Barnaby Jones

Barnaby Jones is an American detective series created by Quinn Martin for QM Productions that aired on CBS from January 28, 1973, to April 3, 1980. It stars Buddy Ebsen as Barnaby Jones, a private investigator who comes out of retirement in his mid-sixties to operate a detective agency in Los Angeles, and Lee Meriwether as Betty Jones, his widowed daughter-in-law and secretary. In the fifth season, Mark Shera joined the cast as J. R. Jones, the son of Barnaby's younger cousin; he works for the firm while attending law school. During the 1970s, detective series were very popular on American television. Barnaby Jones is unique because it features a private investigator who is much older than the typical detective and who relies on cunning and skill, including his extensive knowledge of forensics, rather than physical prowess and violence to solve crimes. Even though it was regularly threatened with cancellation, it ran for eight seasons and became the longest-running QM series after The FBI; repeats subsequently aired in syndication. The first episode, "Requiem for a Son," is a crossover with another QM series, Cannon, with William Conrad guest starring as detective Frank Cannon. The two-part episode "The Deadly Conspiracy," the opener for the fourth season, is another crossover between the two programs.