Viewers flipped for the megasmart dolphin that routinely helped his two young owners, Sandy and Bud, the sons of a widower living on the Florida shore (episodes were filmed in the Florida Keys and the Bahamas). Producer Ivan Tors, whose earlier credits included `Sea Hunt,' adapted the series from a 1963 film he worked on that made a splash, and later produced `Gentle Ben.' Flipper, by the way, was a male role filled by a female dolphin.