Lew Archer TV Openings

First up, we have the main title sequence from The Underground Man, a TV pilot film broadcast originally by NBC on May 6, 1974, and based on Ross Macdonald’s 1971 novel of the same name. Former Mission: Impossible star Peter Graves was cast (quite satisfyingly, I thought) in the role of Macdonald’s compassionate private eye, Lew Archer. Guest stars included Jim Hutton (later of Ellery Queen), Jack Klugman (later of Quincy, M.E.), and the lovely Kay Lenz. Marvin Hamlisch composed the hauntingly beautiful theme music. Sadly, NBC didn’t roll this pilot over into a weekly series.



Now let’s look at the opening from Archer, a short-lived, 1975 NBC-TV series starring Brian Keith as Macdonald’s P.I. (Sorry for this video’s poor quality, but it was apparently taken from Brazilian reruns.) Jerry Goldsmith composed the show’s theme music.