Bourbon Street Beat
Encyclopedia
Bourbon Street Beat is a private detective series which aired on the ABC
network from 1959-1960 and featured Andrew Duggan
as Cal Calhoun, Richard Long
as Rex Randolph, Van Williams
as Kenny Madison, and Arlene Howell
as Melody Lee Mercer, the secretary at the New Orleans detective agency in which they worked.
detective shows which aired on ABC during this era, but Bourbon Street Beat was not as successful as the others (except as a title which sticks in everyone's mind). When the series ended, the character of Rex Randolph moved to 77 Sunset Strip
, and the character of Kenny Madison moved to the spin-off
Surfside 6
, which aired in the Bourbon Street Beat time slot the following season. Only Andrew Duggan
's character, Cal Calhoun, immediately disappeared from the screen upon the show's cancellation, although viewers probably barely noticed, since the then-ubiquitous Duggan was constantly appearing on so many different television series in other roles.
To make the series setting authentic, ABC bought half-interest in the New Orleans restaurant
, The Absinth House, and placed the Randolph and Calhoun office above the eatery, although the series was nonetheless shot on the Warner Bros.
studio lot in Los Angeles.
had appeared several times on 1957's western series Maverick
and was a former Miss USA
; she appears to have retired from the screen after a last appearance as an understandably astonished Sergeant Carter's blind date on Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.
. Richard Long
went on to play the lead in the western series The Big Valley
(1965-69) and the sitcom Nanny and the Professor
(1970-71). Van Williams
eventually played The Green Hornet
(1966-67) opposite Bruce Lee
. Andrew Duggan
continued to portray an amazing number of character roles in films and television, including two other stints as series lead, taking over Cary Grant
's movie role in the short-lived television version of Room for One More
(1962), and as the sullen patriarch in Lancer
(1968-70), a western in the vein of Bonanza
, albeit darker and more complex.
... Cal Calhoun
Richard Long
... Rex Randolph
Van Williams
... Kenny Madison
Arlene Howell
... Melody Lee Mercer
Eddie Cole... The Baron
Nita Talbot
... Lusti Weather
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
network from 1959-1960 and featured Andrew Duggan
Andrew Duggan
-Career:During World War II, Duggan was in the 40th Special Services Company, led by actor Melvyn Douglas in the China Burma India Theater of World War II. His contact with Douglas later led to his performing with Lucille Ball in the play Dreamgirl. He developed a friendship with Broadway...
as Cal Calhoun, Richard Long
Richard Long (actor)
Richard Long was an American actor better known for his leading roles in several ABC television series, including The Big Valley, Nanny and the Professor and Bourbon Street Beat.-Early life:...
as Rex Randolph, Van Williams
Van Williams
Van Zandt Williams is a former actor best known for his television role as Britt Reid/the Green Hornet. He teamed for one season with the late Bruce Lee as his partner Kato, in the television series The Green Hornet, broadcast on ABC during the 1966-67 season.Williams was also known for his...
as Kenny Madison, and Arlene Howell
Arlene Howell
Arlene Howell , a.k.a. Eurlyne Howell, was an American television actress who held the Miss USA 1958 title.Howell became the first of three Miss Louisiana USA titleholders to win the Miss USA crown when she won the Miss USA 1958 pageant held in Long Beach, California in July 1958...
as Melody Lee Mercer, the secretary at the New Orleans detective agency in which they worked.
Characters
The series was one of several Warner Bros.Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
detective shows which aired on ABC during this era, but Bourbon Street Beat was not as successful as the others (except as a title which sticks in everyone's mind). When the series ended, the character of Rex Randolph moved to 77 Sunset Strip
77 Sunset Strip
77 Sunset Strip is an hour-length American television private detective series created by Roy Huggins and starring Efrem Zimbalist, Jr., Roger Smith, and Edd Byrnes....
, and the character of Kenny Madison moved to the spin-off
Spin-off (media)
In media, a spin-off is a radio program, television program, video game, or any narrative work, derived from one or more already existing works, that focuses, in particular, in more detail on one aspect of that original work...
Surfside 6
Surfside 6
Surfside 6 was an ABC television series which aired from 1960 to 1962. The show centered around a Miami Beach detective agency set on a houseboat and featured Troy Donahue as Sandy Winfield, II; Van Williams as Kenny Madison ; and Lee Patterson as Dave Thorne...
