Matt Helm (TV series)

Matt Helm
Franciosa as Matt Helm and Laraine Stephens as Claire Kronski.
Based on	Death of a Citizen by Donald Hamilton
Developed by	Sam Rolfe
Starring	Anthony Franciosa
Country of origin	United States
Original language(s)	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	13
Production
Running time	60 minutes
Production company(s)	Meadway Productions Columbia Pictures Television
Distributor	Sony Pictures Television
Release
Original network	ABC
Original release	September 20, 1975 – January 3, 1976

Matt Helm is an American mystery television series which aired on ABC from September 20, 1975 to January 3, 1976. The title character was played by Anthony Franciosa.

The series was loosely based upon the literary character Matt Helm, who had been created and introduced by Donald Hamilton in his 1960 novel, Death of a Citizen; he had also been played by Dean Martin in a series of spy comedy films in the late 1960s. This series resembled neither the books—in which Helm was a terse assassin for a secret government agency—nor the films—in which Helm was a womanizing, wisecracking secret agent.

The series, having no connection to the movies, sees Matt Helm, a retired spy from an organization called "The Machine", opening a private detective business. Thus, most of the plot lines were standard detective stories of the day, such as one episode in which Helm investigates the disappearance of a race horse. Laraine Stephens co-starred as Claire Kronski, Helm's assistant.

A pilot TV movie aired on May 7, 1975 and was popular enough for ABC to commission a series, which debuted on September 20 of the same year. Ratings were not strong enough for the series to continue past its initial 13 episodes, and the final episode aired on January 3, 1976.

Many notable guest stars appeared on the series during its short run, including Lynda Carter, who appeared in the penultimate episode, "Panic", playing a singer. Her appearance coincided with her rise to fame as Wonder Woman.

Other guests included: Jack Cassidy, Gretchen Corbett, Bert Convy, Pat Crowley, Susan Dey, Howard Duff, Shelley Fabares, Farley Granger, Sherry Jackson, L.Q. Jones, Patrick Macnee, Juliet Mills, Ian McShane, Ann Turkel and John Vernon.