Sea Hunt
The Birthday Present
TV Flash files “The Birthday Present” as hour 32 of 155 in the TV Flash guide — Sea Hunt (1958–1961) on Syndication, season 1, episode 32, aired 1958-08-16, 30 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S01E32: listed hour 32 of 155 in the Sea Hunt guide, hour 32 of 39 in season 1. It aired 1958-08-16 (30 min). The listed hour before it is “The Big Dive” (S01E31). Next is “Dead Man's Cove” (S01E33).
Viewer FAQ
Where does The Birthday Present sit in the Sea Hunt guide?
S01E32 is listed hour 32 of 155 — hour 32 of 39 in season 1, season 1 episode 32.
When did Sea Hunt S01E32 air?
The Birthday Present aired 1958-08-16 and is listed at 30 minutes.
Where should I start?
Start with Bridges underwater. Mike Nelson's assignments and the real diving footage are the show; you have the form in one dive.
In the series
Why this series still plays
Sea Hunt put Lloyd Bridges in scuba gear and made divers of a generation. Syndicated underwater adventure that popularized scuba as TV spectacle. In 2026 it is worth watching as location action before cheap CGI, plus the family-business lore of Beau and Jeff hanging around a set that actually went underwater.
The silhouette is a man in scuba, tanks on the back, California light turning the Pacific into a second red carpet nobody called a carpet. Sea Hunt (first-run syndication, 1958–1961) put Lloyd Bridges in the water for 155 episodes produced by Ivan Tors, real diving footage and aquatic stunts as the whole look. Ex-Navy frogman Mike Nelson takes dangerous underwater assignments off the coast. Kids watching in 1958 grew up wanting tanks for Christmas; the series is credited with boosting public interest in scuba.…
Filed against
- Lloyd Bridges as Mike Nelson
Lloyd Bridges put a generation in scuba as Mike Nelson on Sea Hunt — syndicated underwater adventure that made location action the spectacle and the ocean a weekly set. No cheap CGI, just a man and a tank. TV Flash files him as 1950s…