Boone is an American dramatelevision series which was broadcast on NBC from September 26, 1983, to August 11, 1984. It starred Tom Byrd and Barry Corbin. Byrd played teenager Boone Sawyer, who aspires to a career in rock and roll music, despite the advice of his stern father, Merit Sawyer, played by Corbin, who wants Boone to join him in the automobile repair business. The setting of the series is Tennessee in the early 1950s, when great changes began to occur in popular music, with the rise of Elvis Presley. Ten weekly episodes began airing on September 26, 1983, and three remaining segments were broadcast in the summer of 1984, the last on August 11. The series was created by Earl Hamner, Jr. The series was originally filmed in Cane Ridge, TN, just outside of Nashville at the Burkitt family home. The set included the family's home, parts of which were built between 1824 and 1902, the family's general store, and the family's sawmill. Scenes were also filmed at the Historic Rhyman Auditorium and Elliston Soda Shop. Ronnie Claire Edwards, an Oklahoma City native who played Corabeth Godsey, the bossy wife of storekeeper Ike Godsey in The Waltons, portrayed Aunt Dolly Sawyer in Boone. William Edward Phipps played her husband Link Sawyer, the owner of Link's Orchid Lounge, where Boone and his friend, Rome Hawley, sometimes performed. Other stars included Elizabeth Huddle as Boone's mother, Faye, who wanted Boone to commit to the ministry, as his older brother, Dwight, had done prior to Dwight's death in World War II. Julie Anne Haddock was cast as Amanda; Robyn Lively, Banjo; and Amanda Peterson, Boone's young sister, Squirt Sawyer. Because Boone had such a large cast, there were few guest stars, seven of which were James Hampton, Chris Hebert, Marlyn Mason, Andrew Prine, Janine Turner, Gary Vinson, and the singer Bobby Vinton.
A critic described Boone as "an excellent show that didn't get a chance" in the fierce competition of network television, and the series was soon replaced by TV's Bloopers & Practical Jokes in NBC's Monday 8 pm Eastern slot. In 1987, reruns of Boone were shown late nights on The Disney Channel.
