''Lanigan's Rabbi'' is an American

police procedural The police procedural, police show, or police crime drama is a subgenre of procedural drama and detective fiction that emphasises the investigative procedure of police officers, police detectives, or law enforcement agency, law enforcement agencies ...

television series that aired on

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from January 30 to April 24, 1977. The title alludes to Police Chief Paul ''Lanigan'' and his friend, ''Rabbi'' David Small.

Synopsis

Based upon a series of novels by Harry Kemelman, the series stars

Art Carney Arthur William Matthew Carney (November 4, 1918 – November 9, 2003) was an American actor and comedian. A recipient of an Academy Awards, Academy Award, a Golden Globe Awards, Golden Globe Award, and six Primetime Emmy Awards, he was best kn ...

as Police Chief Paul Lanigan, who fights crime in a small California town with the help of his best friend, Rabbi David Small (

Stuart Margolin Stuart Margolin (January 31, 1940 – December 12, 2022) was an American actor, director, and screenwriter of film and television. He was known for playing con artist Evelyn "Angel" Martin on the 1970s television series '' The Rockford Files'', ...

in the pilot,

Bruce Solomon Bruce Peter Solomon (born 12 August 1943), is an American film and television actor, best known for the roles of Sgt. Foley in the TV show ''Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman'' and Kenny Zuckerman in ''Beverly Hills, 90210''. Career Television and fil ...

in the series). Small's ability in this area was attributed to his "rabbinic mind", and his

Talmud The Talmud (; ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of Haskalah#Effects, modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cen ...

ic training. However, an added element for the David Small novels and the ''Lanigan's Rabbi'' series was that Small was usually trying to balance his crime-solving assistance to Chief Lanigan with synagogue politics, usually involving some congregants who would be happy to see the rabbi lose his position. Co-starring in the series was

Janis Paige Janis Paige (born Donna Mae Tjaden; September 16, 1922 – June 2, 2024) was an American actress and singer. With a career spanning nearly 60 years, she was one of the last surviving stars from the Golden Age of Hollywood. Born in Tacoma, Wash ...

and

Janet Margolin Janet Natalie Margolin (July 25, 1943 – December 17, 1993) was an American theater, television and film actress. Early life Margolin was born in New York City to a Jewish family. Her father, Benjamin Margolin, was a Russian Jewish accountan ...

as Mrs. Lanigan and Mrs. Small, respectively. Another regular on the series was Carney's daughter, Barbara Carney. After a successful pilot film based on '' Friday the Rabbi Slept Late'', the first novel in the Rabbi David Small series, aired in 1976, ''Lanigan's Rabbi'' was produced as a series of 90-minute telefilms beginning in January 1977. For the series, Bruce Solomon replaced

, who had played Rabbi Small in the pilot; the unrelated Janet Margolin played his wife. The series was broadcast on a rotating schedule under the umbrella title '' NBC Sunday Mystery Movie''. It rotated with ''

Columbo ''Columbo'' is an American crime drama television series starring Peter Falk as Columbo (character), Lieutenant Columbo, a homicide detective with the Los Angeles Police Department. After two pilot episodes in 1968 and 1971, the show originall ...

'', '' McCloud'', and ''

McMillan MacMillan, Macmillan, McMillen or McMillan may refer to: People * McMillan (surname) * Clan MacMillan, a Highland Scottish clan Places Australia * Division of McMillan, electoral district in Australian House of Representatives in Victoria ...

'' (formerly ''McMillan & Wife''). ''Lanigan's Rabbi'' was the last series added to the ''Mystery Movie'' format (it replaced '' Quincy, M.E.'' at mid-season when that series was spun off into a weekly program); in the spring, NBC cancelled all four series and discontinued the ''Mystery Movie'' format. As a result, only four ''Lanigan's Rabbi'' episodes were broadcast.

Cast

- Chief Paul Lanigan *

- Rabbi David Small (pilot) *

- Rabbi David Small * Barbara Carney - Bobbie Whittaker *

- Miriam Small *

- Kate Lanigan *

Reva Rose Reva Rose (born July 30, 1936, in Chicago, Illinois) is an American actress of stage and screen, best known for her award-winning performance as Lucy van Pelt in the 1967 Off-Broadway production of Clark Gesner's ''You're a Good Man, Charlie B ...

- Hannan Prince

Episode list

References

External links

* * {{IMDb title, title=Lanigan's Rabbi, id=0075524 1970s American crime drama television series Television series by Universal Television American detective television series Clerical mysteries NBC Mystery Movie 1976 American television series debuts 1977 American television series endings Television shows based on American novels American English-language television shows Religious drama television series Rabbis in popular culture Jewish American television series Television shows set in California NBC crime dramas