I received this message this morning and I'm going to omit the sender's name so as to not embarrass him. Just in case he wasn't deliberately trolling me…
The story I always heard about Run, Buddy Run! was that NBC wanted to cancel I Spy because it was costing so much in location shooting money. So they offered to greenlight Run, Buddy Run! for Sheldon Leonard's production company if he would let I Spy go off the air.
I think it was a bad bargain, all in all. Watching this episode again was painful.
There are a few problems with that story you always heard, starting with the fact that I Spy was on NBC and Run, Buddy, Run! was on CBS. Also, I Spy was a pretty popular show for its first few years and networks tend not to want to cancel popular shows…and when they do want to drop a program, they don't have to bribe the producer.
Also, I Spy was on NBC from September of 1965 until April of 1968, whereas Run, Buddy, Run! went on in September of '66 so even if it had been for the same network, it would not have displaced I Spy.
Also, Sheldon Leonard had nothing to do with Run, Buddy, Run!. The Exec Producer of that show was Leonard Stern, who was not the same person. Mr. Stern was a pretty successful creator and/or seller of TV programs including — in that era — Get Smart, The Hero, He & She, The Good Guys, The Governor & J.J., McMillan and Wife and I'm Dickens, He's Fenster.
But aside from all that, it's probably true.