, which aired in the Bourbon Street Beat time slot the following season. Only Andrew Duggan
Andrew Duggan
-Career:During World War II, Duggan was in the 40th Special Services Company, led by actor Melvyn Douglas in the China Burma India Theater of World War II. His contact with Douglas later led to his performing with Lucille Ball in the play Dreamgirl. He developed a friendship with Broadway...
's character, Cal Calhoun, immediately disappeared from the screen upon the show's cancellation, although viewers probably barely noticed, since the then-ubiquitous Duggan was constantly appearing on so many different television series in other roles.
To make the series setting authentic, ABC bought half-interest in the New Orleans restaurant
Restaurant
A restaurant is an establishment which prepares and serves food and drink to customers in return for money. Meals are generally served and eaten on premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services...
, The Absinth House, and placed the Randolph and Calhoun office above the eatery, although the series was nonetheless shot on the Warner Bros.
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
studio lot in Los Angeles.
Legacy
Arlene HowellArlene Howell
Arlene Howell , a.k.a. Eurlyne Howell, was an American television actress who held the Miss USA 1958 title.Howell became the first of three Miss Louisiana USA titleholders to win the Miss USA crown when she won the Miss USA 1958 pageant held in Long Beach, California in July 1958...
had appeared several times on 1957's western series Maverick
Maverick (TV series)
Maverick is a western television series with comedic overtones created by Roy Huggins. The show ran from September 22, 1957 to July 8, 1962 on ABC and stars James Garner as Bret Maverick, a cagey, articulate cardsharp. Eight episodes into the first season, he was joined by Jack Kelly as his brother...
and was a former Miss USA
Miss USA
The Miss USA beauty contest has been held annually since 1952 to select the United States entrant in the Miss Universe pageant. The Miss Universe Organization operates both pageants, as well as Miss Teen USA...
; she appears to have retired from the screen after a last appearance as an understandably astonished Sergeant Carter's blind date on Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.
Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.
Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.The show renders the title as Gomer Pyle - USMC. is an American situation comedy that originally aired on CBS from September 25, 1964, to May 2, 1969. The series was a spinoff of The Andy Griffith Show, and the pilot was aired as the finale of the fourth season of The Andy...
. Richard Long
Richard Long (actor)
Richard Long was an American actor better known for his leading roles in several ABC television series, including The Big Valley, Nanny and the Professor and Bourbon Street Beat.-Early life:...
went on to play the lead in the western series The Big Valley
The Big Valley
The Big Valley is an American television Western which ran on ABC from September 15, 1965, to May 19, 1969, which starred Barbara Stanwyck, as a California widowed mother. It was created by A.I. Bezzerides and Louis F. Edelman...
(1965-69) and the sitcom Nanny and the Professor
Nanny and the Professor
Nanny and the Professor is a U.S. fantasy situation comedy created by AJ Carothers and Thomas L. Miller for 20th Century Fox Television. During pre-production, the proposed title was Nanny Will Do. The series first aired as a mid-season replacement on January 21, 1970, on ABC and was last telecast...
(1970-71). Van Williams
Van Williams
Van Zandt Williams is a former actor best known for his television role as Britt Reid/the Green Hornet. He teamed for one season with the late Bruce Lee as his partner Kato, in the television series The Green Hornet, broadcast on ABC during the 1966-67 season.Williams was also known for his...
eventually played The Green Hornet
The Green Hornet
The Green Hornet is an American radio and television masked vigilante created by George W. Trendle and Fran Striker, with input from radio director James Jewell, in 1936. Since his radio debut in the 1930s, the Green Hornet has appeared in numerous serialized dramas in a wide variety of media...
(1966-67) opposite Bruce Lee
Bruce Lee
Bruce Lee was a Chinese American, Hong Kong actor, martial arts instructor, philosopher, film director, film producer, screenwriter, and founder of the Jeet Kune Do martial arts movement...
. Andrew Duggan
Andrew Duggan
-Career:During World War II, Duggan was in the 40th Special Services Company, led by actor Melvyn Douglas in the China Burma India Theater of World War II. His contact with Douglas later led to his performing with Lucille Ball in the play Dreamgirl. He developed a friendship with Broadway...
continued to portray an amazing number of character roles in films and television, including two other stints as series lead, taking over Cary Grant
Cary Grant
Archibald Alexander Leach , better known by his stage name Cary Grant, was an English actor who later took U.S. citizenship...
