Barnaby Jones is an American detective series created by Quinn Martin for QM Productions that aired on CBS from January 28, 1973, to April 3, 1980. It stars Buddy Ebsen as Barnaby Jones, a private investigator who comes out of retirement in his mid-sixties to operate a detective agency in Los Angeles, and Lee Meriwether as Betty Jones, his widowed daughter-in-law and secretary. In the fifth season, Mark Shera joined the cast as J. R. Jones, the son of Barnaby's younger cousin; he works for the firm while attending law school.
During the 1970s, detective series were very popular on American television. Barnaby Jones is unique because it features a private investigator who is much older than the typical detective and who relies on cunning and skill, including his extensive knowledge of forensics, rather than physical prowess and violence to solve crimes. Even though it was regularly threatened with cancellation, it ran for eight seasons and became the longest-running QM series after The FBI; repeats subsequently aired in syndication. The first episode, "Requiem for a Son," is a crossover with another QM series, Cannon, with William Conrad guest starring as detective Frank Cannon."Requiem for a Son," Barnaby Jones, season 1, episode 1, aired January 28, 1973. The two-part episode "The Deadly Conspiracy," the opener for the fourth season, is another crossover between the two programs."The Deadly Conspiracy: Part 2," Barnaby Jones, season 4, episode 1, aired September 19, 1975.
Plot
Barnaby Jones is a veteran private investigator in his mid-sixties. After a 28-year career at the Jones & Jones Investigative Agency in Los Angeles, he retires to his ranch outside the city, passing the business to his son, Hal. In the first episode of the series, Hal is murdered while working for a client, and Barnaby searches for the killer. After he solves the crime, he decides to come out of his four-year retirement and renames the firm the Barnaby Jones Investigative Agency. Hal's widow, Betty Jones, becomes his secretary. In the fifth season, Jedediah Romano (J. R.) Jones, the son of his younger cousin, joins the firm while attending law school. Although Barnaby has a variety of clients, he regularly investigates insurance fraud and other cases for California Meridian Insurance. His agency is located on the sixth floor of an office building in downtown Los Angeles, but exterior establishing shots actually portray the former Pacific Southwest Trust & Savings Bank at 234 East Colorado Boulevard in neighboring Pasadena. He drives a chocolate brown 1973 Ford LTD Brougham.
Each episode of the series begins with the portrayal of a crime, typically but not always a murder. The perpetrators include a rogue's gallery of fraudsters, kidnappers, rapists, thieves, drug dealers, psychopaths, adulterers, jilted spouses, and others, most of whom commit one or more homicides, sometimes accidentally. While most episodes reveal the culprit's identity from the beginning, some withhold it until later in the episode. The rest of the story follows Barnaby as he relies on cunning and skill to solve the case. Suspects frequently taunt him because of his age, but he compensates for his physical limitations with knowledge and experience. As he states in the first episode, his specialties are chemistry, clinical psychology, forensic medicine, and criminology. His office includes a forensics lab and a darkroom, which he often uses to solve cases. To prepare for the role, Ebsen visited what was then known as the Criminalistics Division of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, where he learned how to use a stereoscopic microscope and other equipment. He stated that this experience added authenticity to his performance. Barnaby is a skilled shooter, but he uses his gun only when necessary, and he often aims to temporarily disable, rather than kill, attackers.
After a few seasons, Ebsen asked CBS and producer Martin to reduce his role so that he could spend more time with his family, following his wife's request that he quit entirely. Although they initially resisted—believing that the success of the series depended entirely on him—they eventually compromised starting in the sixth season. Under the new agreement, Ebsen anchored 12 episodes per season, while Meriwether and Shera each took the lead on six.
