Big John, Little John

Lore & Background

The show's main character, John Martin, is a forty-year-old middle school science teacher. While vacationing in Florida, he drinks from a spring that is the legendary Fountain of Youth sought by Juan Ponce de León. The water causes him to change into a twelve-year-old boy and back again, with the changes occurring spontaneously and without warning. The transformations are recurring and not permanent; the amount of water consumed does not affect the permanence of the change.

Reader's Guide

Big John, Little John is a short-lived Saturday-morning sitcom that attempted to blend fantasy with school-life comedy. Its premise of a teacher gaining insight into his students' lives by becoming a child again was a novel concept for the time. The series was produced by Sherwood Schwartz, known for The Brady Bunch, and featured Robbie Rist, who had previously appeared on that show. Despite its limited run, the show has been released on DVD and retains a niche place in 1970s television history.

Did You Know?

• Robbie Rist's blond hair was dyed brown to make him resemble Herb Edelman more closely.
• Herb Edelman wore a hairpiece that partially covered his baldness, though it was absent during the credits sequences.
• Edelman and Rist appeared together in 1977 on the Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon.
• The complete series was released on DVD for Regions 1 and 2 in 2009 by Fabulous Films.

The Fountain of Youth Premise

The central conceit of the series revolves around John Martin, a forty-year-old middle-school science teacher who, while vacationing in Florida, stumbles upon what turns out to be the legendary Fountain of Youth once sought by Juan Ponce de León. A casual sip from the spring triggers a bizarre and recurring transformation: Martin can spontaneously and without any warning shift between his adult self and a twelve-year-old boy. Because he merely sipped rather than took a full drink, the condition is not permanent but rather a persistent, unpredictable cycle that repeats throughout his daily life. Only his wife Marjorie and son Ricky are privy to the secret, and the family publicly introduces the younger John as a nephew staying with them. Meanwhile, his students grow fond of "Little John" as a friend, and his principal, Bertha Bottomly, grows increasingly suspicious of the odd double life. Throughout the season, Big John searches for a cure, yet his time as a child often grants him fresh understanding of the struggles his young students face every day.

Production & Creative Vision

The series was produced by Sherwood Schwartz, the same creative force behind The Brady Bunch, and was manufactured under the banner of Redwood Productions in association with D'Angelo-Bullock-Allen Productions. It found its network home on NBC, with the first episode airing on September 11, 1976, and the run lasting a single season of thirteen episodes. One of the most practical production challenges involved making two very different actors appear as the same person at two different ages. To close the visual gap, Robbie Rist's naturally blond hair was dyed brown to better match Edelman's coloring, while Edelman wore a hairpiece to partially cover his baldness. Notably, that hairpiece was absent during the end-credit sequences, a small production detail visible to attentive viewers. Beyond the television screen, the two leads crossed paths once more in 1977, appearing together on the Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon, a charity broadcast that kept their on-screen partnership alive in the public eye even after the series had wrapped its single season.

Cast & Character Web

The ensemble at the heart of the show was anchored by Herb Edelman, who portrayed the adult John Martin, and Robbie Rist, who took on the child version. Supporting them was Joyce Bulifant as the knowing wife Marjorie, and Mike Darnell as their son Ricky, both of whom were in on the secret. Olive Dunbar played the ever-suspicious principal Bertha Bottomly, while the student trio of Homer (Kristoff St. John), Valerie (Cari Anne Warder), and Stanley (Stephen H. Cassidy) formed the younger John's closest friends at school. Rist's casting was no accident for fans of 1970s television; just a few years earlier he had appeared on Schwartz's own The Brady Bunch during its final season in 1973–74, playing Oliver, the Bradys' cousin. That prior collaboration with Schwartz likely made him a natural fit for this new project. The interplay between the two Johns, the protective family, and the curious school community created a layered social dynamic that gave each episode its comedic and emotional texture.

Afterlife & Cultural Footprint

Despite its charming premise and a solid cast, Big John, Little John managed only one season of thirteen episodes before concluding its NBC run in 1976. The show did, however, cross the Atlantic, finding an audience in the United Kingdom where it was broadcast on BBC One, introducing the series to a new generation of British viewers. For decades the complete series remained difficult to obtain on home video, but that changed in 2009 when Fabulous Films released the full run on DVD for both Region 1 and Region 2 markets, finally giving collectors and new fans a chance to watch all thirteen episodes in one place. The show also maintains a presence on IMDb and is catalogued on niche fan sites dedicated to 1970s live-action children's programming. The 1977 Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon appearance by Edelman and Rist served as a brief post-series reunion that kept the duo's names in the public consciousness. Together, these scattered touchpoints—foreign broadcast, a late DVD release, and a charity-stage cameo—ensure the series retains a modest but persistent footprint in television history.