''Barnaby Jones'' is an American

detective A detective is an investigator, usually a member of a law enforcement agency. They often collect information to solve crimes by talking to witnesses and informants, collecting physical evidence, or searching records in databases. This leads th ...

television series starring Buddy Ebsen as a formerly retired investigator and

Lee Meriwether Lee Ann Meriwether (born May 27, 1935) is an American actress, former model, and the winner of the Miss America 1955 pageant. She has appeared in many films and television shows, notably as Betty Jones, the title character's secretary and daught ...

as his widowed daughter-in-law, who run a

private detective A private investigator (often abbreviated to PI and informally called a private eye), a private detective, or inquiry agent is a person who can be hired by individuals or groups to undertake investigatory law services. Private investigators of ...

firm in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

. The show was originally introduced as a midseason replacement on the CBS network and ran from 1973 to 1980. Halfway through the series' run,

Mark Shera Mark Shera (born July 10, 1949, Bayonne, New Jersey) is an American film and television actor. Shera was cast from 1975 to 1976 in the television series '' S.W.A.T.'' in the role of Officer Dominic Luca. He also played J.R. in the television se ...

was added to the cast as a much younger cousin of Ebsen's character, who eventually joined the firm. ''Barnaby Jones'' was produced by QM Productions (with Woodruff Productions in the final two seasons). It had the second-longest QM series run (seven and a half seasons), following the nine years of '' The FBI''. The series followed the characteristic Quinn Martin episode format with commercial breaks dividing each episode into four "acts," concluding with an epilogue. The opening credits were narrated by

Hank Simms Hank Simms (May 25, 1923 – August 7, 2013) was a voice actor and announcer, best known for narrating the opening credits of Quinn Martin TV shows, including '' The F.B.I.'', ''Barnaby Jones'', ''Cannon'' and ''The Streets of San Francisco'' ...

. The first episode of the show, "Requiem for a Son", featured a crossover with another QM program, ''

Cannon A cannon is a large- caliber gun classified as a type of artillery, which usually launches a projectile using explosive chemical propellant. Gunpowder ("black powder") was the primary propellant before the invention of smokeless powder ...

'', with

William Conrad William Conrad (born John William Cann Jr., September 27, 1920 – February 11, 1994) was an American actor, producer, and director whose entertainment career spanned five decades in radio, film, and television, peaking in popularity when he s ...

guest-starring as detective Frank Cannon. There was another crossover between the two programs in the 1975 two-part episode "The Deadly Conspiracy".

Plot

After Barnaby Jones ( Buddy Ebsen) had worked as a

private eye ''Private Eye'' is a British fortnightly satirical and current affairs news magazine, founded in 1961. It is published in London and has been edited by Ian Hislop since 1986. The publication is widely recognised for its prominent critici ...

for many years, he decided to retire and left the business to his son Hal. When Hal was murdered while working on a case, Barnaby came out of retirement to find the killer. After this case, his widowed daughter-in-law, Betty Jones (

), went to work for him at the detective agency. Jones was unusual, ordering milk in restaurants and bars, counter to the stereotypical hard-drinking detective. In 1976, the character of Jedediah Romano "J.R." Jones (

), the son of Barnaby's cousin, joined the show. He had come from

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

to try to solve the murder of his father, who was a retired police officer. After that case was closed, he stayed in Los Angeles to help Barnaby and Betty, while also attending

law school A law school (also known as a law centre or college of law) is an institution specializing in legal education, usually involved as part of a process for becoming a lawyer within a given jurisdiction. Law degrees Argentina In Argentina, ...

. Initially a somewhat angry young man, J.R. soon became an easygoing, fun-loving character. Besides the Joneses, the only other recurring character on the show was their police contact, Lt. John Biddle ( John Carter). He was introduced in the latter half of the second season and appeared in most episodes thereafter, though often only briefly. As Ebsen aged and expressed an interest in slowing down a bit, Meriwether's and Shera's characters became more prominent, allowing Ebsen to reduce his role. During the last two seasons, episodes were divided evenly between the two actors, Meriwether and Shera each being the focus of half of the season's episodes with Ebsen's involvement limited to slightly more than episodic cameos. Ratings went up in the sixth and seventh seasons, after Shera's character was added, but they plummeted during Season 8. The show was canceled in 1980 due to declining ratings; Ebsen had also tired of playing the role. After the series' cancellation,

rerun A rerun or repeat is a rebroadcast of an episode of a radio or television program. There are two types of reruns – those that occur during a hiatus, and those that occur when a program is syndicated. Variations In the United Kingdom, the word ...

s aired in syndication.

