The Detectives (1959 TV series)

*The Detectives*
The Detectives
	Robert Taylor as Capt. Matt Holbrook and wife Ursula Thiess as Lisa Bonay in The Detectives
Also known as	Robert Taylor's Detectives Captain of Detectives
Genre	Crime drama
Written by	Lee Berg; Borden Chase; Patricia Chase; Calvin Clements Sr.; Norman T. Herman; Michael Morris; Louis Pelletier; Gene Roddenberry; Alvin Sapinsley; Palmer Thompson
Directed by	Lewis Allen; Richard Carlson; Thomas Carr; Alvin Ganzer; Murray Golden; Arthur Hiller; Arnold Laven; Don McDougall; Don Medford; Ted Post; Paul Wendkos
Starring	Robert Taylor; Tige Andrews; Russell Thorson; Lee Farr; Mark Goddard; Adam West
Composer	Herschel Burke Gilbert
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	3
No. of episodes	97
Production
Producers	Levy-Gardner-Laven; Arthur H. Nadel
Cinematography	Joseph F. Biroc; Wilfred M. Cline
Editors	Lyle Boyer; Marsh Hendry
Running time	25 minutes; (1959–1961); 50 minutes; (1961–1962)
Release
Original network	ABC (1959–1961); NBC (1961–1962)
Original release	October 16, 1959 –; May 18, 1962

The Detectives (also known as The Detectives Starring Robert Taylor, Captain of Detectives, and Robert Taylor's Detectives) is an American crime drama series which ran on ABC during its first two seasons (sponsored by Procter & Gamble), and on NBC during its third and final season. The series, starring motion picture star Robert Taylor, was produced by Four Star Television in association with Levy-Gardner-Laven Productions.[1]

Synopsis

Taylor stars as Detective Captain Matt Holbrook, the tough, no-nonsense head of an elite police investigative unit in a major U.S. city. Ostensibly, each man in Holbrook's hand-picked squad of detectives came from a different division. Lt. Johnny Russo (Tige Andrews) was from burglary, Lt. Jim Conway (Lee Farr) came from homicide, and Lt. Otto Lindstrom (Russell Thorson) was from the bunco squad.[2]

Production

In the series' second season, Farr left the series and was replaced by Mark Goddard as Detective Sgt. Chris Ballard. Future Batman star Adam West joined the cast during the third season as Sgt. Steve Nelson. The series moved to NBC for its third season and was increased from 30 to 60 minutes. The series was also retitled to Robert Taylor's Detectives. A total of 97 episodes were produced before the series was cancelled in 1962.[3] The series was produced for Four Star by Levy-Gardner-Laven Productions, which produced other successful Four Star series, such as The Rifleman and The Big Valley.

Future Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry was a contributing writer to the series.

Cast

Robert Taylor as Det. Capt. Matt Holbrook
Tige Andrews as Lt. John "Johnny" Russo
Russell Thorson as Lt. Otto Lindstrom (1959-1961)
Lee Farr as Lt. James "Jimmy" Conway (1959-1960)
Mark Goddard as Sgt. Chris Ballard (1960-1962)
Ursula Thiess as Lisa Bonay (1960-1961)
Adam West as Sgt. Steve Nelson (1961-1962)

