Bourbon Street Beat

Bourbon Street Beat
Andrew Duggan, Arlene Howell, Van Williams and Richard Long in Bourbon Street Beat
Format	Private detective series
Created by	Charles Hoffman
Starring	Andrew Duggan Richard Long Van Williams Arlene Howell
Theme music composer	Mack David and Jerry Livingston
Composer(s)	Jack Halloran, arranger Michael Heindorf Howard Jackson Frank Perkins Paul Sawtell Bert Shefter
Country of origin	USA
Language(s)	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	39 (List of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)	William T. Orr
Producer(s)	Charles Hoffman
Editor(s)	James C. Moore supervising editor
Location(s)	California
Running time	60 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel	ABC
Picture format	1.33 : 1 monochrome
Audio format	monaural
Original run	October 5, 1959 – July 4, 1960
Chronology
Followed by	Surfside 6
Related shows	77 Sunset Strip Hawaiian Eye

Bourbon Street Beat is a private detective series which aired on the ABC network from 1959-1960 and featured Andrew Duggan as Cal Calhoun, Richard Long as Rex Randolph, Van Williams as Kenny Madison, and Arlene Howell as Melody Lee Mercer, the secretary at the New Orleans detective agency in which they worked.

Characters

The series was one of several Warner Bros. detective shows which aired on ABC during this era, but Bourbon Street Beat was not as successful as the others (except as a title which sticks in everyone's mind). When the series ended, the character of Rex Randolph moved to 77 Sunset Strip, and the character of Kenny Madison moved to the spin-off Surfside 6, which aired in the Bourbon Street Beat time slot the following season. Only Andrew Duggan's character, Cal Calhoun, immediately disappeared from the screen upon the show's cancellation, although viewers probably barely noticed, since the then-ubiquitous Duggan was constantly appearing on so many different television series in other roles.

To make the series setting authentic, ABC bought half-interest in the New Orleans restaurant, The Absinth House, and placed the Randolph and Calhoun office above the eatery, although the series was nonetheless shot on the Warner Bros. studio lot in Los Angeles.

Legacy

Arlene Howell had appeared several times on 1957's western series Maverick and was a former Miss USA; she appears to have retired from the screen after a last appearance as an understandably astonished Sergeant Carter's blind date on Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.. Richard Long went on to play the lead in the western series The Big Valley (1965-69) and the sitcom Nanny and the Professor (1970-71). Van Williams eventually played The Green Hornet (1966-67) opposite Bruce Lee. Andrew Duggan continued to portray an amazing number of character roles in films and television, including two other stints as series lead, taking over Cary Grant's movie role in the short-lived television version of Room for One More (1962), and as the sullen patriarch in Lancer (1968-70), a western in the vein of Bonanza, albeit darker and more complex.

Cast

Andrew Duggan ... Cal Calhoun
Richard Long... Rex Randolph
Van Williams ... Kenny Madison
Arlene Howell... Melody Lee Mercer
Eddie Cole... The Baron
Nita Talbot... Lusti Weather

Episode list

No.	Title	Initial airing	Director	Writer(s)
1	The Taste of Ashes	October 5, 1959	Leslie H. Martinson	Charles Hoffman & Al C. Ward
2	Mourning Cloak	October 12, 1959	James V. Kern	Sig Herzig
3	Torch Song for Trumpet	October 19, 1959		Jim Barnett & Leo Townsend
4	Woman in the River with Mary Tyler Moore	October 26, 1959		Luthar Davis
5	Girl in Trouble with Russ Conway	November 2, 1959	Reginald LeBorg	John Hawkins & Ward Hawkins
6	Tiger Moth	November 9, 1959
7	Secret of Hyacinth Bayou	November 16, 1959
8	Invitation to a Murder	November 23, 1959	Richard LeBorg	Stephen Lord
9	Mrs. Viner Vanishes	November 30, 1959
10	Light Touch of Terror	December 7, 1959	William J. Hole Jr.
11	The Golden Beetle	December 14, 1959
12	The Black Magnolia with Mary Tyler Moore	December 21, 1959	Reginald LeBorg	Earl Baldwin
13	Portrait of Lenore	December 28, 1959
14	Kill With Kindness	January 4, 1960	William J. Hole Jr.
15	Inside Man	January 11, 1960
16	Find My Face	January 18, 1960
17	Knock on Any Tombstone	January 25, 1960	William J. Hole Jr.
18	Key to the City	February 1, 1960	James V. Kern	Robert C. Dennis
19	The 10% Blues	February 8, 1960	William J. Hole Jr.	Hugh Benson & Dick Nelson
20	Melody in Diamonds	February 15, 1960
21	The House of Ledezan	February 22, 1960	William J. Hole Jr.	David Evans
22	Target for Hate	March 7, 1960		Richard Matheson & William L. Stuart
23	The Missing Queen with Roscoe Ates	March 14, 1960		Dorothy B. Hughes & Doris Gilbert
24	Neon Nightmare with Randy Stuart as Beejay	March 21, 1960	William J. Hole Jr.	Dean Riesner
25	Wall of Silence	March 28, 1960		Sam Ross
26	Twice Betrayed with Tyler McVey and Judson Pratt	April 4, 1960		William Bruckner
27	Swampfire	April 11, 1960	Robert B. Sinclair	Sig Herzig & Dean Riesner
28	If a Body	April 18, 1960		Charles Hoffman & Irving Elman
29	Six Hours to Midnight	April 25, 1960		Lee Loeb & Richard Bluel
30	Last Exit	May 2, 1960	Leslie H. Martinson	W. Hermanos
31	Deadly Persuasion	May 9, 1960		Berne Giler & W. Hermanos
32	Suitable for Framing	May 16, 1960	Leslie H. Martinson	Charles Hoffman & Gerald Drayson Adams
33	False Identity	May 23, 1960	William J. Hole Jr.	W. Hermanos & David Goodis
34	Green Hell	May 30, 1960	Charles R. Rondeau	Al C. Ward
35	Ferry to Algiers	June 6, 1960	William J. Hole Jr.	W. Hermanos
36	Wagon Show with Brad Johnson as Michael Reynard	June 13, 1960
37	Interrupted Wedding with Patrick McVey as John Crane and Randy Stuart as Betty Jane Robinson	June 20, 1960	William J. Hole Jr.
38	Reunion	June 27, 1960	William J. Hole Jr.
39	Teresa	July 4, 1960	William J. Hole Jr.

External links

• Bourbon Street Beat at Thrilling Detectives website
• Bourbon Street Beat at the Internet Movie Database
• Bourbon Street Beat at TV.com
• Bourbon Street Beat at TV.com