The Detectives Starring Robert Taylor
Encyclopedia
The Detectives Starring Robert Taylor (also known as Robert Taylor's 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. Starring motion picture star Robert Taylor
, the series was produced by Four Star Television
.
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. 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 thirty to sixty minutes. The series was also retitled to Robert Taylor's Detectives. A total of 97 episodes were produced before the series was canceled in 1962. 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
.
network.The Detectives , as of 2011, has yet to see a DVD release in the U.S., but has been released in Germany under the name "Kein Fall für FBI" http://www.amazon.de/dp/B0056CZP3E
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
crime drama
Police procedural
The police procedural is a subgenre of detective fiction which attempts to convincingly depict the activities of a police force as they investigate crimes. While traditional detective novels usually concentrate on a single crime, police procedurals frequently depict investigations into several...
series which ran on ABC
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...
during its first two seasons, and on NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
during its third and final season. Starring motion picture star Robert Taylor
Robert Taylor (actor)
Robert Taylor was an American film and television actor.-Early life:Born Spangler Arlington Brugh in Filley, Nebraska, he was the son of Ruth Adaline and Spangler Andrew Brugh, who was a farmer turned doctor...
, the series was produced by Four Star Television
Four Star Television
Four Star Television, also called Four Star International, was an American television production company. Founded in 1952 as Four Star Productions by prominent Hollywood actors Dick Powell, David Niven, Ida Lupino, and Charles Boyer, the company produced many well-known shows of the early days of...
.
Synopsis
Taylor stars as Detective Captain Matt Holbrook, the tough, no-nonsense head of an elite policePolice
The police is a personification of the state designated to put in practice the enforced law, protect property and reduce civil disorder in civilian matters. Their powers include the legitimized use of force...
investigative unit in a major U.S.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
city
City
A city is a relatively large and permanent settlement. Although there is no agreement on how a city is distinguished from a town within general English language meanings, many cities have a particular administrative, legal, or historical status based on local law.For example, in the U.S...
. Ostensibly, each man in Holbrook's hand-picked squad of detectives came from a different division. Lt. Johnny Russo (Tige Andrews
Tige Andrews
Tige Andrews was an American character actor. His work includes the role of Captain Adam Greer on the late 1960s-to-early 1970s television series The Mod Squad and Detective Lt...
) was from burglary, Lt. Jim Conway (Lee Farr) came from Homicide and Lt. Otto Lindstrom (Russell Thorson
Russell Thorson
----Russell Thorson , was an American actor, perhaps best known for his co- starring role as Det. Lt. Otto Lindstrom in the ABC late '50's hit crime series, The Detectives- Career :Born in Wisconsin, USA...
) was from the Bunco Squad. In the series' second season, Farr left the series and was replaced by Mark Goddard
Mark Goddard
Mark Goddard is an American film actor who has starred in a number of television programs. He portrayed Major Don West, the space adversary of Dr. Zachary Smith in the cult 1960s CBS series, Lost in Space, and Detective Sgt...
as Detective Sgt. Chris Ballard. Future Batman
Batman (TV series)
Batman is an American television series, based on the DC comic book character of the same name. It stars Adam West as Batman and Burt Ward as Robin — two crime-fighting heroes who defend Gotham City. It aired on the American Broadcasting Company network for three seasons from January 12, 1966 to...
star Adam West
Adam West
William West Anderson , better known by the stage name Adam West, is an American actor best known for his lead role in the Batman TV series and the film of the same name...
joined the cast during the third season as Sgt. Steve Nelson.
The series moved to NBC for its third season and was increased from thirty to sixty minutes. The series was also retitled to Robert Taylor's Detectives. A total of 97 episodes were produced before the series was canceled in 1962. The series was produced for Four Star by Levy-Gardner-Laven
Levy-Gardner-Laven
Levy-Gardner-Laven Productions was an American film production company based in Beverly Hills, California.The principals, Jules V. Levy, Arthur Gardner, and Arnold Laven, met while serving in the Air Force's First Motion Picture Unit during World War II. While serving, they decided to form their...
Productions, which produced other successful Four Star series, such as The Rifleman
The Rifleman
The Rifleman is an American Western television program that starred Chuck Connors as homesteader Lucas McCain and Johnny Crawford as his son, Mark McCain. It was set in the 1880s in the town of North Fork, New Mexico Territory. The show, filmed in black-and-white with a half hour running time, ran...
, and 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...
.
