# The Brothers Brannagan

The Brothers Brannagan is an American detective television series that aired in syndication from September 14, 1960, to October 2, 1965.

## Premise

Mike Brannagan (Steve Dunne) and Bob Brannagan (Mark Roberts) are brothers from San Francisco, who now run a private detective agency out of the Mountain Shadows Resort in Paradise Valley, Arizona. Mike is a smooth-talker, who carries a little notebook filled with erudite quotes for any situation involving women. Bob is more serious, an action guy prone to taking risks in tight situations. They are the only two series regulars; character actors Barney Phillips and Paul Bryar had occasional recurring roles as police lieutenants. Each episode had a unique opening that began with a long shot of the brothers walking side by side away from the viewer while the theme song plays. A male voice shouts "Hey Brannagan!", at which the brothers pause to face the viewer and say "Which one?".
Producer Wilbur Stark told columnist Steven H. Scheuer the show was "romantic adventure" and emulated the escapism of then current hits Adventures in Paradise and Hawaiian Eye. Stark also mentioned the show's writers followed an outline made up by actors Roberts and Dunne, giving the characters' backstory including their San Francisco origin.

## Production

Wilbur Stark and Jerry Layton had previously co-produced the Colonel Humphrey Flack television series before creating The Brothers Brannagan. They formed the Brad-Jacey production company for this venture, with funding from CBS Films which would hold the copyright. The Arizona Republic reported in July 1959 that filming for a pilot episode of The Brothers Brannagan would start August 11, 1959. The detective show would be the first national television program made and set in the Phoenix area. Columnist Jack Curtis confirmed shooting began as scheduled. He also reported filming that week centered on the Mountain Shadows Resort and the Squaw Peak Inn, while The Arizona Republic ran a photo of stars Roberts and Dunne at location shooting outside the First National Bank on Central Avenue in Phoenix.
After filming the pilot episode, the production company left Arizona and did not return until late November 1959, when the producers put out an open casting call for extras. Casting director Ruth Scott said 375 people applied for extra jobs during the single day call, with at least one hired for a speaking role as well. A local couple, hired to do location makeup and hairstyling, reported they worked in trailers and other vehicles leased from MGM. After location work wrapped up in February 1960, the production company returned to Southern California where interior shooting was done at the MGM studios.
By April 1960 columnist Eve Starr reported that CBS Films had 16 completed episodes on hand, but The Brothers Brannagan might appear as a syndicated show in the fall since it did not yet have a network sponsor. The producers, instead of creating 13 shows and waiting for a buyer as was typical, had made a full season of 39 episodes.

## Reception

Harry Harris, writing in The Philadelphia Inquirer, said the first episode was full of action and "also contained some almost incredibly inept writing". Harris opined that "Steve Dunne and Mark Roberts, between them, add up to Mike Hammer".

## Viewing history
### Broadcast

The first episode broadcast was on Wednesday, September 14, 1960, at 10:30 pm, by WRCV-TV Channel 3 in Philadelphia. It aired in Syracuse, New York the following day at 7:00 pm on WHEN-TV Channel 8. The broadcasts by these first two stations were sponsored by Acme Markets.
WRCV-TV completed its first run showing of all thirty-nine episodes on June 21, 1961. KMOX-TV in St. Louis broadcast the syndicated series through October 2, 1965.
At least one episode of the series was shown in September 1975 on KGUN-TV in Tucson, Arizona.

### Cable

The Brothers Brannagan had a long run starting in May 1976 on a cable channel in Surfside Beach, South Carolina, that went through August 1977.

