released 1950s mystery/detective tv show
Dick Powell's company, Four Star Television, produced the television version of Richard Diamond, Private Detective, which premiered in the summer of 1957 on CBS. Dick Powell starred in the radio version of Richard Diamond. It returned to CBS in January 1958 for the second season and in February 1959 for the third season, again on CBS. In the fall of 1959, the fourth and final season aired on NBC.
David Janssen, before The Fugitive, starred as Diamond, a former officer of the New York Police Department and a hard-boiled private detective in the film noir tradition.The first two television seasons followed radio’s characterization the most closely (several episodes were adapted from the radio series). Diamond, known for his charm and wisecracks was still based in New York. In the noirish opening sequence, clad in hat, suit, and tie, he walks down a dimly lit street toward the camera and lights up a cigarette, the light revealing his face. After the first season when the sponsor was Maxwell House, the show was sponsored by Kent cigarettes, and Frank DeVol’s playfully mysterious theme was heard underneath an announcer hawking “Kent with the Micronite filter.” In syndicated rebroadcasts of the series, the revised title, Call Mr. D., flashes on the screen, and DeVol’s music is replaced by Pete Rugolo’s far more recognizable theme—although that did not appear until Season 3.
Following the second season, the setting was switched from New York City to Los Angeles, and the production was entirely redesigned. The 18 episodes comprising Season 3 aired from February to mid-June of 1959, and Diamond’s character now bore only slight resemblance to his California-based noirish predecessors Sam Spade and Philip Marlowe. Diamond no longer occupied a low-rent, cloistered office, but now operated from a modern, beautifully appointed ranch house—complete with pool—in the Hollywood Hills. With panoramic sliding glass doors providing views of the mountains and the city, his sunken living room featured a bar and a loveseat, where he could be found many evenings entertaining young women before a fire.
In the fourth season, which aired on NBC, the writers retained Los Angeles as the setting, but the Hefner-esque fantasy elements were considerably toned down. Now Diamond again operated from an office reminiscent of what he had known in New York, and his beautiful ranch house was replaced by an attractive—though more conventional—apartment.
In addition to Janssen, the series had other recurring characters. Mirroring Diamond’s history with the New York Police Department, the radio version featured his friend, police Lt. Walt Levinson (often played by Ed Begley, Sr.), and on TV, veteran actor Regis Toomey, portraying Diamond’s former superior, Lt. Dennis "Mac" McGough, came aboard in the first episode, which aired in July 1957.
Cast:
David Janssen as Richard Diamond
Regis Toomey as Lt. Dennis "Mac" McGough (seasons 1-2)
Russ Conway as Lt. Pete Kile (season 4)
Barbara Bain as Karen Wells (season 3)
Mary Tyler Moore as Sam (season 3)
Roxane Brooks as Sam (seasons 3-4)
text from wikipedia
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