Captain Nice

Plot

Riding the tide of the camp superhero craze of the 1960s, the show's premise involved police chemist Carter Nash (William Daniels), a mild-mannered mama's boy who discovered a secret formula that, when taken, transformed him in an explosive burst of smoke into Captain Nice.

Captain Nice didn't behave much differently from Carter. In fact, the Captain ran around in a white, red, and blue pajama-like costume, complete with cape, lovingly sewn by his domineering mother who had basically bullied him into his crime-fighting career. He was christened Captain Nice on his first appearance by a bystander who noticed that his belt buckle was monogrammed "CN." On that occasion the explosion that transformed him blew off most of his clothes, leaving him in long underwear and with the remnants of his shirt suggesting a cape.

His superpowers included superhuman strength, invulnerability and the ability to fly, but he was nervous about doing the latter as he was afraid of heights, and his natural clumsiness was increased exponentially whenever he drank his super serum.

Carter had a would-be girlfriend in the police department, meter maid Sgt. Candy Kane, although he seemed mostly oblivious to her obvious attentions.

Production

The series was created by Buck Henry, who was a co-creator of the hit series Get Smart. The show's premise is similar to that of CBS's Mister Terrific, which preceded Captain Nice on Monday nights.

Ann Prentiss, younger sister of actress Paula and sister-in-law of actor Richard Benjamin, played Candy.

Alice Ghostley played Carter's mother. She later won fame as the witch Esmerelda on Bewitched, and as neighbor Bernice on the comedy Designing Women.

Carter's father, never seen in face, was portrayed by one of the movies' most prolific character actors, Byron Foulger. In a reverse of Foulger's ubiquity and familiarity in movies, his appearances in this series generally found him hidden behind a newspaper and not making a sound.