The daytime Soap Opera "Never Too Young" was an attempt by ABC-TV to attract the teenage market with this offbeat soap entry which had guest stars like Motown greats Marvin Gaye and Stevie Wonder and other artists like Johnny Rivers and the Ramsey Lewis Trio who would stop by occasionally to sing at the local cafe hangout. After all,the series only lasted one season on the ABC-TV network from the premiere episode on September 27,1965 until the final installment of the series on June 24,1966. However in the summer of 1966,repeats of the daytime soap opera only ran during the months of June through August of that year. It would have been great if the series lasted long enough to make the transition to color,but all of the episodes were in classic black and white.
As far as the adolescents who starred in the short-lived series consisted of Chet(Tony Dow),a race car driver and the coolest kid on the block who basically dated other girls to make his steady girlfriend Joy(Robin Grace)jealous. Tad(Michael Blodgett),the high school football player who faced a career-threatening injury;and Barbara (Pat Connolly),who upset her boyfriend Alfie(David Watson)by her meddlesome efforts to help him further his ambitions. Frank and Rhoda (John Lupton and Patrice Wymore),the prime adults involved with the group,had their own unsteady relationship. The stories for this series were supposed to take place in the upscale high action and hipper scene of Malibu,California,but a Hollywood studio lot filled with sand provided what beach atmosphere there was.
As far as the actors were concerned only several are very recognizable here. The part of Chet,a cool-reckless,troublemaking,Fonzie looking,care free race car driver was played by Tony Dow. And for Dow,this role was a far cry from the All-American properly mannerisms of Wally Cleaver during his years on the television series "Leave It To Beaver". Also involved here is Chet's sidekick Joesph,aka Jo-Jo played by Tommy Rettig. This role for Rettig(and a different approach as well)was a far cry from his days as Jeff on the classic children series "Lassie". The only adults in this teenage soap opera were John Lupton and Patrice Wymore. For actor John Lupton,this was a first for him starring in daytime television,who was better known for his prime-time work especially starring in the 1950's TV western "Broken Arrow". The other actors involved were Dack Rambo in the role of the teenage character of Tim. Rambo would make a name for himself as well later on, starring opposite Walter Brennan(of The Real McCoys fame)in the short-lived western series,"The Guns Of Will Sonnett".
