Captain of Detectives
1959 - United StatesA minor hit on both sides of the Atlantic starring Hollywood screen star Robert Taylor as the hard-nosed and humourless Captain Matt Holbrook, head of a city's detective department. The series was dropped by ABC after its second season but was picked up for one more run by NBC in 1961 under the title The Detectives, Starring Robert Taylor. In the UK it was more appropriately named Captain of Detectives, not relying on the star's name in the title to draw in the audience.
Each episode allowed a different member of Holbrook's team to take centre stage and they included Lt. John Russo (Tige Andrews) and Sgt Chris Ballard (Mark Goddard). Holbrook himself was a widower who had little time for romance, although there was a brief affair with a police reporter called Lisa Bonay, who was played by Taylor's real-life wife Ursula Thiess. In the final season the team were joined by Sgt Steve Nelson played by an actor who would go on to make his own mark in television heaven as TV's Batman...Adam West.
Published on December 2nd, 2018. Written by Laurence Marcus for Television Heaven.