's movie role in the short-lived television version of Room for One More
Room for One More (TV series)
Room for One More is a short-lived 1962 ABC situation comedy, principally starring Andrew Duggan and Peggy McCay as the heads of the Rose family. Its humor derives from their decision to augment their existing family with two adopted children...
(1962), and as the sullen patriarch in Lancer
Lancer (TV series)
Lancer is a 1968-1970 Western television series on CBS, which starred Andrew Duggan, James Stacy, and Wayne Maunder as a father with two half-brother sons, an arrangement similar to the more successful Bonanza on NBC....
(1968-70), a western in the vein of Bonanza
Bonanza
Bonanza is an American western television series that both ran on and was a production of NBC from September 12, 1959 to January 16, 1973. Lasting 14 seasons and 430 episodes, it ranks as the second longest running western series and still continues to air in syndication. It centers on the...
, albeit darker and more complex.
Cast
Andrew DugganAndrew Duggan
-Career:During World War II, Duggan was in the 40th Special Services Company, led by actor Melvyn Douglas in the China Burma India Theater of World War II. His contact with Douglas later led to his performing with Lucille Ball in the play Dreamgirl. He developed a friendship with Broadway...
... Cal Calhoun
Richard Long
Richard Long (actor)
Richard Long was an American actor better known for his leading roles in several ABC television series, including The Big Valley, Nanny and the Professor and Bourbon Street Beat.-Early life:...
... Rex Randolph
Van Williams
Van Williams
Van Zandt Williams is a former actor best known for his television role as Britt Reid/the Green Hornet. He teamed for one season with the late Bruce Lee as his partner Kato, in the television series The Green Hornet, broadcast on ABC during the 1966-67 season.Williams was also known for his...
... Kenny Madison
Arlene Howell
Arlene Howell
Arlene Howell , a.k.a. Eurlyne Howell, was an American television actress who held the Miss USA 1958 title.Howell became the first of three Miss Louisiana USA titleholders to win the Miss USA crown when she won the Miss USA 1958 pageant held in Long Beach, California in July 1958...
... Melody Lee Mercer
Eddie Cole... The Baron
Nita Talbot
Nita Talbot
Nita Talbot is an American actress. Talbot was a leading lady who spent the first decade or so of her career playing "slick chicks" and sharp-witted career girls, but is perhaps best known for her role as Marya, the White Russian spy in the 1960s sitcom, Hogan's Heroes, as well as Sheila Fine in...
... Lusti Weather
Episode list
| No. | Title | Initial airing | Director | Writer(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Taste of Ashes | October 5, 1959 | Leslie H. Martinson | Charles Hoffman & Al C. Ward |
| 2 | Mourning Cloak | October 12, 1959 | James V. Kern | Sig Herzig |
| 3 | Torch Song for Trumpet | October 19, 1959 | Jim Barnett & Leo Townsend | |
| 4 | Woman in the River with Mary Tyler Moore Mary Tyler Moore Mary Tyler Moore is an American actress, primarily known for her roles in television sitcoms. Moore is best known for The Mary Tyler Moore Show , in which she starred as Mary Richards, a 30-something single woman who worked as a local news producer in Minneapolis, and for her earlier role as... |
October 26, 1959 | Luthar Davis | |
| 5 | Girl in Trouble with Russ Conway Russ Conway (actor) Russ Conway was a Canadian-American character actor who appeared on film and television between 1947 and 1975.-Early years:... |
November 2, 1959 | Reginald LeBorg | John Hawkins & Ward Hawkins |
| 6 | Tiger Moth | November 9, 1959 | ||
| 7 | Secret of Hyacinth Bayou | November 16, 1959 | ||
| 8 | Invitation to a Murder | November 23, 1959 | Richard LeBorg | Stephen Lord |
| 9 | Mrs. Viner Vanishes | November 30, 1959 | ||
| 10 | Light Touch of Terror | December 7, 1959 | William J. Hole Jr. | |
| 11 | The Golden Beetle | December 14, 1959 | ||
| 12 | The Black Magnolia with Mary Tyler Moore Mary Tyler Moore Mary Tyler Moore is an American actress, primarily known for her roles in television sitcoms. Moore is best known for The Mary Tyler Moore Show , in which she starred as Mary Richards, a 30-something single woman who worked as a local news producer in Minneapolis, and for her earlier role as... |