Guest stars

Episodes

Season 1: 1959–60

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date	Prod. code
1	1	"The Streger Affair"	Arnold Laven	Palmer Thompson	October 16, 1959 (1959-10-16)	66-03
2	2	"Shot in the Dark"	Arnold Laven	Christopher Knopf	October 23, 1959 (1959-10-23)	2810
3	3	"The Hiding Place"	Joseph H. Lewis	Donald S. Sanford	October 30, 1959 (1959-10-30)	7102
4	4	"Decoy"	James Neilson	Louis Pelletier	November 6, 1959 (1959-11-06)	2830
5	5	"The Murderous Deadline"	Don Medford	Palmer Thompson	November 13, 1959 (1959-11-13)	2826
6	6	"The Bait"	Don Medford	Leonard Freeman	November 20, 1959 (1959-11-20)	2836
7	7	"My Name is Tommy"	Joseph H. Lewis	Peter Packer	November 27, 1959 (1959-11-27)	2812
8	8	"Back-Seat Driver"	Arthur Hiller	Meyer Dolinsky	December 4, 1959 (1959-12-04)	2834
9	9	"Two-Time Loser"	Don Medford	Robert J. Shaw	December 11, 1959 (1959-12-11)	2802
10	10	"The Long Drive"	Don Medford	Stanley Niss	December 18, 1959 (1959-12-18)	7106
11	11	"Masquerade"	Stuart Rosenberg	Richard Collins	December 25, 1959 (1959-12-25)	2808
12	12	"Life in the Balance"	Don Medford	Joseph Stefano	January 1, 1960 (1960-01-01)	2816
13	13	"Karate"	Ted Post	Gene Roddenberry	January 8, 1960 (1960-01-08)	2832
14	14	"Blue Fire"	Don Medford	Gene Roddenberry	January 15, 1960 (1960-01-15)	2842
15	15	"My Brother's Keeper"	Don Medford	Herbert Abbott Spiro	January 22, 1960 (1960-01-22)	2820
16	16	"House Call"	Arnold Laven	Peter Parker	January 29, 1960 (1960-01-29)	7104
17	17	"The Trap"	Don Medford	Herbert Abbott Spiro	February 5, 1960 (1960-02-05)	2844
18	18	"Conspiracy of Silence"	Stuart Rosenberg	Peter Packer	February 12, 1960 (1960-02-12)	2806
19	19	"Twelve Hours to Live"	Arthur Hiller	Peter Packer	February 19, 1960 (1960-02-19)	2814
20	20	"Anatomy of Fear"	Don Medford	Joseph Petracca	February 26, 1960 (1960-02-26)	2846
21	21	"Armed and Dangerous"	William Graham	Louis Pelletier	March 4, 1960 (1960-03-04)	2838
22	22	"The Bad Eye of Rosa Rosetti"	Don Medford	Joseph Stefano	March 11, 1960 (1960-03-11)	2840
23	23	"Time and Tide"	Harry Keller	David P. Harmon	March 18, 1960 (1960-03-18)	2850
24	24	"Little Girl Lost"	Don Medford	Calvin Clements Sr.	March 25, 1960 (1960-03-25)	2848
25	25	"The Chameleon Truck"	Robert B. Sinclair	Robert B. Sinclair	April 1, 1960 (1960-04-01)	2822
26	26	"The Old Gang"	Ted Post	Curtis Kenyon	April 8, 1960 (1960-04-08)	2854
27	27	"The Bodyguards"	James Yarbrough	Palmer Thompson	April 15, 1960 (1960-04-15)	2856
28	28	"The Prowler"	Arnold Laven	Story by : Alfred Brenner Teleplay by : Milton Gelman	April 22, 1960 (1960-04-22)	2852
29	29	"Floating Face Down"	Felix E. Feist	Michael Plant	April 29, 1960 (1960-04-29)	2804
30	30	"The Long Jump"	Paul Wendkos	Peter Packer	May 6, 1960 (1960-05-06)	2824
31	31	"Trial by Fire"	Richard Whorf	Stanley Niss	May 13, 1960 (1960-05-13)	2828
32	32	"The Retirement of Maria Muir"	Paul Wendkos	Judy & George W. George	May 20, 1960 (1960-05-20)	2818
33	33	"Song of Songs"	Don Medford	Joseph Stefano	May 27, 1960 (1960-05-27)	2862

Season 2: 1960–61

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date
34	1	"The New Man"	Don Medford	Lee Karson	September 16, 1960 (1960-09-16)
35	2	"Longshot"	John Rich	Borden & Patricia Chase	September 23, 1960 (1960-09-23)
36	3	"The Sports Job"	Arnold Laven	Harry Kronman	September 30, 1960 (1960-09-30)
37	4	"Alibis"	Alvin Ganzer	Michael Morris	October 7, 1960 (1960-10-07)
38	5	"Shuttle"	Alvin Ganzer	Peter Packer	October 14, 1960 (1960-10-14)
39	6	"Cop on Trial"	Roger Kay	Borden & Patricia Chase	November 4, 1960 (1960-11-04)
40	7	"The Little Witness"	Arthur Hiller	Lee Berg	November 11, 1960 (1960-11-11)
41	8	"You Only Die Once"	Arthur Hiller	David Harmon	November 18, 1960 (1960-11-18)
42	9	"Adopted"	Ted Post	Story by : Erna Lazarus Teleplay by : Harry Kronman & Erna Lazarus	November 25, 1960 (1960-11-25)
43	10	"The Other Side"	Paul Wendkos	Borden & Patricia Chase	December 2, 1960 (1960-12-02)
44	11	"The Scalpel"	John Rich	Palmer Thompson	December 9, 1960 (1960-12-09)
45	12	"Big Poison"	Gerald Mayer	Ellis Marcus	December 16, 1960 (1960-12-16)
46	13	"The Informer"	William F. Claxton	Henry Greenberg	December 23, 1960 (1960-12-23)
47	14	"Razor's Edge"	Paul Wendkos	Lawrence Dobkin	December 30, 1960 (1960-12-30)
48	15	"The Frightened Ones"	Lamont Johnson	Gordon Gordon & Mildred Gordon	January 6, 1961 (1961-01-06)
49	16	"Power Failure"	Lewis Allen	Laurence Mascott	January 13, 1961 (1961-01-13)
50	17	"Kinfolk"	Don Weis	Jay Simms	January 20, 1961 (1961-01-20)
51	18	"Quiet Night"	Dick Moder	George Bruce	January 27, 1961 (1961-01-27)
52	19	"See No Evil"	Tom Gries	John K. Butler & Boyd Correll	February 3, 1961 (1961-02-03)
53	20	"Personal Enemy"	Robert Butler	A. I. Bezzerides	February 10, 1961 (1961-02-10)
54	21	"Matt's Woman"	Lewis Allen	Story by : Donn Mullally Teleplay by : Donn Mullally & Harry Kronman	February 17, 1961 (1961-02-17)
55	22	"An Eye for an Eye"	James Clavell	Mort Thaw	February 24, 1961 (1961-02-24)
56	23	"Bad Apple"	Paul Wendkos	Howard Dimsdale	March 3, 1961 (1961-03-03)

