The Detectives (1959 TV series)
The Detectives (also known as The Detectives Starring Robert Taylor and Robert Taylor's Detectives) is an American crime drama series which ran on ABC during its first two seasons (sponsored by Procter & Gamble), and on NBC during its third and final season. The series, starring motion picture star Robert Taylor, was produced by Four Star Television in association with Levy-Gardner-Laven Productions. Synopsis. Taylor stars as Detective Captain Matt Holbrook, the tough, no-nonsense head of an elite police investigative unit in a major U.S. city. Ostensibly, each man in Holbrook's hand -picked squad of detectives came from a different division. Lt. Johnny Russo (Tige Andrews) was from burglary, Lt. Jim Conway (Lee Farr) came from homicide, and Lt. Otto Lindstrom (Russell Thorson) was from the bunco squad. Production. In the series' second season, Farr left the series and was replaced by Mark Goddard as Detective Sgt. Chris Ballard. Future "Batman" star Adam West joined the cast during the third season as Sgt. Steve Nelson. The series moved to NBC for its third season and was increased from 30 to 60 minutes. The series was also retitled to "Robert Taylor's Detectives . A total of 97 episodes were produced before the series was cancelled in 1962. The series was produced for Four Star by Levy-Gardner-Laven Productions, which produced other successful Four Star series, such as The Rifleman" and "The Big Valley". Future "Star Trek" creator Gene Roddenberry was a contributing writer to the series. Paperback Novel. Prolific pulpsmith Norman A. Daniels was tapped by Lancer Books to write an original novel based on the series' concept and characters, and the book, named for the series, was released in 1962, with a cover price of 35¢, its copyright assigned to the  author. It manages to sport all three iterations of the title: The cover, beneath a close-up photo of the star's eyes, says "Robert Taylor starring in The Detectives"; the spine says merely "The Detectives" and then cites the author; the title page proclaims "Robert Taylor's Detectives". Comic book. Dell Comics issued a comic book rendition of Robert Taylor's ""The Detectives"" during the series run . Related. A few years after "The Detectives" ended, Barbara Stanwyck, Robert Taylor's ex-wife, had "her" very own successful series also produced by Four Star/Levy-Gardner-Laven Productions, "The Big  Valley", which also aired on ABC. Several cast members on "The Detectives" went on to major TV roles after the series ended: Syndication. In syndication, the series was rebroadcast for a time under the name, "Captain of Detectives". Rebroadcasts were shown in the early 2000s on cable's TV Land network. Home media. "The Detectives" has been released in Germany (in dubbed German language only) under the name "Kein Fall für FBI" As of 2019, there has been no official release of Robert Taylor's "The Detectives" on DVD in the U.S.