Harry O-Not Your Typical Detective.
Hurry! Hurry read all about it …!!! Mystery of the last couple decades solved!!!
A case resolved but not by Johnny Dollar, no yours truly “Doc” who else .It wasn’t easy and involved me asking lots of questions, kicking down doors that would barely open, people who were afraid to give me the time of day ..hitting the pavement night and day , day and night, walking down nothing but dark alleys and then it got tough-chatting it up with the likes of characters like No No Bananas, Joey the Long Tooth(if you have to ask) and Irving the Dog Catcher(don’t ask).If I didn’t know no better I could swear I was that rock n roll dick Ford Fairlane, you know “hit pay dirt with K-dirt” But finally the big payoff arrived and what was so important you might ask. I discovered the whereabouts of only one of the best detective series ever -and where did I discover this 70’s gem but Warner Archives and the show-
HARRY O, it made Thursday nights memorable.
Above — Harry O theme song by the great Billy Goldenberg ( and ….who mainly worked on Cinema(Busting starring Robert Blake & Elliot Gould)/Television films in addition to TV series including the mid ’80s series Our House(Wilford Brimley) and Alias Smith and Jones. Here he conducted the music for all 44 episodes and the both the original theme and it’s retooling for the 2nd season.
Above:Emmy winning role of Lt Trench as portrayed by Anthony Zerbe
Harry O starred the late, great David Jansen putting his rasping voice to good work as a surly, but like-able ex-police Lt/private detective just trying to finish his life’s work, restoring a sailboat named The Answer and keeping his car running in between cases. Surrounded with a cast of hard working character actors like Henry Darrow and a real favorite of mine -Anthony Zerbe who resides in my home “Town”, Rochester New York. Zerbe was nominated for an Emmy 2 seasons in a row for his instinctive performance as Lt Trench and who on any day could go toe to toe, trading sardonic jibs with Harry (deep down both had an underlying respect and admiration for each other) thru out the 2 year run it had on ABC. A very short run indeed considering that it was critically appraised on a regularly by the likes of TV Guide and more. Ironically ABC replaced Harry O with a show that became a hit in spite of its-self — Charlies Angels and featured Farrah Fawcett -
who had played a recurring character on Harry O, that of Sue, the neighbor, stewardess and sometime girl companion of Harry. What doesn’t make sense is why ABC couldn’t have kept Harry and still ran with Angels .. they were already guaranteed a hit with the later. Plus each season and throughout each season the viewership increased and it was winning critical acclaim across the country from critics and press…
- ** Trivia break- Harry O completed 42 episodes in it’s run and an unbelievable number of guest stars including the likes of Kurt Russell, Linda Laven(Alice TV series), Cheryl Ladd(Charlies’ Angels), Robert Ito((Quincy), Alan Oppenheimer(Skeletor-He Man), Stuart Whitman(Cimarron Strip-TV series), Jack Colvin, Roddy McDowall(Planet of the Apes, Bruce Clover(Walking Tall), Howard Hesseman(WKRP). Too many to mention…
- Sound of Trumpets from season One had a magical guest cast featuring Jim Backus, Juliet Harris(Live and Let Die) and Cab Callaway(another former Rochesterian-NY). One of my favorites centered around the music industry — especially Jazz and Blues. So you just have to check this one out…
- CBS Late Nite Movies- Ran Harry O as a double feature for one season
The complete series is available from Warner Archive on DVD —
Warner Archives is a place for both Film and TV series that are part of the great Warner Bros library. Many are rare, hard to find anywhere but at the WB Shop. Some are MOD(Manufactured on Demand)
A library that goes back to the silent days and pre-codes of Hollywood that serves up MGM hits like Hit The Deck/a sought after-hard to find
The Five Man Army with a script by Dario Argento and a compelling score from Ennio Moricone,
Below: RKO Radio Pictures(Val Lewton’s Cat People),
Below: a scene from Tick..Tick..Tick-Jim Brown
and offbeat sci-fi like The Last Dinosaur
Above : Japanese poster for The Last Dinosaur
or back in the day top box office attractions Robert Taylor/Stewart Granger giving tour de force in The Last Hunt and offers up such underrated performances with Lionel Atwill in the cult classic Doctor X or Hugh O’Brian in the more modern iconic spy series Search … this is a place where one might find Bomba The Jungle Boy starring Johnny Sheffield (graduated from the “Boy” role of Tarzan fame) with almost the entire series available. This alone is worth making the stop … these are fun trips down memory lane with plenty of thrills/chills to boot. And their all here in one place. So make sure when you step off that train, the stop says Warner Archives and not Black Rock.
A futuristic detective agency with gadgets and their agents implanted with the latest hi-tech surveillance gear including audio, health monitors and video…. with a revolving cast of detectives…see list below… making it a unique show that each week featured a different headliner as in actor as the main agent.
Spun off from the pilot Probe starring Hugh O’Brian
Above: a promo collage reflecting all three probe agents that appeared on a rotating format : from left to right, Cameron(Burgess Meredith) Director of Probe Control at World Securities Corp and handed out the agents assignments each week,Hugh Lockwood (Hugh O’Brian, Nick Bianco(Tony Franciosa) and C.R. Grover(Doug McClure)
Below: The Last Hunt — international release poster
Warner Archive has been around since Jul of 2014 on the streaming front and is available on devices such as ROKU- it might be little but it packs a wallop when it comes to choice in entertainment and or can also be streamed from your PC for 9.99 monthly. I highly recommend.
Related Links and material-
trailer for The Five Man Army-look for the rating at the end GP instead of PG.
