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Ex-cop Frank McBride (Eddie Albert) and ex-con Pete Ryan (Robert Wagner) start their own detective agency.

Creator:

Glen A. Larson

Stars:

Robert Wagner, Eddie Albert, Charlie Callas

Cast

Complete series cast summary:
Robert Wagner	...	Pete T. Ryan 71 episodes, 1975-1978
Eddie Albert	...	Frank MacBride 71 episodes, 1975-1978
Charlie Callas	...	Malcolm Argos 71 episodes, 1975-1978
Sharon Gless	...	Maggie Philbin 71 episodes, 1975-1978

Storyline

Former bunco Detective Frank MacBride (Eddie Albert) joins forces with a con artist he once sent to jail, Pete Ryan (Robert Wagner), to operate their own private detective agency. Most of their cases involve running cons on the bad guys in order to trick them into surrendering or revealing the whereabouts of the stolen loot, jewels, et cetera. Maggie Philbin (Sharon Gless) was their cute receptionist, and wacky restaurateur Malcolm Argos (Charlie Callas), whose mastery of disguise often came in handy in helping MacBride and Ryan on their cases, provided the comic relief.

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Plot Keywords:

detective | partner | con artist | private detective | father son relationship | 

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Taglines:

Robert Wagner and Eddie Albert as an ex-con and an ex-cop who join forces to form a highly unorthodox, highly entertaining team of private investigators. (season 1)

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Genres:

Action | Crime | Drama

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Did You Know?

Trivia

After being terminated from Marcus Welby, M.D. (1969), Sharon Gless won the role of Maggie Philbin.

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Quotes

Miss Lydell: I don't know much about your background.
Frank MacBride: Well, I was a cop and...
Peterson T. 'Pete' Ryan: I wasn't.

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Connections

Referenced in The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson: Steve Allen/Jack Palance/Buddy Rich/Madlyn Rhue (1975)

User Reviews

Can you play the big con forever

This is another CBS series which started very strong. A lot of that was the cast. Robert Wagner, Eddie Albert & Sharon Gless are three extreme talents put together on this series. They were what held the later shows together.

The first scripts of this show were extremely intelligent. Wagner playing off Albert & Gless trying to stop the 2 of them from going at each others throats was very effective. The friction gave this show a strong start. The early shows had something special. Charlie Callas helped the early shows too but he strangely stopped appearing after the second season.

Later on in the series, a report about excessive violence on TV came out & CBS reacted by watering down the quality of the action & the parks between Wagner & Albert. Once this happened, the show abruptly lost ratings & got canceled. This was a very good series originally, but if you watch the first shows & then watch the last ones, you will see what I mean about the change.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

21 March 1975 (USA)

Also Known As:

Los Vegas Roundabout

Filming Locations:

Backlot, Universal Studios - 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Glen A. Larson Productions, Universal Television

Technical Specs

Runtime:

60 min (70 episodes) 90 min (pilot)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1