Me-TV: Amos Burke, Secret Agent

[michael hagerty]

I noticed last night that Me-TV, which has been running Burke's Law in broadcast order, skipped the final three episodes and played the first episode of Amos Burke, Secret Agent.

I'm surprised those episodes are even part of the package. Does anyone remember whether they were part of the TV Land run or any other syndication of Burke's Law?

 

[FredLeonard]

I liked Amos Burke, Secret Agent. The producers turned Burke's Law from a whodunit to a spy show in the wake of Goldfinger and the Bond craze. It seemed the new version worked well. Unfortunately, two other spy shows got a lot more attention (and viewers): The Man from UNCLE, and I Spy. Even more unfortunately, Burke was scheduled opposite I Spy (as well as Danny Kaye's variety show, with the great Harvey Korman).
Similarly, Jack Webb tried to re-tool 77 Sunset Strip a few years earlier and killed it.

What goes around, comes around. A few years later, the spy craze had run its course and Mission: Impossible stopped being spies and started going after organized crime.

I just check IMDb and they do not list Secret Agent as a separate show; the spy episodes are listed as part of the series' run.

When Aaron Spelling brought Burke back 28 years after it left the air, no mention was made of Amos disappearing from the police force to become a spy. He was also working with a son who was either a bit young to have made detective (even with his old man in charge) or Amos had a wife and kid he never mentioned the first time around.

 

[Mark Giardina]

I did not like Amos Burke, Secret Agent.

Here is a perfect example of how network executives can screw up a decent program by making changes.

"Burke's Law" was an enjoyable detective show, but ABC decided to venture into the 'Secret Agent' fad and revamped the entire show.

"Amos Burke, Secret Agent" bombed with the viewers and I can see why, while I bet that "Burke's Law" might have been renewed for another season.

 

[rnigma1]

What I never understood about "Burke's Law" is why Amos even worked as a cop when he was a millionaire tooling around in a chauffeured Rolls. (Or how he got so rich.)

 

[michael hagerty]

You could easily have gotten another season, maybe two, with a switch to color, out of Burke's Law.

I understand the logic (let's face it, Burke's lifestyle was more James Bond than Joe Friday all along), but going up against I Spy was deadly. I was a huge Burke's Law fan. I was 9 when they switched. I watched Amos to the first commercial, changed the channel to check out I Spy, and never went back.

This weekend was the first time I'd seen an entire episode. I didn't miss much in '65. No sidekicks and no big-name guest stars=no one for Burke to play off. The girls were still gorgeous, but that's it. Gene Barry looked unhappy to be there on show number one.

Coincidentally, Me-TV wrapped up its run of Honey West a couple of weeks ago and has started over. It was a much better, less cartoonish show early on.

 

[FredLeonard]

What I never understood about "Burke's Law" is why Amos even worked as a cop when he was a millionaire tooling around in a chauffeured Rolls. (Or how he got so rich.)

When the show was, they ran a promo in which Amos says his "daddy happened to be filthy rich." It's not unheard of for people to take jobs or follow careers when they don't need the money; they just like the job. Everybody needs a hobby.

Of course, on the show, we see Amos full blown as a detective captain of the LAPD (in the series revival he was chief of detectives for the Beverly Hills PD, maybe he had to get a new job after he up and disappeared to become a spy). Amos would have had to spend several years as a uniform patrolman (in a patrol car) before becoming a detective; and then several more years as a detective, sergeant and lieutenant before become a detective captain. I see see why a rich guy would enjoy being in charge of a detective division but not all the steps up the ladder. Maybe daddy got rich after Amos became a cop and Amos didn't inherit until he had risen in rank. Or maybe he's just a rich guy who made a big contribution to the mayor's campaign.

It's also hard to figure how the LAPD would let this guy use a Rolls Royce limo instead of a standard cop car. Captains get a driver but the driver is a cop; not a personal chauffeur.