Season 3: 1961–62

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date
68	1	"Tobey's Place"	Paul Wendkos	Michael Morris	September 29, 1961 (1961-09-29)
69	2	"The Legend of Jim Riva"	Richard Carlson	Story by : Arthur Browne Jr. Teleplay by : John K. Butler & Boyd Correll	October 6, 1961 (1961-10-06)
70	3	"Shadow of His Brother"	Richard Carlson	Palmer Thompson	October 13, 1961 (1961-10-13)
71	4	"A Barrell Full of Monkeys"	Robert Butler	Calvin Clements Sr.	October 27, 1961 (1961-10-27)
72	5	"One Lucky Break"	Thomas Carr	Alvin Sapinsley	November 3, 1961 (1961-11-03)
73	6	"A Piece of Tomorrow"	Walter Doniger	Lee Berg	November 10, 1961 (1961-11-10)
74	7	"Beyond a Reasonable Doubt"	Alvin Ganzer	Herman Groves	November 17, 1961 (1961-11-17)
75	8	"Hit and Miss"	Richard Carlson	Louis Pelletier	December 1, 1961 (1961-12-01)
76	9	"Song of the Guilty Heart"	Ted Post	Michael Morris	December 8, 1961 (1961-12-08)
77	10	"Escort"	Richard Carlson	Ed Adamson	December 15, 1961 (1961-12-15)
78	11	"The Queen of Craven Point"	Thomas Carr	Calvin Clements Sr.	December 22, 1961 (1961-12-22)
79	12	"Act of God"	Paul Wendkos	Jack Laird	December 29, 1961 (1961-12-29)
80	13	"Point of No Return"	Charles F. Haas	Calvin Clements Sr.	January 12, 1962 (1962-01-12)
81	14	"Crossed Wires"	Richard Carlson	Antony Ellis	January 19, 1962 (1962-01-19)
82	15	"Night on the Town"	Robert Butler	Elliot West	January 26, 1962 (1962-01-26)
83	16	"Pandora's Box"	Paul Wendkos	Calvin Clements Sr.	February 2, 1962 (1962-02-02)
84	17	"The Jagged Edge"	Alvin Ganzer	A.I. Bezzerides	February 9, 1962 (1962-02-09)
85	18	"The Outsider"	Thomas Carr	Barry Trivers	February 16, 1962 (1962-02-16)
86	19	"Walk a Crooked Line"	Lewis Allen	Clark Howat	February 23, 1962 (1962-02-23)
87	20	"Night Boat"	Arthur Hiller	Calvin Clements Sr.	March 2, 1962 (1962-03-02)
88	21	"One Lousy Wednesday"	Lewis Allen	Alvin Sapinsley	March 9, 1962 (1962-03-09)
89	22	"The Con Man"	Paul Wendkos	Lewis Reed	March 16, 1962 (1962-03-16)
90	23	"Never The Twain"	Richard Donner	Calvin Clements Sr.	March 23, 1962 (1962-03-23)
91	24	"Three Blind Mice: Part 1"	Paul Wendkos	Alvin Sapinsley	March 30, 1962 (1962-03-30)
92	25	"Three Blind Mice: Part 2"	Paul Wendkos	Alvin Sapinsley	April 6, 1962 (1962-04-06)
93	26	"Finders Keepers"	Paul Wendkos	Don Brinkley	April 13, 1962 (1962-04-13)
94	27	"The Fourth Commandment"	Lawrence Dobkin	Lee Berg	April 20, 1962 (1962-04-20)
95	28	"The Walls Have Eyes"	Alvin Ganzer	Gordon Gordon, Mildred Gordon, & Anthony Boucher	April 27, 1962 (1962-04-27)
96	29	"Strangers in the House"	Tom Gries	Peter Stephens	May 4, 1962 (1962-05-04)
97	30	"Saturday Edition"	Robert Butler	Sy Salkowitz	May 18, 1962 (1962-05-18)

