER
David MortonGUEST
So 30 years before Universal Studios used that same slogan, that was an idea that Ivan Tors helped to start to cultivate.
David MortonGUEST
And his big rival at that time, of course, was, you know, the wonderful world of Disney.
David MortonGUEST
And, you know, the, the sad part was, just as, you know, Flipper, General Ben, and these programs are, you know, gaining momentum, well, Disney kind of already has pointed, you know, planted that poison pill for, uh, the statewide production industry.
David MortonGUEST
And this is another reason why production ends up closing off is that, so, you know, Disney dies in '66.