Griff (TV series)

Griff
Format	Crime drama
Created by	Larry Cohen
Starring	Lorne Greene Ben Murphy Vic Tayback Patricia Stich
Country of origin	United States
No. of seasons	One-third
No. of episodes	13
Production
Executive producer(s)	Steven Bochco David Victor Peter S. Fischer Robert F. O'Neill
Running time	60 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel	ABC
Picture format	Color (1973-1974)
Original run	September 29, 1973 – January 4, 1974

Griff is a 13-episode ABC crime drama starring Lorne Greene and Ben Murphy, which aired from September 29, 1973, to January 4, 1974. Nine months after the expiration of his nearly 14-year role as Ponderosa Ranch patriarch Ben Cartwright on NBC's Bonanza western series, the Canadian native Greene portrayed Wade "Griff" Griffin, a former police officer who becomes a private detective. Murphy, an Arkansas native who grew up near Chicago, Illinois, previously portrayed Kid Curry on ABC's Alias Smith and Jones western series. In Griff he played Greene's 31-year-old partner, S. Michael "Mike" Murdock. Vic Tayback, later the operator of the fictitious Mel's Diner of CBS's Alice sitcom, portrays Captain Barney Marcus of the Los Angeles Police Department, Griff's continuing contact with the police. Patricia Stich appeared as Gracie Newcombe, the secretary for the two detectives.

One of the Griff executive producers was Steven Bochco, later of ABC's N.Y.P.D. Blue. The three other executive producers were David Victor, Peter S. Fischer, and Robert F. O'Neill.

Selected episodes

• "The Case of the Baltimore Girls", a two-hour pilot episode, condensed to an hour under the title "All the Lonely People", features Kim Hunter, Patricia Crowley, Lawrence Pressman, Dabney Coleman, William Windom, and Herbert Rudley. The detectives investigate clients of a dating service who face extortion or even murder.

• "The Framing of Billy the Kid", not a western character, but Nick Nolte as a professional football player, Billy Randolph, who is accused of murder. Susan Howard, subsequently of CBS's Dallas, portrays Evan Sands in the episode.

• "Death by Prescription" with Barbara Feldon, Jared Martin, Mark Miller, and Warren Stevens

• "Don't Call Us; We'll Call You", with Ben Piazza as Henry Pizer; Gracie, the detectives' secretary, is terrorized by anonymous threats on her life.

• "Prey": singer Sal Mineo plays a Middle Eastern president named Gamal Zaki, whom Griff and Mike must protect from an assassination attempt. Scott Hylands portrays the awaiting assassin. Oddly, three years later, Mineo was himself murdered.

• "The Last Ballad": Griff investigates the death of a rock singer after she undergoes an abortion when the provider, Dr. Martha Reed, played by Kim Hunter, is held by the police. William Windom, formerly of ABC's The Farmer's Daughter, appears in the role of Christopher Woods. This episode was aired not long after the United States Supreme Court legalized abortion in its companion Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton opinions.

• "Countdown to Terror" with Ricardo Montalban

• "Elephant in a Cage" with Joan Tompkins and character actor Harold J. Stone, a veteran of many crime dramas

• "Her Name Was Nancy" with Michael Callan, formerly of the NBC sitcom Occasional Wife, and Christopher Connelly, who played Norman Harrington of ABC's Peyton Place

• "Hammerlock" with Norman Fell

• "Isolate and Destroy" with Inga Swenson and Pamela Hensley

• "Fugitive from Fear", the series finale, about an escaped convict who leads an upright life for thirteen years until he is suddenly exposed by a relentless prison guard

Griff was filmed by Groverton Productions at Universal City Studios in Los Angeles. The series followed the ABC Suspense Movie at the 10 p.m. Eastern timeslot on Saturdays opposite CBS's The Carol Burnett Show and the NBC Saturday Night at the Movies.

External links

• Griff at the Internet Movie Database