Diagnosis: Unknown | |
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Genre | Medical drama |
Created by | Alan Woods James A. Bank, based on "Diagnosis: Homicide" by Lawrence G. Blochman |
Written by | Joel Carpenter Arnold Manoff Bill S. Ballinger Elliott Norman Steven Gethers Theodore Apstein Alvin Boretz Ernest Kinoy |
Directed by |
Fielder Cook Paul Stanley William Corrigan |
Starring |
Patrick O'Neal Phyllis Newman Chester Morris Martin Huston Cal Bellini |
Theme music composer |
Irwin Kostal Edward Scott Joe Hamilton |
Opening theme | "Diagnosis: Unknown" (aka "Coffee's Theme") |
Composer(s) | Irwin Kostal |
Country of origin | United States |
Original language(s) | English |
No. of seasons | 1 |
No. of episodes | 9 |
Production | |
Executive producer(s) | Bob Banner |
Producer(s) | Leo Davis |
Running time | 45–48 minutes |
Production company(s) | Bob Banner Associates, Inc. Red Wing Productions, Inc. CBS Television |
Release | |
Original network | CBS |
Picture format | Black-and-white videotape |
Audio format | Monaural |
Original release | July 5 | – September 20, 1960
Diagnosis: Unknown is an American medical drama that aired on CBS from July 5 to September 20, 1960. Produced by Bob Banner, the series aired as a summer replacement for The Garry Moore Show, a variety program.
The series stars Patrick O'Neal as pathologist Dr. Daniel Coffee, who works at a metropolitan hospital and uses forensic medicine to assist the police in solving unconventional murders. The co-stars were Phyllis Newman, as Doris Hudson; Cal Bellini, a native of Singapore, as Dr. Motilal Mookerji; Chester Morris, the former star of Boston Blackie, as detective Lieutenant Max Ritter, and Martin Huston as Link, the young handyman. The characters were originally featured in a series of short stories written by Lawrence Blochman, initially published in Collier's magazine.
Diagnosis: Unknown aired at 10 p.m. Eastern time, and was preempted twice in July by the major party national conventions.
In 1993, thirty-three years after Diagnosis: Unknown ended its brief run, CBS launched the successful Diagnosis Murder series, starring Dick Van Dyke and his son, Barry Van Dyke, as a physician, Dr. Mark Sloan and a police detective, Steve Sloan, respectively, who collaborate in the solving of difficult crimes. The Van Dyke series was similar in title, theme, and plot to Diagnosis: Unknown.