One For The Road (Harry O)
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

''Harry O'', sometimes spelled ''Harry-O'', is an American private detective series that aired for two seasons on
ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...
from 1974 to 1976. The series starred
David Janssen David Janssen (born David Harold Meyer) (March 27, 1931February 13, 1980) was an American film and television actor who is best known for his starring role as Richard Kimble in the television series '' The Fugitive'' (1963–1967). Janssen also ...
, and
Jerry Thorpe Richard Jerome "Jerry" Thorpe was an American television-and-film director and producer. Actor and director Richard Thorpe was his father. Jerry served as the executive producer of 33 episodes of ''The Untouchables'' (starring Robert Stack) d ...
was executive producer. ''Harry O'' followed the broadcast of two pilot films: firstly ''Such Dust as Dreams Are Made On'' (which aired on March 11, 1973) and secondly (with noticeable retooling) ''Smile Jenny, You're Dead'' (which aired on February 3, 1974), both starring Janssen.


Synopsis

David Janssen starred as the title character Harry Orwell, a
San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...
cop forced into retirement when he is shot in the back. To support himself, he sets up a
private investigation A private investigator (often abbreviated to PI and informally called a private eye), a private detective, or inquiry agent is a person who can be hired by individuals or groups to undertake investigatory law services. Private investigators of ...
practice out of his beach house on Coronado Island, in San Diego. Henry Darrow originally starred as Lt. Manny Quinlan, his friend and police contact. For the second half of the first season, the series was retooled, with the location of the series shifted to
Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
, due to the high production costs of filming in and around San Diego. The retooling consisted of more than just a location change; a revised theme song and incidental music were composed and new supporting characters were added, notably the irascible Lt. Trench of the Santa Monica Police Department, who became Orwell's new foil/contact. (Henry Darrow's character, Lt. Quinlan, was killed off in a crossover episode.) Most noticeably, a lighter tone for the scripts and acting was adopted. Harry still lived in a beach cottage−this time somewhere along the Pacific Coast Highway between Malibu and Santa Monica. In "Reflections", episode five of season two, he gave the address as "1101 Coast Road" (this beach location was the same location used for the second pilot movie). The second season had a further reworking of the opening credits and theme song, and recurring characters were added. Anthony Zerbe, who played Lt. Trench, won a
Primetime Emmy Award The Primetime Emmy Awards, or Primetime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the Primetime ...
for his role on the series. Recurring characters included Farrah Fawcett-Majors, as Harry's attractive next-door neighbor and sometime girlfriend Sue Ingram/Ingham;
Paul Tulley Paul Tulley (born May 1, 1942) is an American film and television actor. He is known for playing Sgt. Roberts in the American private detective television series ''Harry O''. Life and career Tulley was born in Newark, Delaware. He attended ...
as Sgt. Roberts, Lt. Trench's assistant; Les Lannom as Lester Hodges, a bumbling private-eye wannabe; Tom Atkins as Sgt. Frank Cole; and Bill Henderson as Spencer Johnson, Harry's frustrated car mechanic. Harry's small Austin-Healey, which spent almost all of the first season in nonrunning condition, later had more time on the road as the series progressed, though it was never entirely reliable. Also, in the San Diego episodes, the bullet in Harry's back noticeably impeded his ability to get around; by the second season, though the bullet's existence was mentioned in passing, Harry was miraculously able to run, jump, and engage in strenuous physical activity with seemingly no issues.


Reception and cancellation

Ratings for the series were initially fair, and they received a boost after the series was retooled in January 1975. ''Harry O'' was picked up for a second season and continued to gain viewership and critical acclaim. Then-
ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...
president Fred Silverman, though, decided to take the network in a different direction and cancelled the series in favor of ''
Charlie's Angels ''Charlie's Angels'' is an American crime drama television series that aired on ABC from September 22, 1976, to June 24, 1981, producing five seasons and 115 episodes. The series was created by Ivan Goff and Ben Roberts and was produced by Aa ...
''. Farrah Fawcett-Majors, supporting player to Janssen's Harry O, was selected as one of the three stars of that new series. The last original episode aired on April 29, 1976. The series' cancellation greatly disenchanted its star Janssen, who had found and shaped probably his most ideal character ever in Harry Orwell; he thus vowed never to participate in another television series again. He would do so, though, later, in the miniseries ''
Centennial {{other uses, Centennial (disambiguation), Centenary (disambiguation) A centennial, or centenary in British English, is a 100th anniversary or otherwise relates to a century, a period of 100 years. Notable events Notable centennial events at a ...
'' (1978–79).


Syndication

The show was rerun late at night on CBS during 1979-1980. It was run in syndication in the late 1980s on a few stations around the US and had a short-lived run on
GoodLife TV Network YTA TV (an initialism for its former full name, Youtoo America; commonly referred to as just YTA) is an American television network which originally launched in February 1985 as a cable channel. Unusual for a network of its type, it has had multi ...
in the early 2000s. The first pilot movie still receives occasional airings. The series is occasionally presented in weekend binges on the
OTA OTA or ota may stand for: Art, entertainment, and media * ''Off the Air'', an Adult Swim television series * Otakon, an annual anime convention in Baltimore, Maryland Electronics, science, and technology * Ochratoxin A (also termed OTA), a mycoto ...
television network Decades.


