Quinn Martin Misses

Quinn Martin was a world class dramatist in the early days of television. He divided his programs into four acts, used a narrator to set the stage and wrote wonderful scripts and cast great actors. However, not every formula is fool proof. Some shows didn’t become hits and others were just unsold pilots.
His first series after the Untouchables and leaving Desilu was The New Breed. It was a police drama that starred Leslie Nielsen as Lt. Price Adams. It was called The New Breed because they were a new breed of policeman. They were trained on the more sophisticated electronic equipment. It helped track down criminals that more traditional polices methods failed at capturing. The show aired on Tuesday nights on ABC from October 3, 1961 to September 25, 1962. It was not renewed for a 2nd season.
Most new independent producers would have stopped there. Thankfully Mr. Martin didn’t. His next show, The Fugitive, was one of the biggest hits in the history of television.
Another show that went to series but didn’t make it was in 1974. It was called Manhunter. It was a cross between his detective dramas and the Waltons. It took place in the 1930’s and Ken Howard starred as Dave Barrett. He was fresh out of the Marines and just wanted to go back to being a farmer. Then his best friend was killed by bank robbers. He quit farming to become a private investigator and he traveled the country tracking down the gangster types that killed his friend. He occasional went back home to visit his sister and his parents. The series aired on CBS on Wednesday nights from 10-11pm from September 11, 1974 to April 9, 1975.
This was actually a very good series. I watched it with my parents. We all thought it was a shame when it was cancelled. Kent Howard is a very good actor and I was happy a few years later when he had a hit with the White Shadow.
The pilots that went unsold should be called everything old is new again. In the 1970’s he did a pilot called Escapade. It was to be the American version of The Avengers. The pilot was written by Brian Clemens who created The Avengers. It starred Granville Van Dusan as Joshua Rand and Morgan Fairchild as Susie.
In 1980 Mr. Martin tried to revive the Invaders. The pilot went through some name changes. It was called The New Invaders, The Aliens and finally (can you believe this title?) Aliens Are Coming. Tom Mason starred as Dr. Scott Dryden instead of the David Vincent character. He was trying to stop the aliens from completing their evil plan. This time he was not alone. He works with the Nero Institute with Leonard Nero ( Eric Braedon) and Gwen O’Brien (Melinda Fee). This pilot also co-starred Max Gail from Barney Miller, Caroline McWilliams, Matthew Laborteaux from Little House on the Prairie, and Gerald McRaney.
Now in an earlier posting I mentioned that Cannon would not syndicate well. Mr. Martin must have not have agreed with that thought. He seemed to believe in 1980 that the world was ready again for THE RETURN OF FRANK CANNON. In the pilot for the series that aired on CBS Cannon now owns a restaurant. Instead of catching crooks he spent his time catching fish for his cook to prepare. An ex-CIA buddy if his commits suicide. Frank doesn’t believe that it was suicide. He thinks it was murder and becomes a detective again to solve his friend’s murder. If the pilot became a series Cannon would double as a restaurant owner and private investigator. Critics weren’t kind to the pilot and ratings must not have been very good as the series was not picked up.
The above photo of a VHS copy of some episodes of the Manhunter series is from this e-bay auction.