### Episodes

For consistency, the sequence of episodes and Original Air Date are based on the first station to broadcast the series, WRCV-TV in Philadelphia. There was no continuity between episodes and so no imperative to air them in any particular sequence.
| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original release date |
| 1 | 1 | "Tune In For Murder" | Anton Leader | Al C. Ward | September 14, 1960 (1960-09-14) |
| Plums found after heist point to fruit stand owned by a Native American. Cast: Vic Morrow, Paul Bryar, Rebecca Welles, Nora Hayden, James Hurley, Edith Porter ||||||
| 2 | 2 | "Delayed Payment" | Unknown | Story by : Teleplay by : | September 21, 1960 (1960-09-21) |
| A sniper is targeting brother Bob. Cast: Hal Baylor, Whit Bissell, Barney Phillips ||||||
| 3 | 3 | "Duet" | Anton Leader | Story by : Teleplay by : | September 28, 1960 (1960-09-28) |
| Cast: Elinor Donahue, Marion Ross ||||||
| 4 | 4 | "Model Murder" | Unknown | Story by : Teleplay by : | October 5, 1960 (1960-10-05) |
| Cast: ||||||
| 5 | 5 | "An Hour to Kill" | Unknown | Story by : Teleplay by : | October 12, 1960 (1960-10-12) |
| Cast: ||||||
| 6 | 6 | "Damaged Dolls" | Anton Leader | Stephen Kandel | October 19, 1960 (1960-10-19) |
| Mike goes solo in Las Vegas to stop an extortionist who uses dolls to threaten victims. Cast: Jackie Coogan, Joan Evans, Joseph Ruskin, Pamela Duncan, Jon Shepodd ||||||
| 7 | 7 | "Tough Guy" | Unknown | Story by : Teleplay by : | October 26, 1960 (1960-10-26) |
| Young woman is endangered by her brother's fight with dope gang. Cast: ||||||
| 8 | 8 | "Wheel of Fortune" | Eddie Davis | Story by : Malcolm Stuart Boylan Teleplay by : John Dana | November 2, 1960 (1960-11-02) |
| The brothers are hired to recover a relic stolen from Mexico. Cast: Chana Eden, H. M. Wynant, K. T. Stevens, Ed Hashim, Lynn Cartwright ||||||
| 9 | 9 | "Advantage: Death" | Unknown | Story by : Teleplay by : | November 9, 1960 (1960-11-09) |
| Pro athlete kills wife and pins blame on another man. Cast: ||||||
| 10 | 10 | "Sunday's Jewels" | Unknown | Story by : Teleplay by : | November 16, 1960 (1960-11-16) |
| Jewel-obsessed respectable man is trapped by handgun ballistics tests. Cast: ||||||
| 11 | 11 | "Mistaken Identity" | Anton Leader | Story by : Levinson & Link Teleplay by : Sam Ross | November 23, 1960 (1960-11-23) |
| The brothers' friend is snatched by gangsters mistaking her for a crime witness. Cast: Kasey Rogers, Lewis Charles, Barney Phillips, Joann Manley, Bailey Harper, Tom Cain ||||||
| 12 | 12 | "A View of Murder" | Unknown | Story by : Teleplay by : | November 30, 1960 (1960-11-30) |
| Elderly lady hires the brothers to catch a murderer whose crime she saw. Cast: ||||||
| 13 | 13 | "Annabelle Case" | Unknown | Story by : Teleplay by : | December 7, 1960 (1960-12-07) |
| Groom hires hitman to kidnap his bride before the wedding. Cast: ||||||
| 14 | 14 | "Bordertown" | Unknown | Story by : Teleplay by : | December 14, 1960 (1960-12-14) |
| Cast: ||||||
| 15 | 15 | "Three" | Unknown | Story by : Teleplay by : | December 28, 1960 (1960-12-28) |
| Cast: ||||||
| 16 | 16 | "Key of Jade" | Jean Yarborough | Harold Jack Bloom | January 4, 1961 (1961-01-04) |
| Bob Brannagan works solo to find an old friend's missing son in San Francisco's Chinatown. Cast: Philip Ahn, Lisa Lu, Kam Tong, Aki Aleong, Sol Gorss, Greta Chi ||||||
