''Brenner'' is an American

crime drama Crime films, in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its detection. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combin ...

of the 1950s and 1960s. The series was filmed in New York City focusing on Lieutenant Roy Brenner, a 20-year veteran of the Internal Affairs Department of the

NYPD The New York City Police Department (NYPD), officially the City of New York Police Department, established on May 23, 1845, is the primary municipal law enforcement agency within the City of New York, the largest and one of the oldest in ...

, and his son Ernie, a rookie detective, who travel around the city solving various crimes. The series starred

Edward Binns Edward Binns (September 12, 1916 – December 4, 1990) was an American actor. He had a wide-spanning career in film and television, often portraying competent, hard working and purposeful characters in his various roles. He is best known for hi ...

and James Broderick as Lt. Roy Brenner and Det. Ernie Brenner, respectively. ''Brenner'', a perennial summer replacement series, aired new episodes on

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

from June 6, 1959–September 19, 1959 and again from May 17–July 19, 1964. Reruns plus two previously unaired episodes were seen during the summer of 1961, an additional summer of reruns in 1962 and a final set of new and repeat broadcasts from July 26–September 13, 1964.

Premise

The show was centered around the careers of the Brenners, Roy and his son Ernie. Roy (

) is a street hardened lieutenant of the Internal Affairs Department of the

. He has been a part of the NYPD for twenty years. His son Ernie ( James Broderick) is an idealistic rookie detective also working for the NYPD. Together, the two face, fight and solve crime, as well as face police corruption and all its ugliness, and try to learn from their different views of life, death, and work. It was somewhat of a challenge for the two to portray a convincing father-and-son duo with Binns only 11 years older than Broderick.

Synopsis

Development

The series was created by producer Herbert Brodkin, who had already made himself a household name with producing credits on ''

The Philco Television Playhouse ''The Philco Television Playhouse'' is an American television anthology series that was broadcast live on NBC from 1948 to 1955. Produced by Fred Coe, the series was sponsored by Philco. It was one of the most respected dramatic shows of the Golde ...

'', ''

Goodyear Television Playhouse ''Goodyear Television Playhouse'' is an American anthology series that was telecast live on NBC from 1951 to 1957 during the first Golden Age of Television. Sponsored by Goodyear, Goodyear alternated sponsorship with Philco, and the ''Philco Te ...

'' and ''

The Alcoa Hour ''The Alcoa Hour'' is an American anthology television series that was aired live on NBC from 1955 to 1957. The series was sponsored by Alcoa. Overview Like the ''Philco Television Playhouse'' and ''Goodyear Television Playhouse'' that had prec ...

'' for

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

, and '' Studio One'' and '' Playhouse 90'' for

. Brodkin later produced several other well-well-known television series including '' The Defenders'' and '' The Nurses''. ''Brenner'' was a transitional project for Brodkin. It was his first independent production, his first series to be shot on film, and (aside from his first producing assignment, CBS's live '' Charlie Wild, Private Detective'') his initial concession to the reality that programs with running characters were quickly supplanting the anthology drama. Like ''The Defenders'' and ''The Nurses'', ''Brenner'' was based on a one-shot anthology show from Brodkin's catalog, a January 15, 1959 telecast of '' Playhouse 90'' entitled "The Blue Men". Intriguingly,

Alvin Boretz Alvin Boretz (June 15, 1919 – July 22, 2010) was an American prolific writer for stage, screen, radio, and television. With an estimated one thousand dramatic scripts to his credit, Boretz contributed to the Golden Age of Television. Biography ...

, who wrote ''The Blue Men'', is not credited as the creator of ''Brenner'', although he did contribute scripts to the series.

Season 1 (1959-1961)

''Brenner'' premiered on Saturday June 6, 1959 on the

CBS Television Network CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

. Ratings were poor from the beginning and after fourteen episodes aired, on September 19, 1959, ''Brenner'' was cancelled. Two new episodes produced in 1960 aired in June and September 1961.

Season 2 (1964)

Sixteen episodes of ''Brenner'' aired on CBS between June 6, 1959 and September 11, 1961. Ten addition episodes that were produced between 1959 and 1960 had never aired on television. With reruns airing during the summers of 1961 and 1962, CBS decided that during the summer of 1964, they would air the remaining episodes five years after the initial cancellation and three years after new episodes of the series had last aired. The last of those ten episodes aired on Sunday July 19, 1964 with reruns airing until September 13.

Cast

*Lieutenant Roy Brenner - portrayed by

. Lt. Brenner, commonly referred to as just Brenner, is the police lieutenant of the Confidential Squad. Lt. Brenner is a street hardened veteran, as he has been working for the NYPD for twenty years. *Patrolman Ernie Brenner - portrayed by James Broderick. Ernie Brenner, commonly referred to as Officer Brenner, is an idealistic rookie plainclothesman for the NYPD. He, along with his father Roy, travel around New York City solving crimes.* *Detective Steve Mason - portrayed by

Dick O'Neill Richard Francis O'Neill (August 29, 1928 – November 17, 1998) was an American stage, film and television character actor best known for playing Irish cops, fathers, judges and army generals. He began his acting career as an original company ...

*Inspector Spaud - portrayed by

Walter Greaza Walter Noel Greaza (pronounced Gree-zay; January 1, 1897 – June 1, 1973) was an American television, radio, stage and film actor. Biography Greaza was born on January 1, 1897, in St Paul, Minnesota, to Albert Edward Greaza and Mary Elizabeth Fr ...

*Detective Al Dunn - portrayed by Sydney Pollack *Detective Tom Cleary - portrayed by

Crahan Denton Crahan Denton (pronunciation: "kran"; born Arthur Crahan Denton; March 20, 1914 – December 4, 1966) was an American stage, film and television actor. One of his most famous film roles was in ''To Kill a Mockingbird'' (1962), in which he p ...

*Officer Richard Clayburn - portrayed by Gene Hackman°

Episodes

Season 1 (1959–61)

Season 2 (1964)

Broadcast history

NOTE: The most frequent time slot for the series is in bold text. * Saturday at 9:00-9:30 pm on CBS: June 6 -September 19, 1959 * Monday at 9:00-9:30 pm on CBS: June 19 -September 11, 1961 * Sunday at 9:00-9:30 pm on CBS: May 17 - July 19, 1964

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 0052454
''Brenner'' at the Classic Television Archive, with a list of episodes
1959 American television series debuts 1964 American television series endings Black-and-white American television shows CBS original programming English-language television shows Fictional portrayals of the New York City Police Department Films scored by Laurence Rosenthal Television shows filmed in New York (state) Television shows set in New York City