Of course, I never could see Columbo as a young patrol cop doing the Adam-12 thing either.

 

[BD Sullivan]

It stayed in B & W because it was on ABC, which seemingly didn't discover color until 1966.

The final year of Burke is similar to what happened to the last season of 77 Sunset Strip. In that final year, Jack Webb was running things and got rid of virtually the whole cast--with the exception of Efrem Zimbalist, Jr.'s Stu Bailey, who became a globe-trotting freelancer. Webb got bounced out of his job at Warner Bros. after just 10 months, but cried all the way to the bank--he got paid $300,000 to go away and two years later, he started up Dragnet again.

 

[Mark Giardina]

Me-TV wrapped up its run of Honey West a couple of weeks ago and has started over. It was a much better, less cartoonish show early on.

ABC executives cancelled Honey West after one season and decided to air instead "The Avengers." This time I agreed that the executives made the smart move.

 

[FredLeonard]

Me-TV wrapped up its run of Honey West a couple of weeks ago and has started over. It was a much better, less cartoonish show early on.

ABC executives cancelled Honey West after one season and decided to air instead "The Avengers." This time I agreed that the executives made the smart move.

ABC knew about color. They just couldn't afford color. Hard to remember how far behind the other two networks ABC was then. In some markets they didn't have full-time affiliates (CBS or NBC stations would pick up some of their shows). In other markets, they were on UHF when almost all TVs could only receive VHF.

A few years ago, one of the Encore channels ran the early seasons of The Avengers, which had not been seen in the US. Honor Blackman (aka ***** Galore) was Steed's early partner (he had a male partner in the first season). The show was not filmed but broadcast as a live drama (as was Dr. Who originally) and Encore showed kinescopes. Apparently, the Brits were late getting zoom lenses because the cameras moved in and out.

 

[onairb]

Me-TV wrapped up its run of Honey West a couple of weeks ago and has started over. It was a much better, less cartoonish show early on.

ABC executives cancelled Honey West after one season and decided to air instead "The Avengers." This time I agreed that the executives made the smart move.

ABC knew about color. They just couldn't afford color. Hard to remember how far behind the other two networks ABC was then. In some markets they didn't have full-time affiliates (CBS or NBC stations would pick up some of their shows). In other markets, they were on UHF when almost all TVs could only receive VHF.

A few years ago, one of the Encore channels ran the early seasons of The Avengers, which had not been seen in the US. Honor Blackman (aka ------ Galore) was Steed's early partner (he had a male partner in the first season). The show was not filmed but broadcast as a live drama (as was Dr. Who originally) and Encore showed kinescopes. Apparently, the Brits were late getting zoom lenses because the cameras moved in and out.

'Dr Who' never aired live, and only a couple of 'Avengers' episodes were aired that way.

 

[FredLeonard]

Me-TV wrapped up its run of Honey West a couple of weeks ago and has started over. It was a much better, less cartoonish show early on.

ABC executives cancelled Honey West after one season and decided to air instead "The Avengers." This time I agreed that the executives made the smart move.

ABC knew about color. They just couldn't afford color. Hard to remember how far behind the other two networks ABC was then. In some markets they didn't have full-time affiliates (CBS or NBC stations would pick up some of their shows). In other markets, they were on UHF when almost all TVs could only receive VHF.

A few years ago, one of the Encore channels ran the early seasons of The Avengers, which had not been seen in the US. Honor Blackman (aka ------ Galore) was Steed's early partner (he had a male partner in the first season). The show was not filmed but broadcast as a live drama (as was Dr. Who originally) and Encore showed kinescopes. Apparently, the Brits were late getting zoom lenses because the cameras moved in and out.

'Dr Who' never aired live, and only a couple of 'Avengers' episodes were aired that way.

In this country. Not in Britain.

 

[BD Sullivan]

Me-TV wrapped up its run of Honey West a couple of weeks ago and has started over. It was a much better, less cartoonish show early on.

