Johnny Stacatto

''Johnny Staccato'' is an American private detective television series starring John Cassavetes which ran for 27 episodes on NBC from September 10, 1959 through March 24, 1960.

Synopsis

Titular character Johnny Staccato, played by John Cassavetes, is a jazz pianist/ private detective. The setting for many episodes is a Greenwich Village jazz club belonging to his friend, Waldo, played by Eduardo Ciannelli. The show featured many musicians, such as Barney Kessel, Shelly Manne, Milt Holland, Red Mitchell, Red Norvo, and Johnny Williams. (Although the show was set in New York City, all of these men were closely identified with the West Coast jazz scene, and it was filmed largely in Los Angeles.) Elmer Bernstein composed both of the main theme tunes used and Stanley Wilson (composer), Stanley Wilson was music supervisor. Cassavetes also directed five episodes.

After its initial airing on NBC, American Broadcasting Company, ABC presented reruns of the series from March 27 to September 25, 1960.

On October 12, 2010, the series was released on Region 1 DVD by Timeless Media Group.

Episodes have aired on stations specializing in nostalgia programming, such as GetTV.

Notable guest stars

*Warren Berlinger
*Geraldine Brooks (actress), Geraldine Brooks
*Walter Burke
*Elisha Cook, Jr. (twice)
*Lloyd Corrigan
*Frank DeKova
*Norman Fell
*Marianne Gaba
*Ingrid Goude
*Harry Guardino
*Arline Hunter
*Martin Landau
*Michael Landon
*Cloris Leachman
*Ruta Lee
*Sylvia Lewis
*Charles McGraw
*John Marley
*Elizabeth Montgomery
*Mary Tyler Moore
*Susan Oliver
*J. Pat O'Malley
*Gena Rowlands
*Vito Scotti
*Dean Stockwell
*Nita Talbot
*Jack Weston

Production notes

''Johnny Staccato'' aired at 8:30 p.m. Eastern on Thursdays opposite American Broadcasting Company, ABC's sitcom, ''The Real McCoys'', created by Irving Pincus and starring Walter Brennan, Richard Crenna, and Kathleen Nolan, and Columbia Broadcasting System, CBS's Western (genre), western series, ''Johnny Ringo (TV series), Johnny Ringo'', starring Don Durant and Mark Goddard.

Episodes

Home media

Timeless Media Group released the complete series on DVD in Region 1 on October 12, 2010.

In popular culture

*The show was later parodied on ''Second City Television, SCTV'' as ''Vic Arpeggio'' (portrayed by Joe Flaherty), a saxophonist/private investigator whose cases were usually solved by accident. Arpeggio claimed to have been “framed” for drug possession, and that the detective gig was merely a sideline until he got his solo career back on track.
*Thomas Pynchon references Johnny Staccato in his 2009 novel ''Inherent Vice'', set in late 1960s Los Angeles. Pynchon's main character, private investigator Larry "Doc" Sportello, praises Staccato as "the shamus of shamuses," ranking him with past greats Philip Marlowe and Sam Spade.Pynchon, Thomas. Inherent Vice. New York: Penguin, 2009, 97.
*The theme, performed by Elmer Bernstein, received little attention in the US, but went to #4 in Britain.
*Legendary artist Harvey Kurtzman parodied the show in his classic ''Harvey Kurtzman's Jungle Book, Jungle Book'' (Ballantine Books 1959) as "Thelonius Violence"
*The Colts Drum and Bugle Corps' 2015 show was called "...and a Shot Rings Out: A Johnny Staccato Murder Mystery", which was a reference to the TV show.

References

External links

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{{John Cassavetes

1959 American television series debuts
1960 American television series endings
1950s American crime drama television series
1960s American crime drama television series
American detective television series
Black-and-white American television shows
NBC original programming
Television series by Universal Television
Television shows set in New York City
Television shows filmed in Los Angeles