Shaft ( TV series ) - Wikipedia Shaft ( TV series ) This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. ( July 2014 ) Shaft Richard Roundtree and Ed Barth in `` The Killing '', 1973. Genre Detective fiction Starring Richard Roundtree Country of origin United States Original language ( s ) English No. of seasons No. of episodes 7 Production company ( s ) MGM Television Distributor Warner Bros. Television Distribution Release Original network CBS Original release October 9, 1973 -- February 19, 1974 Chronology Preceded by Shaft ( 1971 film ) Shaft is a series of TV movies that aired along with Hawkins and other TV movies during 1973 - 74 television season on The New CBS Tuesday Night Movies. Broadcast every third week, the series is a continuation of the three films beginning with Shaft ( 1971 ), and starring Richard Roundtree as private detective John Shaft. Because it was aired on over-the - air television, CBS felt that the narrative needed to be toned down. Now instead of working alongside the police, Shaft worked with them, creating cross-overs with Hawkins, another police series with a starkly conflicting demographic. The show was cancelled after one season. Contemporary analysts suggested that since the two shows -- Shaft and Hawkins -- appealed to vastly different audience bases, alternating them only served to confuse fans of both series, giving neither one the time to build up a large viewership. Richard Roundtree himself has publicly expressed his disdain for the small - screen version of Shaft. Episodes # Title Original airdate `` The Executioners '' October 9, 1973 ( 1973 - 10 - 09 ) `` The Killing '' October 30, 1973 ( 1973 - 10 - 30 ) `` Hit - Run '' November 20, 1973 ( 1973 - 11 - 20 ) `` The Kidnapping '' December 11, 1973 ( 1973 - 12 - 11 ) `` Cop Killer '' January 1, 1974 ( 1974 - 01 - 01 ) 6 `` The Capricorn Murders '' January 29, 1974 ( 1974 - 01 - 29 ) 7 `` The Murder Machine '' February 19, 1974 ( 1974 - 02 - 19 ) References Jump up ^ Obenson, Tambay A. ( 2 October 2011 ). `` Warner Bros Releasing Short - Lived `` Shaft '' TV Series Collection To DVD ``. Jump up ^ Serafino, Jason ( 28 June 2012 ). `` The 10 Worst TV Shows Inspired By Movies ''. Complex. Jump up ^ Murray, Noel ( 9 November 2011 ). `` Shaft : The TV Movie Collection ''. The A.V. Club. Jump up ^ Hicks, Chris ( 7 October 2011 ). `` ' Shaft ' TV movies come to DVD ''. Deseret News. Jump up ^ King, Susan ( 30 October 1994 ). `` Retro : Return of the Short Timers : SERIES THAT DIDN 'T LAST MORE THAN A SEASON GET A SECOND SHOWING ON TNT ''. Los Angeles Times. Jump up ^ Mooney, Joshua ( August 15, 1997 ). `` Scowling ` Shaft ' In His Past, Roundtree 's Even Taking On Comedy ''. Archived from the original on September 22, 2015. Jump up ^ `` Richard Roundtree. '' Unsung Hollywood. Nar. Gary Anthony Williams. Exec. Prod. Frank Sinton, Arthur Smith, Kent Weed, and Mark Rowland. TV One, 25 Mar. 2015. Television. External links Shaft on IMDb TV Party : `` Shaft '' on TV The Shaft TV Series : guide by Steven Aldous Shaft Films Shaft ( 1971 ) Shaft 's Big Score ! Shaft in Africa Shaft ( 2000 ) Son of Shaft Shaft ( film series ) for an overview Television Shaft ( TV series ) Novels Shaft ( 1970 ) Shaft Among the Jews ( 1972 ) Shaft 's Big Score ( 1972 ) Shaft Has a Ball ( 1973 ) Goodbye, Mr. Shaft ( 1973 ) Shaft 's Carnival of Killers ( 1974 ) The Last Shaft ( 1975 ) Shaft 's Revenge ( 2016 ) Music `` Theme from Shaft '' 1971 soundtrack 2000 soundtrack This article relating to a drama television series in the United States is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Shaft_(TV_series)&oldid=828002716 '' Categories : American crime television series CBS network shows 1970s American television series Television programs based on films Shaft ( franchise ) 1973 American television series debuts 1974 American television series endings American drama television series Television shows set in New York City Detective television series United States drama television series stubs Hidden categories : Articles needing additional references from July 2014 All articles needing additional references Episode list using the default LineColor All stub articles Talk About Wikipedia Deutsch فارسی Italiano Português Edit links This page was last edited on 28 February 2018, at 00 : 05. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution - ShareAlike License ; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia ® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization. About Wikipedia

Question: who played shaft in the original tv series
Answer: Richard Roundtree