The Captives

Series producer Robert Sherman wrote this tale, which may have been an outline for an episode of CANNON, which was never filmed. It has that feel.

You can't turn down one of those small town settings, and that's where Barnaby lands, held captive by some goons who are waiting for an armored car to pass through so they can help themselves to a quarter million dollars. The story is familiar, even used on BATMAN and SUPERMAN, but interesting to see Barnaby turn the tables on these guys, and the on location work is always a winner.

Veteran actor Geoffrey Lewis plays Earl, and in an excellent role. Lewis had an incredible list of tv credits, later a regular on FALCON CREST.

More over, Sherman may have borrowed the idea from MANNIX, because Joe also had his fill of small towns stocked with crooks. Beautifully filmed at Piru, California, about 50 miles north of LA, close to Santa Clarita. Producer Quinn Martin seemed to like this area, where many episodes of CANNON were shot.

Yes, the notes are correct. The first season episode, called "Murder Go Round" was filmed here and can you spot some of the same locations? Always fun to do.

SEASON 6 EPISODE 8 remastered CBS/Paramount dvd box set. 6 dvds. Released 2018. Super cover photo or sketch of Barnaby and Betty.

When the story begins, Barnaby is in some small town following a lead about a runaway housewife. When he enters the local cafe where she'd been working, the owner acts strangely...very strangely. It seems pretty certain SOMETHING is up. Well, soon a gunman takes Barnaby captive and he's soon being held prisoner along with several other townsfolk. But why? What's going on here?

It seems that Barnaby is needed on another case and when phone calls to this town by Betty get them no where, Jedediah decides to go to investigate. He finds the town pretty much deserted and goes for the sheriff. The sheriff isn't much use, as he just assumes Jedediah is a nut! So Jedediah returns covertly to see what's REALLY happening.

During most of season 5 and into season 6, the writers really did not do much to make viewers like Jedediah. He seemed to provide little help to Barnaby and spent most of his time begging for advances on his paycheck and talking (pathetically) about girls. Fortunately, "The Captives" provides an opportunity for this character to show more...and I am pretty sure Mark Shera (who played Jedediah) enjoyed the opportunity.

Up until the very end, this was an exciting and excellent episode. I did think Barnaby's stopping the armored truck seemed awfully easy AND when the driver was shot in the shoulder, he put his hand over the wound....and when he removed his hand there was no hole nor any blood! I do know they avoided blood on TV during this era, but this did seem silly. Still, a dandy episode despite a tiny screw up at the end.

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Yet another episode killed by Mark Shera. Did I mention I hate Mark Shera. I really hope whose ever idea it was to add him to the cast was fired and booted from Hollywood. Other then that Geofrey played another great bad guy. Unfortunately the rest of his gang were useless. As many times as Barnaby got up to look out that window , he really should have been shot. Did I mention how much I hate Mark Shera. He really thought he was something. And hitting on every female with a heartbeat was just disgusting. He was awful in SWAT also. From what I understand he left Hollywood humiliated after being cancelled.

So far season 6 scripts are just sad. Buddy Ebsen was showing his age at this point and was just plain tired. By this point the only viable show Quinn Martin Productions had was Barnaby Jones and they were desperate to keep it going. The addition of Mark Shera was obviously designed to bring in a younger audience and for a time it worked. Unfortunately, good actors can't always consistently overcome poor writing. I like Mark Shera. But he was miscast as Barnaby's nephew. If you listen closely you can hear that New Jersey accent slipping through. I like to watch old television shows and look up the cast on IMDB while I'm watching. I remain amazed at the level of training, experience, and talent many of these actors have who still have to toil in dreck to feed themselves and their families. Bradford Dillman called it being a Safeway actor-an actor who works to feed his family. Show business is a tough way to make a living and I have nothing but respect for people who can do it for any length of time and not lose their minds and their souls.