If you only know of Matt Helm from the campy adaptations of Donald Hamilton's novels that starred Dean Martin in the 60's, you probably never saw an updated version which surfaced on ABC in 1975.
Tony Franciosa (ex-The Name of the Game) was cast as Helm, now retired from the spy business and working as a private eye. In short, it was a by-the-numbers detective drama of the day, and ABC already had plenty of those. Helm was in a troublesome spot on Saturday nights, airing opposite The Carol Burnett Show after a pilot film aired in May that brought big ratings. Sam Rolfe, who had developed shows such as Man From U.N.C.L.E. for MGM, served in the same capacity for Columbia Pictures Television (now Sony Pictures Television) on this series.
After Helm was cancelled, it would take almost a decade for Franciosa to land another series, and that, too, lasted 1 season (Finder of Lost Loves).
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