David Janssen in TV Guide

From the January 11, 1975 edition.









Interior page scans come from The Fugitive Home Page.

David Janssen Obituary

From the Associated Press, February 13, 1980

Cleveland Amory on Harry O

Critic Cleveland Amory's review, from the December 14-20, 1974, issue of TV Guide. Simply click on the image below to open an enlargement.

The Manhunter

Here’s the September 7-13, 1974, TV Guide “Fall Preview” write-up about The Manhunter, a Wednesday night CBS action-drama starring Ken Howard as Dave Barrett, an ex-Marine—recently returned to the States from China—who is establishing himself during the Depression-era 1930s as a private eye-cum-bounty hunter. The show debuted on September 11, 1974, and lasted only a single season, its 22nd and final episode airing March 5, 1975. Also below is a 1974 CBS promo spot for The Manhunter.

Smile Jenny, You’re Dead Ad, February 1974

O’Hara, United States Treasury

Below you will find the TV Guide “Fall Preview” write-up about O’Hara, United States Treasury (aka O’Hara, U.S. Treasury), the 1971–1972 CBS-TV series starring David Janssen. A Jack Webb production, O’Hara premiered on Friday, September 17, 1971, and ran for 22 regular episodes before being cancelled. It was the third series in which Janssen starred, following Richard Diamond, Private Detective (1957–1960) and The Fugitive (1963–1967), and preceding Harry O (1974–1976).

Above: The opening and closing sequences from O’Hara.

Harry O’s Original Pilot

Below is the TV Guide advertisement for a March 11, 1973, ABC-TV “double feature” combining the first pilot for David Janssen’s Harry O with an hour-long pilot for Intertect, starring Janssen’s longtime friend, Stuart Whitman. A second, superior pilot film for Harry O—Smile Jenny, You’re Dead—was subsequently made. It was broadcast on February 3, 1974, and finally convinced ABC execs to pick up Harry O as a Thursday-night series. The network passed, however, on continuing Intertect as a weekly offering.

TV Guide’s “50 Best Shows of All Time”

This list was originally published in the May 4-10, 2002, issue of TV Guide. As a CBS News story explained, “The 50 entries, chosen and ranked by TV Guide editors, consist of regularly scheduled series spanning more than a half century of television, going as far back as NBC’s pioneering live comedy/variety program, Your Show of Shows. … TV movies, miniseries and specials were not eligible.”

1. Seinfeld (NBC)
2. I Love Lucy (CBS)
3. The Honeymooners (CBS)
4. All in the Family (CBS)
5. The Sopranos (HBO)
6. 60 Minutes (CBS)
7. Late Show with David Letterman (CBS)
8. The Simpsons (Fox)
9. The Andy Griffith Show (CBS)
10. Saturday Night Live (NBC)
11. The Mary Tyler Moore Show (CBS)
12. The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (NBC)
13. The Dick Van Dyke Show (CBS)
14. Hill Street Blues (NBC)
15. The Ed Sullivan Show (CBS)
16. The Carol Burnett Show (CBS)
17. Today (NBC)
18. Cheers (NBC)
19. Thirtysomething (ABC)
20. St. Elsewhere (NBC)
21. Friends (NBC)
22. ER (NBC
23. Nightline (ABC)
24. Law & Order (NBC)
25. M+A+S+H (CBS)
26. The Twilight Zone (CBS)
27. Sesame Street (PBS)
28. The Cosby Show (NBC)
29. Donahue (syndicated)
30. Your Show of Shows (NBC)
31. The Defenders (CBS)
32. An American Family (PBS)
33. Playhouse 90 (CBS)
34. Frasier (NBC)
35. Roseanne (ABC)
36. The Fugitive (ABC)
37. The X-Files (Fox)
38. The Larry Sanders Show (HBO)
39. The Rockford Files (NBC)
40. Gunsmoke (CBS)
41. Buffy the Vampire Slayer (WB/UPN)
42. Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In (NBC)
43. Bonanza (NBC)
44. The Bob Newhart Show (CBS)
45. Twin Peaks (ABC)
46. Star Trek: The Next Generation (syndicated)
47. Rocky and His Friends (ABC)
48. Taxi (ABC/NBC)
49. The Oprah Winfrey Show (syndicated)
50. Bewitched (ABC)

Harry O in TV Guide

The write-up below appeared originally in TV Guide’s September 7-13, 1974, “Fall Preview” edition. Click on the image for a more readable enlargement.

Meanwhile, here is the cover of that particular TV Guide edition: