Jake and the Fatman - wikipedia Jake and the Fatman Not to be confused with Jake and the Phatman. Jake and the Fatman Title screen Genre Crime drama Created by Dean Hargrove Joel Steiger Ann Doherty Developed by Douglas Stefen Borghi Starring William Conrad Joe Penny Alan Campbell Country of origin United States Original language ( s ) English No. of seasons 5 No. of episodes 106 ( list of episodes ) Production Executive producer ( s ) Dean Hargrove Fred Silverman Joel Steiger Production location ( s ) Los Angeles, California Oahu, Hawaii Running time approx. 45 minutes Production company ( s ) The Fred Silverman Company Strathmore Productions ( 1987 -- 1988 ) Dean Hargrove Productions ( 1988 -- 1992 ) Viacom Productions Distributor CBS Television Distribution Release Original network CBS Original release September 26, 1987 ( 1987 - 09 - 26 ) -- May 6, 1992 ( 1992 - 05 - 06 ) Chronology Related shows Matlock Diagnosis : Murder Jake and the Fatman is a television crime drama starring William Conrad as prosecutor J.L. ( Jason Lochinvar ) `` Fatman '' McCabe and Joe Penny as investigator Jake Styles. The series ran on CBS for five seasons from September 26, 1987, to May 6, 1992. Diagnosis : Murder was a spin - off of this series. Contents 1 Plot 2 Cast 2.1 Main cast 2.2 Recurring guest stars 3 Production 3.1 Development 3.2 Controversy 4 Episodes 5 Home media 6 Spin - offs 7 References 8 External links Plot J.L. `` Fatman '' McCabe is a Hawaii - born, tough former HPD officer turned Los Angeles district attorney. He is teamed with a handsome, happy - go - lucky special investigator named Jake Styles. They often clash due to their different styles and personalities. `` Fatman '' hardly travels anywhere without Max, his pet bulldog. The show was set in Los Angeles during the first season. After the end of Magnum, P.I., the show was moved to Hawaii. The second and third seasons and half of the fourth season were filmed in Honolulu. The show then returned to Los Angeles for the remainder of its run. Cast Main cast William Conrad as District Attorney J.L. `` Fatman '' McCabe Joe Penny as Detective Jake Styles Alan Campbell as Assistant District Attorney Derek Mitchell Recurring guest stars Lu Leonard as Gertrude Olga Russell as Elisabeth Berkeley - Smythe Jack Hogan as Judge Smithwood George O'Hanlon Jr as Sergeant Rafferty Melody Anderson as Sergeant Neely Capshaw Guest stars on the series included Alex Cord, Robert Culp, Scott Marlowe, Leigh McCloskey, Ed Nelson, Leo Penn, Stephen Quadros, Robert Reed, Mitch Ryan, David Soul and Ray Sharkey. Production Development Conrad guest starred as an aging prosecutor in a two - part episode of Matlock during its first season on NBC. Executive producers Fred Silverman and Dean Hargrove decided to use this character as a model for one of the main characters in a new show they were creating for CBS. Penny also guest starred in these episodes, but his character was not on the same side as Conrad 's character in the storyline 's legal case. Following the departure of Hargrove, executive producers David Moessinger and Jeri Taylor were brought on to run the series with Silverman. They also hired J. Michael Straczynski as story editor and, later, co-producer. Taylor and Moessinger ran the show for two years before finally leaving in a dispute over control over the show. Controversy Joe Penny ( clarification : not the Fatman ) lost a large amount of weight after the show moved to Hawaii, which led to many rumors about his health, including the possibility that he had AIDS. In actuality, he had suffered from a gastrointestinal virus and was having difficulty regaining the weight he lost. When the show moved back to Los Angeles, it was also suspected that it was on Penny 's urging. This was also not true, as the move was CBS 's decision. Episodes Main article : List of Jake and the Fatman episodes Jake and the Fatman had a total of five seasons and 106 episodes that were broadcast on CBS between 1987 and 1992. Season No. of episodes Originally aired First