First episode of the "mature" private detective, as Buddy Ebsen described his character. If you're old enough, you may remember BARNABY JONES first aired Sunday nights, following MANNIX, which was a pretty good lineup against COLUMBO, MCCLOUD and MCMILLAN AND WIFE, which used to have us teens jumping back from NBC to CBS. It had the mysterious CBS black cat slinking around between shows, wearing a gold collar. It was a clever trick.
BARNABY JONES had some outstanding stories, though more mystery than action. It borrowed a bit from HAWAII FIVE-0 as there was also a psychological slant at play during the early years. He was truly up against some diabolical types, and played to the hilt.
Special guest star William Conrad as CANNON helps Barnaby solve the case as he was old pals with his son, found shot to death carrying a bag full of cold cash. There's a lot more to the case, with surprising results.
A very good cast lead by Bradford Dillman, who played both bad guys and good guys extremely well. Both shows were produced by Quinn Martin (king of detective shows) who reunited them for another episode a few years later. This was a lot of fun to watch because Cannon and Barnaby made a pretty good team and this particular episode is quite popular by itself for that reason.
Classic gag scene has Cannon, the gourmet cook, watch Barnaby chow down some greasy ribs at a drive-in in Hollywood. "How can you eat that stuff!" Cannon asks. "As long as I can wash it all down a glass of cold milk!" Barnaby replies. MILK was his trademark. You know darn well the crew had to be laughing. I really do not know how the crew reacted on BARNABY JONES, but the CANNON people were always up to practical jokes.
It was a fun show to work on.
A lot of memories at play here and these two must have had a blast putting this together. Wait for the ending, showing Barnaby as THE sly old fox! Filmed around Hollywood. Barnaby's office was close to Hollywood and Vine (the building is still there). Cannon's place was at the legendary Sunset Towers (yes, still there and glowing at sunset) in West Hollywood. Also shot at the palatial Gulls Estate at Malibu.
An episode not be missed by true tv detective fans. SEASON 1 CBS dvd box set, which was finally released after many years.