Father Murphy

(1981-1983)

Drama / Western

Cast: Merlin Olsen and Moses Gunn

Father Murphy is an American television western drama series that aired on NBC from November 3, 1981 to September 18, 1983.  It starred former NFL Los Angeles Rams defensive tackle football player and Little House on the Prairie actor Merlin Olsen as an 1870's frontiersman named John Michael Murphy who teams up with prospector Moses Gage (Moses Gunn) to shelter a group of orphans who are being threatened with a workhouse. Murphy disguises himself as a priest and befriends a schoolmarm to help the children find a home. At the end of the first season, his true identity is revealed to the head of the workhouse, and the orphans seem destined to a life of labor. Instead, Murphy marries the schoolmarm and they get custody of the children.

Father Murphy Intro