aired Last aired Pilot October 28, 1986 ( 1986 - 10 - 28 ) November 4, 1986 ( 1986 - 11 - 04 ) 23 September 26, 1987 ( 1987 - 09 - 26 ) April 6, 1988 ( 1988 - 04 - 06 ) 11 March 15, 1989 ( 1989 - 03 - 15 ) May 24, 1989 ( 1989 - 05 - 24 ) 26 September 20, 1989 ( 1989 - 09 - 20 ) May 16, 1990 ( 1990 - 05 - 16 ) 24 September 12, 1990 ( 1990 - 09 - 12 ) May 8, 1991 ( 1991 - 05 - 08 ) 5 22 September 18, 1991 ( 1991 - 09 - 18 ) April 6, 1992 ( 1992 - 04 - 06 ) Home media CBS DVD ( distributed by Paramount ) released the first two seasons of Jake and the Fatman on DVD in Region 1 between 2008 / 2009. As of June 2015, these releases have been discontinued and are out of print. Visual Entertainment released Jake and the Fatman - The Complete Collection on June 23, 2017. DVD Name Ep # Region 1 Season One, Volume One 11 July 8, 2008 Season One, Volume Two 12 December 2, 2008 Season Two 11 May 5, 2009 Season Three 26 N / A Season Four 24 N / A Season Five 22 N / A The Complete Series 106 June 23, 2017 Spin - offs Main article : Diagnosis : Murder The nineteenth episode of the fourth season of ' Jake and the Fatman ', `` It Never Entered My Mind '', featured Dick Van Dyke as Dr. Mark Sloan, a medical doctor who solves crimes. The success of that episode led initially to a series of three TV movies, and then a weekly television series Diagnosis : Murder that debuted on CBS on October 29, 1993. References Jump up ^ `` Jake and the Fatman ''. The New York Times. The New York Times Company. Jump up ^ G.S. Bourdain ( February 13, 1994 ). `` William Conrad, 73, TV Actor In ' Fatman ' and ' Cannon ' Series ''. The New York Times. The New York Times Company. Jump up ^ John J. O'Connor ( September 29, 1987 ). `` TV Review ; Crime on CBS and Yuppies on ABC ''. The New York Times. The New York Times Company. Jump up ^ CNN : Dick Van Dyke interview Jump up ^ Emmy TV Legends : Diagnosis Murder Jump up ^ `` Interviews ''. Joepenny.com.au. Archived from the original on May 17, 2008. Jump up ^ ' Jake and the Fatman - ' The Complete Series ' DVD Set : Date, Cost, Package Art, More ! Coming to North America from VEI in just two - and - a-half weeks ! ' Archived June 6, 2017, at the Wayback Machine. Jump up ^ ' Jake and the Fatman - The Complete Collection ' Jump up ^ `` Jake and the Fatman DVD news : Box Art for Jake and the Fatman - Season 1, Volume 1 - TVShowsOnDVD.com ''. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved May 2, 2016. Jump up ^ `` Jake and the Fatman DVD news : Early Box Art for Jake and the Fatman - Season 1, Volume 2 - TVShowsOnDVD.com ''. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved May 2, 2016. Jump up ^ `` Jake and the Fatman DVD news : Announcement for Jake and the Fatman - The 2nd Season - TVShowsOnDVD.com ''. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved May 2, 2016. Jump up ^ ' Jake and the Fatman - The Complete Collection ' External links Jake and the Fatman on IMDb Jake and the Fatman at TV.com Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Jake_and_the_Fatman&oldid=854855970 '' Categories : 1987 American television series debuts 1992 American television series endings 1980s American crime television series 1980s American drama television series 1990s American crime television series 1990s American drama television series American legal television series American mystery television series CBS network shows English - language television programs Television series by CBS Television Studios Television shows set in Los Angeles Television shows set in Hawaii Television shows filmed in Hawaii Fictional portrayals of the Honolulu Police Department Hidden categories : Webarchive template wayback links Use mdy dates from June 2013 TV.com template with ID same as Wikidata Talk Contents About Wikipedia Deutsch Français Italiano Nederlands Norsk Polski Suomi Svenska Edit links This page was last edited on 14 August 2018, at 07 : 45 ( UTC ). 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Question: who played jake in jake and the fatman
Answer: Joe Penny