Tenspeed and Brown Shoe (1980– )

A con-man and a accountant-wanna-be private eye team up to fight crime.

Creator:

Stephen J. Cannell

Stars:

Ben Vereen, Jeff Goldblum, Richard Romanus

Nominated for 1 Primetime Emmy. Another 1 win & 1 nomination.

Cast

Complete series cast summary:
Jeff Goldblum	...	Lionel Whitney (14 episodes, 1980)
Ben Vereen	...	E.L. 'Tenspeed' Turner (13 episodes, 1980)

Storyline

Ben Vereen is E.L. "Tenspeed" Turner, an inveterate con-man and master of disguise. Jeff Goldblum is Lionel Whitney, a "brown shoe" (accountant). Through an unlikely series of circumstances, they form a detective agency. Tenspeed is the realist, while Lionel fantasizes of having adventures like the fictional private eye he idolizes, Mark Savage.

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Plot Keywords:

detective agency | detective | accountant | cult tv | partner | 

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Genres:

Crime | Drama

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

27 January 1980 (USA)

Also Known As:

Die Schnüffler

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Television, Stephen J. Cannell Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

60 min 60 min (12 episodes)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Ben Vereen would reprise his role of E.L. 'Tenspeed' Turner over 8 years later on another Stephen J. Cannell production, 'J.J. Starbuck'. He was brought on in a recurring capacity to help fill in for the ailing star of the show but the program was cancelled shortly thereafter.

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Connections

Referenced in Mystery Science Theatre 3000: The Human Duplicators (1992)

User Reviews

Brilliant Series!

In my opinion this is Stephen J. Cannell's greatest creation. The series was kind of a -What if Jim Rockford split in two? The shy, dream-laden private-eye want-to-be and the accomplished con artist team up to solve various mysteries. Goldblum and Vereen are cast perfectly. This was television fun at it's best with the homage to the pulp detectives and the MacGyver of disguises. The villains were typical Cannell with mobsters to motorcycle gangs, but these two heroes made the endings, for me, much more satisfying because of the clever characters. Saddest is how this series was miss-scheduled by ABC and destroyed in the ratings by CBS.