Reel Pop

Ever since Jerry Orbach died, we've been hurting for a charismatic detective. Below, five old school television detectives, besides Columbo, who defined the genre.

5. Richard Diamond, Private Detective
CBS, NBC | 1957 - 1960 | starring David Janssen as Richard Diamond
God bless Mary Tyler Moore's legs. Well, Moore's legs circa 1957, when they starred as Diamond's secretary Sam. Sam traded innuendo and wit with Diamond, the prototypical film noir detective. Janssen went on to play Dr. Richard Kimble in ABC's The Fugitive. The show was created by Blake Edwards, who also created Peter Gunn (below). The show's slow pace and single camera work haven't aged well, but Diamond is a great example of early TV crime drama. Plus my grandma loved him. Truly old school.

4. Peter Gunn
NBC, ABC | 1958 - 1961 | starring Craig Stevens as Peter Gunn
Peter Gunn was the original hipster detective. Where Diamond had been a gruff ex-OSS officer in New York City, Gunn was a laid back beatnik who operated from a nameless waterfront city. Henry Mancini wrote the show's famous score, which I always assumed originated with the arcade game Spyhunter. Oops.

3. Kojak
CBS | 1973 - 1978 | starring Telly Savalas as Kojak   
Tall. Dark. Bald as a cue ball. Telly Savalas was Kojak, the lollipop-sucking New York detective who popularized the catchphrase "who loves ya, baby?" The series was created by Abby Mann. USA Networks remade the series in 2005 starring Ving Rhames as Kojak, but the show lasted for only 10 episodes. At left, the full-length episode four from season four of the series. Also suggested for Telly fans: His music video for that deplorable '70s wedding standard, "If," and this outtake from that effort, apparently shot from inside a muffin and showing Savalas lounging, Kingpin-like, with several bikini-clad tarts. God bless him.

2. Mannix
CBS | 1967 - 1975 | starring Mike Connors as Mannix 
Mannix, the saying went, never panics. A Korean War vet who drove a customized Oldsmobile Toronado, Mannix was the paradigm for hard-boiled, American detectives. The Mannix TV series was produced by Bruce Geller, who also created Mission: Impossible. The theme music was composed by Lalo Schifrin, who, besides writing the score for Mission: Impossible, also composed for Bullitt and Dirty Harry, among other classic shows. At right, the opening and closing credits for the show, featuring an artistic use of screen real estate that makes Joel Surnow's "24" look simply derivative.

1. Jim Rockford
NBC | 1974 - 1980 | starring James Garner as Jim Rockford
Jim Rockford was the first nancypants P.I. Unlike Mannix, he was more likely to use brains than brawn. Also unlike his predecessors -- and unlike his successor, Magnum P.I. -- Rockford lived in a squalor, presumably due to his shady past as a wrongfully-convicted felon. These details made Rockford a perfect complement to the counter-culture movement of the 70s.

Bonus: Magnum P.I.
CBS | 1980 - 1988 | starring Tom Selleck as Magnum
Who wears short shorts? Magnum wears short shorts. Where Jim Rockford was a 70s iconoclast, Magnum was an easygoing, well-adjusted Vietnam vet. The show was created by Donald Bellisario, who also created Airwolf and Quantum Leap, and who wrote 11 episodes of the original Battlestar Galactica. Below, the opening sequence to the pilot episode, including the original score and graphics. Both elements were changed during the first season: First to this, and then to this more familiar version.