Burke's Law

Amos Burke was the mega wealthy boss of LAPD's murder squad who was driven around in a chauffeur driven Rolls Royce by Henry (Leon Lontoc). Originally intended as a series for Dick Powell who played the character in one of his Dick Powell Theatre presentations called 'Who killed Julia Greer', the part fell to former Bat Masterson star Gene Barry (real name Eugene Klass). All of Burke's cases were called "Who Killed..." with the name of that week's unlucky victim tagged on to the end, and all of the cases revolved around the world of high society and millionaires to which Burke fitted into seamlessly. He was assisted by detectives Tim Tilson (Gary Conway) and Lester Hart (Regis Toomey), with Sgt Amis (Eileen O'Neill) joining later. The series also boasted the highest head count in guest stars, 63 in the first eight episodes alone. Burke eventually quit the police force to become an undercover agent as US television tried to cash in on the James Bond craze with a series entitled Secret Agent, but returned to the police force in a 1994 revival of the original series.

Published on November 30th, 2018. Written by Laurence Marcus for Television Heaven.