Episodes


Pilot movies

:Both pilot movies are set and were shot in Los Angeles. :With the exception of Harry Orwell, none of the recurring characters who would feature in the series appear in the pilot movies. The pilot movies also contain some details of Harry's backstory that clash with the character as established in the series. :Two of the actors who would feature in the series play different roles in ''Such Dust as Dreams are Made On''; Les Lannom (who played Lester Hodges in the series) plays a student, while Mel Stewart (seen as Harry's mechanic Roy in the series) plays Harry's police contact, Sgt. Granger. :In the second pilot movie, ''Smile Jenny, You're Dead'',
Barbara Leigh Barbara Leigh (born Barbara Ann Kish, November 16, 1946) is a former American actress and fashion model. Her breakthrough role came in 1972 with the film ''Junior Bonner'', which she starred alongside her then-boyfriend Steve McQueen. She later ...
(who appeared as Gina in the series) plays a character called Mildred. A character called Mildred also appeared in the first pilot movie, played by
Marianna Hill Marianna Hill ( Schwarzkopf, February 9, 1942) is an American actress. She predominantly worked in American television and is known for her starring roles in the Western films '' El Condor'' and ''High Plains Drifter'' and the cult horror film '' ...
.


Season 1: The San Diego episodes

:Episodes 1-13 are set and were shot in San Diego. :The supporting cast for the San Diego episodes includes: * Henry Darrow as Lt. Manny Quinlan, Harry's sometimes antagonistic police contact * Tom Atkins as Sgt. Frank Cole, Quinlan's none-too-bright assistant (five episodes) *
David Moses David "Dai" Moses (birth – 1999) was a Welsh rugby union and professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s, and coached rugby league in the 1960s. He played club level rugby union (RU) for Maesteg, and repres ...
as Officer Billings, a patrolman often seen performing crime-scene duties (four episodes) * G.W. Bailey as Officer Remsen, a patrolman also often seen at crime scenes (three episodes) *
Mel Stewart Milton "Mel" Stewart (September 19, 1929 – February 24, 2002) was an American character actor, television director, and musician who appeared in numerous films and television shows from the 1960s to the 1990s. He is best known for playing Hen ...
as Roy Bardello, Harry's sarcastic mechanic (seen in two episodes, referenced in others)


Season 1: The Los Angeles episodes

:Beginning with episode 14, a change in format was made. Behind the scenes, new production staff members were brought in, and on-camera, the entire supporting cast was dropped. Filming moved from San Diego to Los Angeles. :Episode 14 was a stand-alone story that sent Harry out to perform his investigations in a remote desert location. :From episode 15, Harry relocated to Los Angeles, moving his residence to the same location seen in the second pilot movie. :The supporting cast for the Los Angeles episodes (from episode 15) includes: * Anthony Zerbe as Lt. K.C. Trench, Harry's new police contact *Paul Tulley as Sgt. Roberts, Trench's quiet assistant * Hal Williams as Clarence, Harry's new mechanic (three episodes) *Kathrine Baumann as Betsy, one of a group of friendly stewardesses who live next door to Harry (three episodes) * Farrah Fawcett-Majors as Sue Ingram, another stewardess-next-door seen after Betsy leaves to marry her boyfriend (three episodes) : *Sue's huge dog Grover appears in two episodes, as Harry is often forced to look after him while Sue is away. *Betsy's massive boyfriend Walter is often mentioned, but never seen :Seen in one episode each were two characters who would become recurring players in season two: Les Lannom as amateur criminologist Lester Hodges, and
Margaret Avery Margaret Avery (born April 15, 1944) is an American actress and singer. She began her career appearing on stage and later had starring roles in films including '' Cool Breeze'' (1972), ''Which Way Is Up?'' (1977), ''Scott Joplin'' (1977), and ''T ...
as friendly informant Ruby Dome. Henry Darrow also returned for one episode ("Elegy for a Cop") as Manny Quinlan.


Season 2

:Season two remained in Los Angeles. Some changes were made to the supporting cast, and the theme was given a second radical rearrangement. :The season-two supporting cast includes: * Anthony Zerbe as Lt. K.C. Trench, Harry's police contact *Paul Tulley as Sgt. Roberts, Trench's assistant *Farrah Fawcett-Majors as Sue Ingham, Harry's neighbor (five episodes) * Bill Henderson as Spencer Johnson, Harry's frustrated mechanic (four episodes) * Richard Stahl as Dr. Carl Samuelson, a police pathologist (four episodes) *Les Lannom as Lester Hodges, an amateur criminologist who gets mixed up in Harry's cases (three episodes) *Margaret Avery as Ruby Dome (or Ruby Lawrence'), an informant with whom Harry is friendly (three episodes) *Susan Adams as Jean Parnell, a police laboratory technician (three episodes) *
Barbara Leigh Barbara Leigh (born Barbara Ann Kish, November 16, 1946) is a former American actress and fashion model. Her breakthrough role came in 1972 with the film ''Junior Bonner'', which she starred alongside her then-boyfriend Steve McQueen. She later ...
as Gina Walters, Harry's contact at the DMV (seen in two episodes, referenced in others)


Awards and nominations


Home media

On July 11, 2012,
Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Di ...
released ''Harry O: The Complete First Season'' on DVD in region 1 via their
Warner Archive Collection The Warner Archive Collection is a home video division for releasing classic and cult films from Warner Bros.' library. It started as a manufactured-on-demand (MOD) DVD series by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment on March 23, 2009, with the inte ...
. This is a manufacture-on-demand (MOD) release, available exclusively through Warner's online store and only in the US. The 6-disc set features all 22 episodes of the season as well as the original pilot tele-film ''Such Dust as Dreams Are Made On''. The second and final season was released by Warner Archive on February 5, 2013.


References


External links

* * * *{{epguides, id=HarryO 1974 American television series debuts 1976 American television series endings American Broadcasting Company original programming 1970s American crime television series American detective television series English-language television shows Television series by Warner Bros. Television Studios Television shows set in San Diego Fictional portrayals of the San Diego Police Department