Cast

Main cast

* Buddy Ebsen as Barnaby Jones *

as Betty Jones *

as J. R. Jones (seasons 5–8) * John Carter as Lt. John Biddle (recurring role)

Guest stars

Among the guest stars who appeared over the years were Conlan Carter and Gary Lockwood, who appeared together in the third episode of the series entitled "Sunday: Doomsday" on February 25, 1973. Other guests in the first season alone included: *

Claude Akins Claude Aubrey Akins (May 25, 1926 – January 27, 1994) was an American character actor with a long career on stage, screen, and television. He was best known as Sheriff Lobo on the 1979–1981 television series '' B.J. and the Bear'', and ...

* Richard Anderson * Meredith Baxter * Carl Betz *

Bill Bixby Wilfred Bailey Everett Bixby III (January 22, 1934 – November 21, 1993) professionally known as Bill Bixby, was an American actor, director, producer, and frequent game-show panellist. Bixby's career spanned more than three decades, includi ...

(Meriwether's real-life ex-classmate) * Geraldine Brooks * Richard Bull * Darlene Carr * Jack Cassidy * Dabney Coleman *

Jackie Coogan John Leslie Coogan (October 26, 1914 – March 1, 1984) was an American actor and comedian who began his film career as a child actor in silent films. Charlie Chaplin's film classic '' The Kid'' (1921) made him one of the first child stars in t ...

* Glenn Corbett * Cathy Lee Crosby * Meg Foster *

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* Lynda Day George * Richard Hatch *

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* Geoffrey Lewis * Ida Lupino * George Maharis * Nora Marlowe * Kenneth Mars *

Roddy McDowall Roderick Andrew Anthony Jude McDowall (17 September 1928 – 4 October 1998) was a British actor, photographer and film director. He began his acting career as a child in England, and then in the United States, in ''How Green Was My Valley'' (1 ...

* Claudette Nevins * Leslie Nielsen * Nick Nolte * Don Porter *

Stefanie Powers Stefanie Powers (born November 2, 1942) is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Jennifer Hart on the mystery television series '' Hart to Hart'' (1979–1984), for which she received nominations for two Primetime Emmy Awards a ...

Robert Reed Robert Reed (born John Robert Rietz Jr.; October 19, 1932 – May 12, 1992) was an American actor. He played Kenneth Preston on the legal drama '' The Defenders'' from 1961 to 1965 alongside E. G. Marshall, and is best known for his role as the ...

* Janice Rule * Wayne Rogers *

William Shatner William Shatner (born March 22, 1931) is a Canadian actor. In a career spanning seven decades, he is best known for his portrayal of James T. Kirk in the ''Star Trek'' franchise, from his 1965 debut as the captain of the starship ''Enterpris ...

* Joan Tompkins *

Lurene Tuttle Lurene Tuttle (August 29, 1907 – May 28, 1986) was an American actress and acting coach, who made the transition from vaudeville to radio, and later films and television. Her most enduring impact was as one of network radio's more versatile a ...

* Jessica Walter * Michael Zaslow In later seasons, guest stars included

Wayne Maunder Wayne Ernest Maunder (December 19, 1937 – November 11, 2018) was a Canadian-born American actor who starred in three American television series between 1967 and 1974. Three television series From September 6 to December 27, 1967, Maunder star ...

, formerly on CBS's ''

Lancer A lancer was a type of cavalryman who fought with a lance. Lances were used for mounted warfare in Assyria as early as and subsequently by Persia, India, Egypt, China, Greece, and Rome. The weapon was widely used throughout Eurasia during the ...

'' western series, and Ron Hayes, who played Sheriff Oscar Hamlin in the episode "Target for a Wedding." Marshall Colt, later cast with James Arness on '' McClain's Law'', guest-starred in two episodes in 1979. Donald May played the role of Curt Phillips in the 1978 episode "Blind Jeopardy". Character actress

played Emily Carter, Betty's aunt, in the 1980 episode "The Killin' Cousin". Many familiar actors made guest appearances, and others who were newcomers went on to become well-known, including: * Jonathan Banks * Susan Dey * John de Lancie * Gail Edwards *

Shelley Fabares Michele Ann Marie "Shelley" Fabares (; born January 19, 1944) is an American actress and singer. She is best known for her television roles as Mary Stone on the sitcom '' The Donna Reed Show'' (1958–1963) and as Christine Armstrong on the sitco ...

