By the end of the 50's, crime dramas were becoming as common as Westerns and sitcoms.
One year after launching 77 Sunset Strip, Warner Brothers followed up with Bourbon Street Beat, which, as the title implies, was set in New Orleans, which was also the setting of the Western, Yancy Derringer. Bourbon Street Beat, however, lasted just 1 season, although two of the leads were moved to other WB series.
Richard Long headlined as Rex Randolph, the junior partner in a detective agency with Cal Calhoun (Andrew Duggan). Van Williams played Kenny Madison, the aspiring sleuth-in-training. After the series ended, Madison was relocated to Miami, making Surfside 6 a spin-off. Randolph, on the other hand, packed up and moved across country to LA, as Long joined the cast of 77 Sunset Strip for its 3rd season. Duggan, meanwhile, would not headline another series until Lancer in 1968.
The Rap Sheet provides the intro:
So why did Bourbon Street fail? I have zero clue.
No rating.
Bourbon Street Beat was beaten out in the ratings by Danny Thomas on CBS and to alesser extent Peter Gunn on NBC.
ReplyDeleteABC replaced BSB with Surfside 6, which skewed a bit more glamorously.
Besides, this freed up Richard Long to join 77 Sunset Strip, where he'd be a better fit with Zimbalist & Smith (Edd Byrnes was starting to make noises about leaving, which was another factor).
Andrew Duggan wasn't forgotten here; he went almost immediately into Room For One More, a family sitcom which had a very short run during the following season (ABC didn't have much faith in this one; they basically threw it away as a midyear replacement).
"Room For One More" is something to watch out for, Mike, thanks.
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