Release

Syndication

In syndication, the series was rebroadcast for a time under the name, Captain of Detectives. Rebroadcasts were shown in the early 2000s on cable's TV Land network.

Home media

The Detectives has been released in Germany (in dubbed German language only) under the name "Kein Fall für FBI" As of 2019, there has been no official release of Robert Taylor's "The Detectives" on DVD in the U.S.

Other media

Paperback Novel

Prolific pulpsmith Norman A. Daniels was tapped by Lancer Books to write an original novel based on the series' concept and characters, and the book, named for the series, was released in 1962, with a cover price of 35¢, its copyright assigned to the author. It manages to sport all three iterations of the title: The cover, beneath a close-up photo of the star's eyes, says Robert Taylor starring in The Detectives; the spine says merely The Detectives and then cites the author; the title page proclaims Robert Taylor's Detectives.

Comic book

Dell Comics issued a comic book rendition of Robert Taylor's "The Detectives" during the series run .[4][5][6]

A few years after The Detectives ended, Barbara Stanwyck, Robert Taylor's ex-wife, had her very own successful series also produced by Four Star/Levy-Gardner-Laven Productions, The Big Valley, which also aired on ABC.

Several cast members on The Detectives went on to major TV roles after the series ended:

Robert Taylor, series star of The Detectives, who played Det.Capt. Matt Holbrook, went on to star in the successful syndicated TV series Death Valley Days, where he remained until his death in 1969. He had enjoyed a long and successful film career as a leading man in over 70 films- prior to starring in The Detectives.
Adam West, who was added to the cast in The Detectives' final season as Det. Steve Nelson, went on to play the lead role in the ABC series Batman.
Tige Andrews, who played Det. Johnny Russo, went on to play as Police Detective Captain Adam Greer in ABC's The Mod Squad. He also appeared in the original Star Trek as Klingon officer Kras in the episode "Friday's Child".
Mark Goddard, who played Det. Chris Ballard, went on to star in the CBS sci-fi series Lost in Space. Prior to the Detectives, Goddard co-starred in the popular (but cancelled after one season), CBS-TV series, Johnny Ringo, also produced by Four Star.
Russell Thorson, who played Det. Otto Lindstrom, had a long list of film and TV credits before and after The Detectives, including the TV movie "Cocoon", the pilot episode of the original TV series Hawaii Five-O starring Jack Lord.

References

Brown, Les (1992). Les Brown's Encyclopedia of Television (3 ed.). Gale Research. pp. 152. ISBN 0-8103-8871-5.
"The Detectives".
Wayne, Jane Ellen (2006). The Leading Men of MGM. Carroll & Graf Publishers. pp. 187–188. ISBN 0-7867-1768-8.
"four-color-series-ii-issue-1168". ComicBookRealm.com.
"four-color-series-ii-issue-1219". ComicBookRealm.com.
"four-color-series-ii-issue-1240". ComicBookRealm.com.

External links

The Detectives at IMDb
The Detectives starring Robert Taylor - Series Info and Episode Guide
Amazon Customer Discussions- The Detectives-Starring Robert Taylor
The Detectives opening sequence (with syndicated name/logo "Captain Of Detectives"- YouTube
The Detectives closing sequence as originally broadcast - YouTube
The Shuttle The Detectives complete season 2 episode
Terror on Ice The Detectives: with Robert Taylor, Russell Thorson, Tige Andrews, and Mark Goddard
Audio Narrative of The Detectives

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[1] Brown, Les (1992). Les Brown's Encyclopedia of Television (3 ed.). Gale Research. pp. 152. ISBN 0-8103-8871-5.

[2] "The Detectives".

[3] Wayne, Jane Ellen (2006). The Leading Men of MGM. Carroll & Graf Publishers. pp. 187–188. ISBN 0-7867-1768-8.

[4] "four-color-series-ii-issue-1168". ComicBookRealm.com.

[5] "four-color-series-ii-issue-1219". ComicBookRealm.com.

[6] "four-color-series-ii-issue-1240". ComicBookRealm.com.