| 17 | 17 | "A Very Special Woman" | Paul Landres | Harold Jack Bloom | January 11, 1961 (1961-01-11) |
| Woman hires the brothers to protect her from ex-boyfriend. Cast: Dorothy Green, Leo Gordon, Barney Phillips, Keith Richards, Tom Middleton, Edit Angold, Kathy Marlow ||||||
| 18 | 18 | "The Baby Sitters" | Unknown | Story by : Teleplay by : | January 18, 1961 (1961-01-18) |
| Cast: ||||||
| 19 | 19 | "Twisted Root" | Unknown | Story by : Teleplay by : | January 25, 1961 (1961-01-25) |
| The brothers work against each other over a fugitive. Cast: ||||||
| 20 | 20 | "Love Me, Love My Dog" | Unknown | Story by : Teleplay by : | February 1, 1961 (1961-02-01) |
| The brothers foil a drug gang with help from a french poodle. Cast: ||||||
| 21 | 21 | "Overexposed" | Unknown | Story by : Teleplay by : | February 8, 1961 (1961-02-08) |
| Cast: ||||||
| 22 | 22 | "A Shot in the Dark" | Unknown | Story by : Teleplay by : | February 15, 1961 (1961-02-15) |
| Cast: ||||||
| 23 | 23 | "Mantrap" | Unknown | Story by : Teleplay by : | February 22, 1961 (1961-02-22) |
| Bob is carjacked by teenage couple who have stolen a mining company payroll. Cast: Judy Nugent ||||||
| 24 | 24 | "A Friend to Man" | Unknown | Story by : Teleplay by : | March 1, 1961 (1961-03-01) |
| Cast: ||||||
| 25 | 25 | "A Frame for Mike" | Unknown | Story by : Teleplay by : | March 8, 1961 (1961-03-08) |
| Cast: ||||||
| 26 | 26 | "A Deadly Love" | Unknown | Story by : Teleplay by : | March 15, 1961 (1961-03-15) |
| Cast: ||||||
| 27 | 27 | "Heart of Steel" | Unknown | Story by : Teleplay by : | March 22, 1961 (1961-03-22) |
| Cast: ||||||
| 28 | 28 | "Grapefruit King" | Unknown | Story by : Teleplay by : | March 29, 1961 (1961-03-29) |
| Cast: ||||||
| 29 | 29 | "Thunderbird" | Unknown | Story by : Teleplay by : | April 5, 1961 (1961-04-05) |
| Cast: ||||||
| 30 | 30 | "Her Brother's Keeper" | Eddie Davis | Joel M. Rapp | April 12, 1961 (1961-04-12) |
| The brothers help a friend accused of killing his sister's fiance. Cast: Bek Nelson, Theodore Marcuse, Barney Phillips, Britt Lomond, Kent Taylor, Maureen Leeds ||||||
| 31 | 31 | "The Green Gamblers" | Unknown | Story by : Teleplay by : | April 19, 1961 (1961-04-19) |
| Cast: ||||||
| 32 | 32 | "A Matter of a Million" | Jean Yarborough | Arthur Dales | April 26, 1961 (1961-04-26) |
| Southern blonde entices Mike into a bodyguard job despite Bob's warning. Cast: Joanna Moore, Narda Onyx, Paul Bryar, Robin Hughes, Jack Perkins ||||||
| 33 | 33 | "The Hunter and the Hunted" | Unknown | Story by : Teleplay by : | May 3, 1961 (1961-05-03) |
| Cast: ||||||
| 34 | 34 | "Death Insurance" | Unknown | Story by : Teleplay by : | May 10, 1961 (1961-05-10) |
| Cast: ||||||
| 35 | 35 | "Terror in the Afternoon" | Jean Yarborough | Al C. Ward | May 17, 1961 (1961-05-17) |
| Brothers are hired to investigate death of woman's fiance at dam construction site. Cast: Gloria Talbot, Robert Harland, James Flavin, Mark Houston ||||||
| 36 | 36 | "Equinox" | Unknown | Story by : Teleplay by : | May 24, 1961 (1961-05-24) |
| Cast: ||||||
| 37 | 37 | "Death Is Not Deductible" | Unknown | Story by : Teleplay by : | May 31, 1961 (1961-05-31) |
| Cast: ||||||
| 38 | 38 | "Treasure Hunt" | Unknown | Story by : Teleplay by : | June 14, 1961 (1961-06-14) |
| Cast: ||||||
| 39 | 39 | "Murder Fits the Frame" | Unknown | Story by : Teleplay by : | June 21, 1961 (1961-06-21) |
| Cast: ||||||