episodes of Route 66 featuring footage filmed outside the U.S. (Of the 4 US presidents who were assassinated, McKinley was shot less than 10 miles away from Niagara Falls, NY.) Scripts Route 66 was officially created by producer Herbert B. Leonard and writer Stirling Silliphant; Silliphant wrote the majority of the episodes (including the pilot) while Leonard did not write at all. It was notable for its dark storylines and exceptional realism. Tod and Buz frequently became involved with individuals whose almost nihilistic worldview made for occasionally frightening TV. Some 50 years after its premiere, Route 66 is still one of the few TV series to offer such a range of socially conscious stories, including mercy killing, the threat of nuclear annihilation, terrorism, runaways, and orphans. Other episodes dealt with the mentally ill, lupus, drug addiction, or gang violence. Some stories were lighthearted, such as a memorable episode featuring Richard Basehart as a folklorist trying to record the music of an isolated Appalachian community, and a Halloween episode called "Lizard's Leg and Owlet's Wing". One of the last episodes (113/116) was outright slapstick comedy (with even a pie fight), costarring Soupy Sales, and entitled "This Is Going to Hurt Me More Than It Hurts You". Theme song Nelson Riddle was commissioned to write the instrumental theme when CBS decided to have a new song, rather than pay royalties for the Bobby Troup song "(Get Your Kicks on) Route 66." Riddle's "Route 66 Theme" instrumental was one of the first television themes to make Billboard magazine's top 30, following Ray Anthony's "Dragnet Theme" (in 1953), Anthony's version of Henry Mancini's "Peter Gunn Theme" (in 1959) and Mancini's "Mr. Lucky Theme" (in 1960). The song earned two Grammy nominations in 1962. Billy Vaughn recorded a version of Riddle's theme (also instrumental, but with a wordless vocal chorus contributing to the melody) for his 1962 album Chapel by the Sea. A vocal version, retitled "Open Highway" and featuring lyrics by Stanley Styne, was recorded by jazz singer Teri Thornton and reached number 150 in the Music Vendor survey of October 1963. Awards and nominations In 1962, Ethel Waters, playing Jenny Henderson in the "Goodnight, Sweet Blues" episode, was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Single Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role, making her the first African-American performer, male or female, to receive one for dramatic performance. Also in 1962,