Temperatures Rising is an American television sitcom that aired for two years on the ABC network, during which time it was presented in three different formats and cast line-ups with a total of 46 episodes. The series was originally developed, produced, and occasionally directed by William Asher for Ashmont Productions and Screen Gems and premiered on September 12, 1972, in the time slot of Tuesday nights at 8:00 PM.^[1] The regular cast consisted of Cleavon Little as Dr. Jerry Noland, Joan Van Ark as Nurse Annie Carlisle, Reva Rose as Nurse Mildred "Millie" MacInerny, Nancy Fox as Student Nurse Ellen Turner, and James Whitmore as Dr. Vincent Campanelli. Bernie Kopell and Ketty Lester appeared in recurring roles as Harold Lefkowitz and Nurse Ferguson. The premise of the series featured Campanelli as the no-nonsense chief-of-staff of Capitol General, a (fictional) Washington, D.C. hospital, who is forced to deal with the outlandish antics of Noland and the three nurses, whom Campanelli refers to as "the four horsemen of aggravation".^[2] During its first season—and first format—26 episodes were aired with the final one broadcast on March 27, 1973 (1973-03-27). Reruns of the season's episodes continued until September 4, 1973.^[3]

Despite heavy competition in the ratings from Maude on CBS and Bonanza on NBC, Temperatures Rising did well enough in its first season to be renewed for a second.^[4] For this second season, John Mitchell, the head of Screen Gems, decided to replace James Whitmore with comedian Paul Lynde, whose own sitcom, The Paul Lynde Show (also produced by William Asher for the 1972–73 season) was to be cancelled.^[4][5][6] Asher was against the change and declined to continue with Temperatures Rising, resulting in him being replaced as producer by Duke Vincent and Bruce Johnson.^[3] Under them, Van Ark, Rose, and Fox were dropped from the cast along with Whitmore, thus retaining Little as the only returning member. The New Temperatures Rising Show, as the series was now retitled, began airing on September 25, 1973 (1973-09-25), and starred Paul Lynde as Dr. Paul Mercy, Sudie Bond as his mother Martha Mercy, Barbara Cason as Miss Tillis, the head nurse, Jennifer Darling as Nurse "Windy" Winchester, Jeff Morrow as Dr. Lloyd Axton, and Cleavon Little as Dr. Jerry Noland, while Jerry Houser was featured in a recurring role as an intern named Haskell.^[7] After only two episodes, Morrow was replaced by John Dehner as Dr. Charles Cleveland Claver.^[8] In this season Mercy was presented as the penny-pinching chief-of-staff, with his nagging mother as the owner of the hospital. Little's character was changed to the chief surgeon and "the only sane member of this medical madhouse".^[3][9]

The New Temperatures Rising Show ran for 13 episodes before being placed on hiatus on January 8, 1974 (1974-01-08).^[3][6] The ratings for the show were poor and, as a result, Mitchell asked Asher to return to the series as the producer and restore it to its original format—albeit with Paul Lynde continuing in the lead.^[6][10] For the third format of the series—which reverted to the original title of Temperatures Rising—Bond, Cason, Darling, Dehner, and Houser were dropped from the cast while Lynde and Little continued as, respectively, Dr. Mercy and Dr. Nolan. Added to the line-up were Alice Ghostley as Nurse Edwina Moffitt, sister of Dr. Mercy, and Barbara Rucker as Nurse Kelly, while Nancy Fox, from the first-season cast, returned as Nurse Ellen Turner.^[6] Offered as a summer replacement on Thursday nights, the third format of the sitcom ran for seven episodes from July 18 to August 29, 1974 (1974-08-29), after which it was canceled permanently.