The half hour episodes were the best
Having seen all 138 episodes I found the half hour episodes to overall be the best.The stories were not overly talky as some of the hour long episodes were and the John McIntire/James Franciscus combination was excellent in the first 25 episodes.McIntire's very wise,Old Worldly,patient and professorial playing of the top cop and his effect on Franciscus' college trained young detective was a pleasure to watch.The two characters liked and respected each other (the Horace McMahon/Franciscus pairing did not play out as smoothly.The producers' had Franciscus' young detective show resentment at times of the McMahon top cop's short tempered,acerbic style of leadership.The feeling given was that the two simply tolerated each other). Interestingly,the young detective in the half hour episodes was married with a child and a house which was changed in the hour episodes. Too bad McIntire quit the series due to not wanting to work outside in the cold NYC weather.He was excellent.
share