''Official Detective'' is an American

anthology television series An anthology series is a radio, television, video game or film series that spans different genres and presents a different story and a different set of characters in each different episode, season, segment, or short. These usually have a ...

which aired 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, ...

from 1957 to March 19, 1958. The series was hosted by veteran film actor

Everett Sloane Everett H. Sloane (October 1, 1909 – August 6, 1965) was an American character actor who worked in radio, theatre, films, and television. Early life Sloane was born in Manhattan on October 1, 1909, to Nathaniel I. Sloane and Rose (Gers ...

.McNeil, Alex (1996). ''Total Television'' (4th ed.). New York: Penguin Books. .

Overview

The production of the first pilot was announced in December 1956. The story dealt with the slaying of a woman where the main challenge is to identify the body. The series was written and produced by

Mort Briskin ''Mort'' is a fantasy novel by British writer Terry Pratchett. Published in 1987, it is the fourth ''Discworld'' novel and the first to focus on the character Death, who only appeared as a side character in the previous novels. The title is the ...

for

Desilu Productions Desilu Productions () was an American television production company founded and co-owned by husband and wife Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball. The company is best known for shows such as ''I Love Lucy'', ''The Lucy Show'', ''Mannix'', ''The Untouchabl ...

and

National Telefilm Associates National Telefilm Associates (NTA) was an audio-visual marketing company primarily concerned with the syndication of American film libraries to television, including the Republic Pictures film library. It was successful enough on cable television ...

in cooperation with ''Official Detective'' magazine. Around 40 episodes were produced, and these aired on the

NTA Film Network The NTA Film Network was an early American television network founded by Ely Landau in 1956. The network was not a full-time television network like CBS, NBC, or ABC. Rather, it operated on a part-time basis, broadcasting films and several first ...

between July 1957 and April 1958. Producer Mort Briskin would go on to produce other series for NTA and Desilu. The episodes of ''Official Detective'' are archived at the

UCLA Film and Television Archive The UCLA Film & Television Archive is a visual arts organization focused on the preservation, study, and appreciation of film and television, based at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Also a nonprofit exhibition venue, the archiv ...

in Los Angeles.UCLA Library Catalog
UCLA Library. Retrieved 2009-08-22. Desilu employed professional detectives as technical advisers to ensure that procedures depicted in the program accurately represented real-life police work. Scripts were adapted from articles published in ''Official Detective'' magazine, and officials at the magazine reviewed the scripts' content for accuracy.

References

External links

*

1957 American television series debuts 1958 American television series endings 1950s American anthology television series American detective television series Black-and-white American television shows English-language television shows First-run syndicated television programs in the United States Television series by CBS Studios Television series by Desilu Productions {{US-drama-tv-prog-stub