Checkmate

Checkmate was created by novelist and screenwriter Eric Ambler and produced by Jack Benny's own production company, JaMco Productions, in cooperation with Revue Studios.

Series star Anthony George left his recurring role as Federal Agent Cam Allison on The Untouchables, starring Robert Stack, in order to lead this new series.

The show featured an unusually large roster of prominent guest stars over its run, including Charles Laughton, Peter Lorre, Lee Marvin, Mickey Rooney, Joan Fontaine, Ralph Bellamy, and many other well-known film and TV actors.

Jack Benny himself, whose company produced the series, appeared as a guest actor in the 1962 episode "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Game."

Some exterior scenes for the series were filmed on location in San Francisco, where the fictional Checkmate, Inc. detective agency was based.

The show's opening and closing title sequence featured an icon of swirling liquid shapes, accompanied by theme music composed by John Williams.

The series was a critical favorite and finished the 1960-61 season ranked #21 among all series, though it later lost ratings ground opposite The Perry Como Show on NBC and was eventually replaced by The Beverly Hillbillies.

In 1961, John J. Lloyd won the show's sole Emmy nomination, for Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction and Scenic Design.

In 1962, Gold Key Comics published a two-issue comic book series based on the show.