ABC executives cancelled Honey West after one season and decided to air instead "The Avengers." This time I agreed that the executives made the smart move.

ABC knew about color. They just couldn't afford color. Hard to remember how far behind the other two networks ABC was then. In some markets they didn't have full-time affiliates (CBS or NBC stations would pick up some of their shows). In other markets, they were on UHF when almost all TVs could only receive VHF.

A few years ago, one of the Encore channels ran the early seasons of The Avengers, which had not been seen in the US. Honor Blackman (aka ------ Galore) was Steed's early partner (he had a male partner in the first season). The show was not filmed but broadcast as a live drama (as was Dr. Who originally) and Encore showed kinescopes. Apparently, the Brits were late getting zoom lenses because the cameras moved in and out.

'Dr Who' never aired live, and only a couple of 'Avengers' episodes were aired that way.

In this country. Not in Britain.

It premiered on 11/22/63.

 

[Ultimajock]

'Dr Who' never aired live, and only a couple of 'Avengers' episodes were aired that way.

In this country. Not in Britain.

It premiered on 11/22/63.

...Doctor Who premiered at 5:15 PM British time on November 23, 1963; with the overshadowing news of the assassination of President Kennedy (which also led to an altered script for that same night's BBC telecast of That Was The Week That Was), the first episode was repeated directly prior to the second episode the following Saturday...

 

[MCarney]

ABC knew about color. They just couldn't afford color. Hard to remember how far behind the other two networks ABC was then. In some markets they didn't have full-time affiliates (CBS or NBC stations would pick up some of their shows). In other markets, they were on UHF when almost all TVs could only receive VHF.

Or they were on VHF stations with poor signals (WTEV New Bedford/Providence), cheaply run (WMUR Manchester, which didn't have studio color until 1972 and often skipped network programming to save on line costs), or more interested in the goals of the parent corporation (WNAC Boston, owned by RKO General and which was notorious for preempting large portions of the schedule for movies).

If you want to see how bad ABC looked at the time, check out their coverage of the JFK assassination on YouTube. Because they had no direct link between the studio and the news room they went to the news room, where anchors could be seen taking phone calls from the field and then relaying what was said to the viewer.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jo9IvyKP540
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ikAops4Z6CM

 

[michael hagerty]

The quote above, attributed to me, was actually from Fred Leonard.

 

[MCarney]

Sorry about that - I was trying to cut down on the chain and edited the wrong name.

 

[bpatrick]

I did not like Amos Burke, Secret Agent.

Here is a perfect example of how network executives can screw up a decent program by making changes.

"Burke's Law" was an enjoyable detective show, but ABC decided to venture into the 'Secret Agent' fad and revamped the entire show.

"Amos Burke, Secret Agent" bombed with the viewers and I can see why, while I bet that "Burke's Law" might have been renewed for another season.

I totally agree, but I suppose ABC was trying to cash in on the spy craze; after all, NBC had "The Man From U.N.C.L.E." and
debuted "I Spy" (against Burke) and the spoof "Get Smart" in 1965; CBS had "Secret Agent" and would add "Mission: Impossible" in 1966. Why they had to pick Amos Burke, instead of going with some new character, is beyond me, unless it was just a case of audience familiarity.

The '90s revival of "Burke's Law" seemed awfully dated.

 

[FredLeonard]

The '90s revival of "Burke's Law" seemed awfully dated.

It was a midseason replacement twice. Didn't they recycle a lot of the old scripts?

 

[Mark Giardina]

The '90s revival of "Burke's Law" seemed awfully dated.

It was a midseason replacement twice. Didn't they recycle a lot of the old scripts?

They (the network) must have paid Gene Barry a huge chuck of money to appear in the later version of “Burke’s Law” because that show was just horrible.

Personally I don’t understand why networks feel the need to recycle old programs from the 50s and 60s. Is it because they have they run out of original ideas?

 

[BigDave]

I wish someone would show Lancelot Link Secret Chimp! ;D