''Crazy Like a Fox'' is an American

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

series set in

San Francisco, California San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17t ...

, that aired 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 December 30, 1984 to May 3, 1986.

Overview

The series starred

Jack Warden Jack Warden (born John Warden Lebzelter Jr.; September 18, 1920July 19, 2006) was an American character actor of film and television. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for ''Shampoo'' (1975) and '' Heaven Can Wait' ...

as Harry Fox, a free-spirited private detective who lived by his wits, and

John Rubinstein John Rubinstein (born December 8, 1946) is an American actor, composer and director. Early life Rubinstein is the son of Polish parents. His mother, Aniela (née Młynarska), a dancer and writer, was a Roman Catholic native of Warsaw, the dau ...

as his high-strung attorney son, Harrison, who unwillingly, and frequently, found himself dragged into his father's cases. The show's opening would always feature Harry and Harrison talking on the phone in their offices like this: *Harrison: Hello? *Harry: Harrison, I need your help. *Harrison: Dad, you keep forgetting. I'm a lawyer. ''You're'' the detective! *Harry: Aw, come on son. All I need is a ride. What could ''possibly'' happen? Penny Peyser played Harry Jr.'s wife and

Della Reese Delloreese Patricia Early (July 6, 1931 – November 19, 2017), known professionally as Della Reese, was an American jazz and gospel singer, actress, and ordained minister whose career spanned seven decades. She began her long career as a s ...

had a recurring role as a nurse at the local hospital who had an antagonistic (in a very joking and friendly manner) relationship with Harry Sr, often assisting him in his investigations and providing her own information. Originally airing Sundays at 9 pm (EST), the show was a hit in its first season, ranking 10th with a 19.9 rating, and initially continued to pull solid numbers during its second season, but midway through that season, CBS brought back its ''Sunday Night Movie'', which displaced the show (along with ''

Trapper John, M.D. ''Trapper John, M.D.'' is an American medical drama television series and spin-off of the film ''M*A*S*H'' (1970). Pernell Roberts portrayed the title character, a lovable surgeon who became a mentor and father figure in San Francisco, Californ ...

'', which followed ''Crazy Like a Fox'' up to that point) and resulted in it being bounced around to various time slots, which caused ratings to drop significantly and led to its cancellation at the end of the season. The second season ended up ranking 44th with a 15.0 rating. Reruns were later shown in

syndication Syndication may refer to: * Broadcast syndication, where individual stations buy programs outside the network system * Print syndication, where individual newspapers or magazines license news articles, columns, or comic strips * Web syndication, ...

and on the

CBN Cable Network The American cable television, cable and satellite television network that is now known as Freeform (TV channel), Freeform was originally launched as the CBN Satellite Service on April 29, 1977, and has gone through several different owners (and s ...

, and a reunion

TV movie A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...

titled '' Still Crazy Like a Fox'' aired on CBS in 1987 that featured

Monty Python Monty Python (also collectively known as the Pythons) were a British comedy troupe who created the sketch comedy television show ''Monty Python's Flying Circus'', which first aired on the BBC in 1969. Forty-five episodes were made over fou ...

Graham Chapman Graham Chapman (8 January 1941 – 4 October 1989) was a British actor, comedian and writer. He was one of the six members of the surreal comedy group Monty Python. He portrayed authority figures such as The Colonel and the lead role in two P ...

in one of his last roles. For his performance, Warden received two nominations for the

Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series This is a list of winners and nominees of the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series. The award is presented to the best performance by a lead actor in a television comedy series. Beginning with the 18th Primetime Emmy ...

.1986 Comedy Actor Emmy nominees
/ref> As of 2020, the show now airs on the UK

GREAT! tv Great! TV (stylized as GREAT! tv) is a general entertainment channel in the United Kingdom owned by Narrative Entertainment UK Limited. It originally launched as Sony Entertainment Television on 7 April 2011. However, it was closed on 6 February ...

Broadcast history

Cast

as Harrison Joshua "Harry" Fox, Sr. *

as Harrison Joshua Fox, Jr. * Penny Peyser as Cindy Fox (JR's wife) *

Robby Kiger Robbie or Robby is a surname. It is usually encountered as a nickname or a shortened form of Robert, Rob or Robin. The name experienced a significant rise in popularity in Northern Ireland in 2003. People Given name Robbie * Robbie Amell (born ...

as Harrison Joshua "Josh" Fox III (JR & Cindy's son) *

Lydia Lei Lydia ( Lydian: ‎𐤮𐤱𐤠𐤭𐤣𐤠, ''Śfarda''; Aramaic: ''Lydia''; el, Λυδία, ''Lȳdíā''; tr, Lidya) was an Iron Age kingdom of western Asia Minor located generally east of ancient Ionia in the modern western Turkish pro ...

as Allison Ling (1984 - 1985) *

Patricia Ayame Thomson Patricia is a female given name of Latin origin. Derived from the Latin word '' patrician'', meaning "noble"; it is the feminine form of the masculine given name Patrick. The name Patricia was the second most common female name in the United S ...

as Allison Ling (1985 - 1986) *

Robert Hanley Robert Hanley (born June 17, 1947), also known as Broadway Bob. and Bob Hanley, is an American actor, entertainer, comedian, singer, and writer. Hanley has been cast in over 100 starring and co-starring roles in television variety, comedy and dram ...

as Lt. Walker * Theodore Wilson as Ernie *

as Nurse Flood (1985 - 1986)

Episode list

Season 1 (1984–85)

Season 2 (1985–86)

TV reunion film

References

External links

*{{IMDb title, id=0086691, title=Crazy Like a Fox 1980s American comedy television series 1984 American television series debuts 1986 American television series endings CBS original programming Television series by Sony Pictures Television 1980s American crime television series Television shows set in San Francisco