Cast Main cast Buddy Ebsen as Barnaby Jones: Barnaby is a private investigator in his mid-sixties. Ebsen described him as follows: "Besides being older, he approaches problems more calmly. Not that he's incapable of being worked up. He has compassion for the victim, compassion for the bereaved and compassion really for the convicted. Not that he's soft. He's an embodiment of what someone once said about a tough skipper—he's hard, but he's fair." He attributed his slow, deliberate physical movements in the show to the fact that he was raised in Florida, where "you learn to expend as little energy as possible" because of the high humidity. Although Ebsen himself drank alcohol, Barnaby was known, and sometimes teased, for ordering milk in restaurants and bars, contrary to the stereotypical hard-drinking detective. However, at the end of the episodes "Forfeit by Death" and "Blood Vengeance" he is seen toasting with a glass of wine, and at the beginning of "Final Judgment: Part 2" he is portrayed drinking hard liquor in despair because he blames himself for the death of a young woman."Forfeit by Death," Barnaby Jones, season 3, episode 6, aired October 15, 1974; "Blood Vengeance," Barnaby Jones, season 5, episode 1, aired October 7, 1976; "Final Judgment: Part 2," Barnaby Jones, season 6, episode 19, aired January 26, 1978 Lee Meriwether as Betty Jones: Betty is Barnaby's widowed daughter-in-law and secretary. She manages the office and provides invaluable assistance on all of his investigations, including research to locate suspects and evidence. As the series progresses, she plays a more active role in the agency's cases, leading some investigations on her own. In several episodes, she is threatened and apprehended by the suspects that Barnaby is investigating. Meriwether commented that she essentially played herself on the show and that her character changed as much as she did over the course of the series. In particular, she observed that "Betty seems to have gained strength out of necessity." Mark Shera as Jedediah Romano (J. R.) Jones (seasons 5–8): Shera joined the cast in the fifth season. He is the son of Barnaby's younger cousin, a sergeant with the Chicago Police Department who travels to Los Angeles to investigate the killing of his former partner. When his father is murdered, J. R. comes to Los Angeles to help Barnaby find the killer. After they solve the case, he joins Barnaby's agency and simultaneously attends law school (in the first episode in which he appears, he says that he has graduated and is studying for the bar, but he is portrayed for the remainder of the series as a student). Initially a somewhat angry young man, he soon becomes more easygoing and fun-loving. Producers added the character of J. R. to revitalize the series, which had sagged in the ratings in the previous season. Shera remarked: "Part of the reason that I think I was cast in 'Barnaby Jones' … was the quality of the character I played in 'S.W.A.T.' It's a different name, a different show, and a different character, of course, but there are a lot of similarities. They are both young, both Italian, both energetic and rash—the kind of guy who goes too far and must be brought down. Basically the same. One important difference is that J.R. … is more intelligent. He's allowed to think for himself, to grow his hair longer. He doesn't have to say things like Freeze!' 'Hold it!' and 'Come out with your hands up!' Plus, he's studying for the bar." John Carter as Lt. John Biddle (seasons 2–8; recurring role): Besides the Joneses, the only other major recurring character on the series is their police contact, Lt. John Biddle. The actor John Carter portrays a murder victim in the first-season episode "The Murdering Class.""The Murdering Class," Barnaby Jones, season 1, episode 4, aired March 4, 1973. His first appearance as Lt. Biddle is in the second-season episode "Secret of the Dunes.""Secret of the Dunes," Barnaby Jones, season 2, episode 13, aired December 16, 1973. He subsequently appears in 84 more episodes, though typically only briefly. Vince Howard as Lt. Joe Taylor (seasons 1–2; recurring role). Lt. Taylor appeared in four episodes.
Notable guest cast Among the guest stars who appeared over the years were Conlan Carter and Gary Lockwood, who appear together in the third episode of the series, "Sunday: Doomsday," which aired on February 25, 1973. Other first-season guest stars include:
Claude Akins Richard Anderson Meredith Baxter Carl Betz Bill Bixby Hank Brandt Geraldine Brooks Richard Bull Darlene Carr Jack Cassidy Dabney Coleman Jackie Coogan Glenn Corbett Cathy Lee Crosby Don Dubbins Meg Foster Robert Foxworth Anne Francis Lou Frizzell Lynda Day George Clu Gulager Richard Hatch James Hong Claudia Jennings Lenore Kasdorf Margot Kidder Geoffrey Lewis Ida Lupino George Maharis Nora Marlowe Kenneth Mars Roddy McDowall Claudette Nevins Leslie Nielsen Nick Nolte Robert Patten Don Porter Stefanie Powers Robert Reed Janice Rule Wayne Rogers William Shatner Joan Tompkins Lurene Tuttle Jessica Walter Michael Zaslow
In later seasons, guest stars include Wayne Maunder, formerly on CBS's Lancer western series, and Ron Hayes, who plays Sheriff Oscar Hamlin in the episode "Target for a Wedding." Marshall Colt, later cast with James Arness on McClain's Law, guest stars in two episodes in 1979. Donald May plays the role of Curt Phillips in the 1978 episode "Blind Jeopardy". Character actress Lurene Tuttle plays Emily Carter, Betty's aunt, in the 1980 episode "The Killin' Cousin".
Many familiar actors made guest appearances, and others who were newcomers went on to become well-known, including:
Jane Actman Michael Alldredge Jonathan Banks Fred Beir Tom Bower John Calvin Lawrence P. Casey Susan Dey John de Lancie John Dullaghan Larry Duran Gail Edwards Shelley Fabares Morgan Fairchild Ed Flanders Jonathan Frakes Eddie Garrett Ted Gehring Mark Goddard Larry Hagman Ed Harris Dee Wallace Linda Harrison David Hedison Don Johnson Tommy Lee Jones John Lasell Ken Lynch Don Keefer Monte Markham Joseph Mell Vera Miles Read Morgan Patrick O'Neal Sean Penn John Ritter Albert Salmi George Sawaya Simon Scott Eric Server Madeleine Stowe Susan Sullivan Kelly Thordsen Arthur Tovey Daniel J. Travanti Joan Van Ark Charles Wagenheim John Ward Carl Weathers Robert Webber Arch Whiting Eve McVeagh James Woods Tony Young
Ebsen's real-life daughter, Bonnie Ebsen, appears in six episodes, while Meriwether's real-life daughter, Kyle Aletter-Oldham, appears in two. Future Trapper John, M.D. stars Pernell Roberts, Gregory Harrison, and Charles Siebert all make guest appearances in one episode each. Future WKRP in Cincinnati stars Loni Anderson and Gary Sandy make guest appearances as well.
Production
Development