The Investigators (TV series)

Before his title role in NBC's Mr. Novak, James Franciscus starred in the short-lived CBS adventure series, The Investigators.

The Investigators is a forgotten American adventure/drama television series that aired on CBS from October 5, to December 28, 1961.​

The series stars James Franciscus (1934-1991) as insurance investigator Russ Andrews, part of the firm of Investigators, Inc. The program was the second of Franciscus's five attempts at series television. The series co-starred James Philbrook (1924-1982) as Steve Banks, Alan Austin as Bill Davis, and Mary Murphy as Maggie Peters, the secretary who frequently helped the three investigators with their cases. The Investigators was based in New York City. The program was similar to ABC's successful detective series, 77 Sunset Strip and Hawaiian Eye.[1]​

The Investigators faced tough competition. Two ABC situation comedies, Fred MacMurray's My Three Sons, in its second season, and Cynthia Pepper's Margie, in its only season, aired opposite The Investigators. NBC offered at the same hour two new programs, Richard Chamberlain in Dr. Kildare and Shirley Booth as Hazel.[2]​ ​ Though the series ran so briefly, it nevertheless featured an array of guest stars, including Joanna Barnes, Edward Binns, Pat Carroll, William Fawcett, Rhonda Fleming, Dennis Hopper, Bethel Leslie, Ida Lupino, Gavin MacLeod, Lee Marvin, Dina Merrill, Mickey Rooney, Richard Rust, Albert Salmi, Vaughn Taylor, Harry Townes, Claire Trevor, and Jane Wyman.

After the series ended, Franciscus was later cast in his most successful television role in NBC's Mr. Novak (1963–1965), as a high school English teache]. He starred later in ABC's Longstreet, as an insurance investigator once again, but this the character, Mike Longstreet, is blind Coincidentally, The Investigators and Longstreet aired at the same time, Thursdays at 9 PM (Eastern).​

## List of episodes[edit]

Episode # |  Episode title |  Original airdate ​

|
|

1-1  |  "Murder on Order"  |  October 5, 1961​.
1-2  |  "The Oracle"  |  October 12, 1961​.
1-3  |  "New Sound for the Blues"  |  October 19, 1961​.
1-4  |  "I Thee Kill"  |  October 26, 1961.​
1-5  |  "Quite a Woman"  |  November 2, 1961​.
1-6  |  "Style of Living"  |  November 9, 1961​.
1-7  |  "In a Mirror, Darkly"  |  November 16, 1961​.
1-8  |  "De Luca"  |  November 23, 1961.​
1-9  |  "Death Leaves a Tip"  |  November 30, 1961.​
1-10  |  "Panic Wagon"  |  December 7, 1961.​
1-11  |  "The Mind's Own Fire"  |  December 14, 1961.​
1-12  |  "Something for Charity"  |  December 21, 1961​.
1-13  |  "The Dead End Man"  |  December 28, 1961.​[3][4]

## References[edit]

1. ↑ The Investigators. Thrilling Detective.com. Retrieved on January 25, 2020.
2. ↑ 1961-1962 American network television schedule
3. ↑ The Investigators. Internet Movie Data Base. Retrieved on January 25, 2020.
4. ↑ The Investigators (1961). TV.com. Retrieved on January 25, 2020.

​ ​​​