Summer Safari

It’s raining lions, tigers and chimps weekday mornings.

This summer, TNT has eliminated its morning movie for two hours of the warmhearted 1966-69 CBS series “Daktari.”

“Daktari”--Swahili for doctor--was based on the entertaining 1965 film “Clarence, The Cross-Eyed Lion,” a comedy about a surprisingly docile lion who happened to be cross-eyed. MGM/UA Home Video is releasing “Clarence” ($19.98) on video for the first time this Wednesday.

Produced by Ivan Tors of “Clarence,” “Flipper” and “Zebra in the Kitchen” fame, “Daktari” starred Marshall Thompson as Dr. Marsh Tracy, a veterinarian who operated an animal study center in Africa with his teen-age daughter Paula (Cheryl Miller), an American assistant named Jack Dane (Yale Summers) and native Mike (Hari Rhodes). Also on hand was Hedley (Hedley Mattingly), the British game warden who would call on Marsh for help in dealing with crises with poachers, as well as the natives and animals.

Both Thompson and Miller starred in “Clarence.” Thompson, a wildlife enthusiast, wrote the original story for the movie.

Added to the series in 1968 were Bart Jason (Ross Hagen), a former hunter turned guide for camera safaris, and Jenny Jones (Erin Moran of “Happy Days”), a 7-year-old orphan who became a member of the Tracy household.

The two main attractions of “Daktari” were the Tracy pets--Clarence, the mangy old lion whose roar was louder than his bite, and the impish chimp Judy, who was forever getting into mischief.

Though it never won an Emmy, “Daktari” was enjoyable family entertainment and is surprisingly timely today. The series dealt with such topics as animal preservation, poaching, illegal diamond mining, smuggling and mistreatment of pets.

“Daktari” was a big hit during its first two seasons on CBS, reaching as high as No. 7 during the 1966-67 season. It left such competition as NBC’s much-hyped “The Girl From U.N.C.L.E.” in the dust.

“Daktari” will continue weekdays through Sept. 13.

“Daktari” airs Monday-Friday at 7 a.m. on TNT.