September 11, 1974 (1974-09-11) – April 9, 1975 (1975-04-09)
Lucas Tanner is an American drama series aired on NBC during the 1974–75 season. The title character, played by David Hartman, is a former baseball player and sportswriter who becomes an English teacher at the fictional Harry S Truman Memorial High School in Webster Groves, Missouri, a suburb of St. Louis. He changed professions following the death of his wife and child.[1] Episodes often deal with the resistance of traditional teachers to Tanner's unorthodox teaching style.
Regular co-stars included Rosemary Murphy, Kimberly Beck, John Randolph, and ten-year-old Robbie Rist. Unusually, the show was actually filmed in Webster Groves, rather than on a Hollywood backlot. That gave it a somewhat unusual "look" for a prime-time TV series.
This series was Hartman's last work as an actor. In November 1975, he began as co-host of ABC's Good Morning America. To date, he has not returned to acting.