December 21, 1959 | Reginald LeBorg | Earl Baldwin |
| 13 | Portrait of Lenore | December 28, 1959 | ||
| 14 | Kill With Kindness | January 4, 1960 | William J. Hole Jr. | |
| 15 | Inside Man | January 11, 1960 | ||
| 16 | Find My Face | January 18, 1960 | ||
| 17 | Knock on Any Tombstone | January 25, 1960 | William J. Hole Jr. | |
| 18 | Key to the City | February 1, 1960 | James V. Kern | Robert C. Dennis |
| 19 | The 10% Blues | February 8, 1960 | William J. Hole Jr. | Hugh Benson & Dick Nelson |
| 20 | Melody in Diamonds | February 15, 1960 | ||
| 21 | The House of Ledezan | February 22, 1960 | William J. Hole Jr. | David Evans |
| 22 | Target for Hate | March 7, 1960 | Richard Matheson & William L. Stuart | |
| 23 | The Missing Queen with Roscoe Ates Roscoe Ates Roscoe Ates was an actor and musician in primarily western films and television.-Early years:Ates was born in the rural hamlet of Grange, Mississippi, northwest of Hattiesburg. Grange is no longer included on road maps... |
March 14, 1960 | Dorothy B. Hughes & Doris Gilbert | |
| 24 | Neon Nightmare with Randy Stuart Randy Stuart Randy Stuart, born as Elizabeth Shaubell , was an American actress whose longest running role was as Louise Baker, the wife of the Cold War spy in the 26-episode adventure television series, Biff Baker, U.S.A., which aired on CBS, with Alan Hale, Jr., as the title character... as Beejay |
March 21, 1960 | William J. Hole Jr. | Dean Riesner |
| 25 | Wall of Silence | March 28, 1960 | Sam Ross | |
| 26 | Twice Betrayed with Tyler McVey Tyler McVey Tyler McVey was an American character actor.-Early life and career:McVey was born in Bay City on Saginaw Bay in the Lower Peninsula of Michigan. His first screen role, uncredited, came at the age of 39 in 1951, when he portrayed Brady in the The Day the Earth Stood Still... and Judson Pratt Judson Pratt Judson Pratt was an American actor whose longest continuing work was in thirteen episodes of ABC's Walt Disney Presents and NBC's Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color. A native of Hingham in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, Pratt appeared in numerous television westerns and drama series from... |
April 4, 1960 | William Bruckner | |
| 27 | Swampfire | April 11, 1960 | Robert B. Sinclair | Sig Herzig & Dean Riesner |
| 28 | If a Body | April 18, 1960 | Charles Hoffman & Irving Elman | |
| 29 | Six Hours to Midnight | April 25, 1960 | Lee Loeb & Richard Bluel | |
| 30 | Last Exit | May 2, 1960 | Leslie H. Martinson | W. Hermanos |
| 31 | Deadly Persuasion | May 9, 1960 | Berne Giler & W. Hermanos | |
| 32 | Suitable for Framing | May 16, 1960 | Leslie H. Martinson | Charles Hoffman & Gerald Drayson Adams |
| 33 | False Identity | May 23, 1960 | William J. Hole Jr. | W. Hermanos & David Goodis |
| 34 | Green Hell | May 30, 1960 | Charles R. Rondeau | Al C. Ward |
| 35 | Ferry to Algiers | June 6, 1960 | William J. Hole Jr. | W. Hermanos |
| 36 | Wagon Show with Brad Johnson as Michael Reynard | June 13, 1960 | ||
| 37 | Interrupted Wedding with Patrick McVey Patrick McVey Patrick McVey was an American actor who starred in three television series between 1950 and 1961, Big Town, Boots and Saddles, and Manhunt.-Early life and career:... as John Crane and Randy Stuart as Betty Jane Robinson |
June 20, 1960 | William J. Hole Jr. | |
| 38 | Reunion | June 27, 1960 | William J. Hole Jr. | |
| 39 | Teresa | July 4, 1960 | William J. Hole Jr. |
External links
- Bourbon Street Beat at Thrilling Detectives website
- Bourbon Street Beat at the Internet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie Database is an online database of information related to movies, television shows, actors, production crew personnel, video games and fictional characters featured in visual entertainment media. It is one of the most popular online entertainment destinations, with over 100 million...
- Bourbon Street Beat at TV.comTV.comTV.com is a website owned by CBS Interactive. The site covers television and focuses on English-language shows made or broadcast in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland and Japan...