The Detectives

1959 · 3 seasons · Action & Adventure

6.7 Modest

Series finished

Action & Adventure Drama

The Detectives is an American crime drama series which ran on ABC during its first two seasons, and on NBC during its third and final season. The series, starring motion picture star Robert Taylor, was produced by Four Star Television. Captain Matt Holbrook (Robert Taylor) is head of the detective division of a large metropolitan police force—a man whose devotion to duty, professional brilliance, and quick judgment are reflected in his 20-year career on the force. His aides, Lt. Johnny Russo (Tige Andrews), Lt. Otto Lindstrom (Russ Thorson), and Sgt. Chris Ballard (Mark Goddard) form a team that is both proficient and warmly human. The stories stress the interrelationships between the men as well as the solutions to crimes and the apprehension of criminals, adding a dimension of human drama to the excitement, action, and suspense inherent in each story of the detectives' difficult, sometimes thankless, and frequently dangerous assignments.

Country of origin: 🇺🇸 United States
Year: 1959

Created by: Jules V. Levy
Channel: ABC

Trivia & behind the scenes

Origins

The series aired under several titles over its run, including The Detectives Starring Robert Taylor, Captain of Detectives, and Robert Taylor's Detectives.

Casting

Lee Farr left the series after the first season and was replaced in season two by Mark Goddard, who would later become famous as a star of Lost in Space.

Casting

Adam West joined the cast in the third season as Sgt. Steve Nelson, shortly before landing his career-defining role as Batman in the ABC series of the same name.

References

Future Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry worked as a contributing writer on the series.

References

Tige Andrews, who played Lt. Johnny Russo, later appeared in the original Star Trek series as the Klingon officer Kras in the episode 'Friday's Child', and went on to star as Captain Adam Greer in The Mod Squad.

Trivia

Star Robert Taylor's ex-wife Barbara Stanwyck later headlined her own hit series, The Big Valley, produced by the same team, Four Star/Levy-Gardner-Laven Productions, and also aired on ABC.

Reception

For its third and final season, the show moved from ABC to NBC, expanded from 30 to 60 minutes, and was retitled Robert Taylor's Detectives before ending after a total of 97 episodes in 1962.

Trivia

A tie-in novel based on the series was written by pulp author Norman A. Daniels for Lancer Books in 1962, and its cover, spine, and title page each used a different variant of the show's title.

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The Detectives

Trivia & behind the scenes

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