Barnaby Jones
| Barnaby Jones | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Developed by | Edward Hume |
| Starring |
Buddy Ebsen Lee Meriwether Mark Shera (1976–80) |
| Theme music composer | Jerry Goldsmith |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 8 |
| No. of episodes | 178 (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) |
Quinn Martin (1973–78) Philip Saltzman (1978–80) |
| Running time | 60 minutes |
| Production company(s) | Woodruff Productions (1978-1980) QM Productions |
| Distributor |
Worldvision Enterprises CBS Television Distribution |
| Release | |
| Original network | CBS |
| Original release | January 28, 1973 – April 3, 1980 |
| Chronology | |
| Related shows | Cannon |
Barnaby Jones is a television detective series starring Buddy Ebsen and Lee Meriwether as a father and daughter-in-law who run a private detective firm in Los Angeles, California. The show was introduced as a midseason replacement on the CBS network and broadcast from 1973 to 1980. Halfway through the series run, Mark Shera was added to the cast as the cousin of Ebsen's character, who joins the firm. William Conrad guest-starred as Frank Cannon of Cannon on the first Barnaby Jones episode, "Requiem for a Son", and the 1975 two-part crossover episodes, "The Deadly Conspiracy". The series was produced by QM Productions (with Woodruff Productions in the final two seasons). It had the second longest QM series run (seven and a half seasons) following the eight years of The FBI. The series bore the Quinn Martin trademark where commercial breaks divided each episode into 4 "Acts" concluding with an epilogue. The opening credits were narrated by Hank Simms.
After Barnaby Jones (Buddy Ebsen) had worked as a private eye for many years, he decided to retire and left the business to his son Hal. When Hal was murdered while working on a case, Barnaby came out of retirement to find the killer. His widowed daughter-in-law, Betty Jones (Lee Meriwether), joined forces with him to solve the case. The two decided that they worked so well together, they would continue to keep the detective agency open. Jones was unusual, ordering milk in restaurants and bars, counter to the stereotypical hard-drinking detective.
Until the cancellation of Cannon, the characters of both series moved back and forth between the two shows. In 1976, the character of J. R. (Mark Shera), the son of Barnaby's cousin, joined the cast. He had come to try to solve the murder of his father, but stayed around to help Barnaby and Betty, while also attending law school.
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