Cast
- Robert TaylorRobert Taylor (actor)Robert Taylor was an American film and television actor.-Early life:Born Spangler Arlington Brugh in Filley, Nebraska, he was the son of Ruth Adaline and Spangler Andrew Brugh, who was a farmer turned doctor...
as Det. Capt. Matt Holbrook - Tige AndrewsTige AndrewsTige Andrews was an American character actor. His work includes the role of Captain Adam Greer on the late 1960s-to-early 1970s television series The Mod Squad and Detective Lt...
as Lt. John "Johnny" Russo - Lee Farr as Lt. James Conway (1959-1960)
- Mark GoddardMark GoddardMark Goddard is an American film actor who has starred in a number of television programs. He portrayed Major Don West, the space adversary of Dr. Zachary Smith in the cult 1960s CBS series, Lost in Space, and Detective Sgt...
as Sgt. Chris Ballard (1960-1962) - Ursula ThiessUrsula ThiessUrsula Thiess was a German film actress who had a brief Hollywood career in the 1950sThiess began her career on the stage in her native Germany and by dubbing female voices in American films as Ursula Schmidt...
as Lisa Bonay (1960-1961) - Russell ThorsonRussell Thorson----Russell Thorson , was an American actor, perhaps best known for his co- starring role as Det. Lt. Otto Lindstrom in the ABC late '50's hit crime series, The Detectives- Career :Born in Wisconsin, USA...
as Lt. Otto Lindstrom (1959-61) - Adam WestAdam WestWilliam West Anderson , better known by the stage name Adam West, is an American actor best known for his lead role in the Batman TV series and the film of the same name...
as Sgt. Steve Nelson (1961-62)
Guest stars
Numerous guests include:- Ronnie DapoRonnie DapoRonnie Dapo is an American former child actor who appeared in supporting roles in such television series as ABC's Room for One More and CBS's The New Phil Silvers Show .-Acting career:...
- Angie DickinsonAngie DickinsonAngie Dickinson is an American actress. She has appeared in more than fifty films, including Rio Bravo, Ocean's Eleven, Dressed to Kill and Pay It Forward, and starred on television as Sergeant Suzanne "Pepper" Anderson on the 1970s crime series Police Woman.-Early life:Dickinson, the second of...
- Donna DouglasDonna DouglasDonna Douglas is an American actress best known for her role as Elly May Clampett, in the long-running television series The Beverly Hillbillies.-Early life:...
- Bruce GordonBruce GordonBruce Gordon may refer to:* Bruce Gordon , Canadian bassist and member of I Mother Earth* Bruce L. Gordon, American philosopher and Intelligent Design proponent* Bruce S...
- Frank GorshinFrank GorshinFrank John Gorshin, Jr. was an American actor and comedian. He was perhaps best known as an impressionist, with many guest appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show and The Tonight Show...
- Scott MarloweScott MarloweScott Gregory Marlowe was a versatile American actor of film, television, and stage, who was born and died in Los Angeles, California.-Early film career:...
- Vera MilesVera MilesVera Miles is an American film actress who gained popularity for starring in films such as The Searchers, The Wrong Man, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, Psycho and Psycho II.-Early life:...
- Jay NorthJay NorthJay North is an American actor. Beginning a prolific career as a child actor at the age of six, North became a household name during the early 1960s for his role as the well-meaning, but mischievous, Dennis Mitchell on the CBS situation comedy Dennis the Menace, based on the comic strip created...
- Jerry ParisJerry ParisJerry Paris was an American actor and director best known for playing Jerry Helper, the dentist and next door neighbor of Rob and Laura Petrie, on The Dick Van Dyke Show.-Life and career:...
- Pernell RobertsPernell RobertsPernell Elvin Roberts, Jr. was an American stage, movie and television actor, as well as a singer. In addition to guest starring in over 60 television series, he was widely known for his roles as Ben Cartwright's eldest son, Adam Cartwright, on the western series Bonanza, a role he played from...
- Inger StevensInger StevensInger Stevens was a Swedish-American movie and TV actress.- Early life :Inger Stevens was born Inger Stensland in Stockholm, Sweden. She was an insecure child and was often ill. When she was nine, her parents divorced and she moved with her father to New York City...
- Edward G. RobinsonEdward G. RobinsonEdward G. Robinson was a Romanian-born American actor. A popular star during Hollywood's Golden Age, he is best remembered for his roles as gangsters, such as Rico in his star-making film Little Caesar and as Rocco in Key Largo...
- Ellen BurstynEllen BurstynEllen Burstyn is a leading American actress of film, stage, and television. Burstyn's career began in theatre during the late 1950s, and over the next ten years she appeared in several films and television series before joining the Actors Studio in 1967...
- Marsha HuntMarsha HuntMarsha Hunt may refer to:* Marsha Hunt * Marsha Hunt...
- Martin LandauMartin LandauMartin Landau is an American film and television actor. Landau began his career in the 1950s. His early films include a supporting role in Alfred Hitchcock's North by Northwest . He played continuing roles in the television series Mission: Impossible and Space:1999...
- James CoburnJames CoburnJames Harrison Coburn III was an American film and television actor. Coburn appeared in nearly 70 films and made over 100 television appearances during his 45-year career, and played a wide range of roles and won an Academy Award for his supporting role as Glen Whitehouse in Affliction.A capable,...
Syndication & DVD release
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 LandTV Land
TV Land is an American cable television network launched on April 29, 1996. It is owned by MTV Networks, a division of Viacom, which also owns Paramount Pictures, and networks such as MTV and Nickelodeon...
network.The Detectives , as of 2011, has yet to see a DVD release in the U.S., but has been released in Germany under the name "Kein Fall für FBI" http://www.amazon.de/dp/B0056CZP3E