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* Ed Flanders * Jonathan Frakes * Mark Goddard *

Larry Hagman Larry Martin Hagman (September 21, 1931 – November 23, 2012) was an American film and television actor, director, and producer, best known for playing ruthless oil baron J. R. Ewing in the 1978–1991 primetime television soap opera, ''Dal ...

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Linda Harrison Linda Melson Harrison (born July 26, 1945) is an American television and film actress, and director and producer, who is internationally known for her role as Nova in the science fiction film classic ''Planet of the Apes'' (1968) and the first ...

* David Hedison * Don Johnson *

Tommy Lee Jones Tommy Lee Jones (born September 15, 1946) is an American actor and film director. He has received four Academy Award nominations, winning Best Supporting Actor for his performance as U.S. Marshal Samuel Gerard in the 1993 thriller film '' T ...

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* Patrick O'Neal *

Sean Penn Sean Justin Penn (born August 17, 1960) is an American actor and film director. He has won two Academy Awards, for his roles in the mystery drama ''Mystic River'' (2003) and the biopic ''Milk'' (2008). Penn began his acting career in televisi ...

* John Ritter * Madeleine Stowe * Susan Sullivan * Daniel J. Travanti * Joan Van Ark *

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* Robert Webber * Eve McVeagh *

James Woods James Howard Woods (born April 18, 1947) is an American actor. He is known for his work in various film, stage, and television productions. He started his career in minor roles on and off- Broadway. In 1972, he appeared in ''The Trial of the ...

* Simon Scott Buddy Ebsen's real-life daughter, Bonnie Ebsen, made guest appearances in six episodes, while Lee Meriwether's real-life daughter, Kyle Aletter-Oldham, made

cameo appearance A cameo role, also called a cameo appearance and often shortened to just cameo (), is a brief appearance of a well-known person in a work of the performing arts. These roles are generally small, many of them non-speaking ones, and are commonly ei ...

s in two episodes. Future ''

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'' stars Pernell Roberts, Gregory Harrison, and Charles Siebert all made guest appearances on one episode. Future ''

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'' stars Loni Anderson and

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made guest appearances, as well.

Episodes

Reception

Home media

On February 16, 2010, CBS DVD (distributed by Paramount) released season one of ''Barnaby Jones'' on DVD in Region 1 for the first time. The episode "The Murdering Class" has had the word " nigger" bleeped out when one of the characters speaks, although one can still hear the "n" sound of the word; because of this audio edit, the release was not called "The Complete First Season". The episodes on the DVD include their broadcast trailers. This edit also exists on the VEI release. As of September 2014, this release has been discontinued and is out of print. On May 4, 2015, Visual Entertainment announced it had acquired the rights to the series in Region 1. It was subsequently announced that VEI would release ''Barnaby Jones—The Complete Collection'' on DVD on December 15, 2015. The 45-disc set features all 179 episodes of the series as well as a bonus prequel episode.

In other media

Film

During the mid-1990s, Meriwether and Shera expressed interest in a ''Barnaby Jones'' reunion television movie, but could not talk Ebsen into joining the project. However, in 1993, Ebsen reprised the role of Barnaby Jones in the film ''

The Beverly Hillbillies ''The Beverly Hillbillies'' is an American television sitcom that was broadcast on CBS from 1962 to 1971. It had an ensemble cast featuring Buddy Ebsen, Irene Ryan, Donna Douglas, and Max Baer Jr. as the Clampetts, a poor, backwoods family f ...

'', adapted from Ebsen's television series of the same name ( Jim Varney played Jed Clampett, the role that Ebsen had played on the television series, in the film). It was Ebsen's final theatrical appearance.

Reruns

Beginning September 3, 2019, MeTV began broadcasting ''Barnaby Jones'' reruns.

Notes

External links

*
Absolute Barnaby

''Barnaby Jones'' – Crime Drama TV Series of the Seventies
{{Quinn Martin shows CBS original programming Jones, Barnaby Television shows set in Los Angeles Television series by CBS Studios 1970s American crime television series 1980s American crime television series 1970s American mystery television series 1980s American mystery television series 1973 American television series debuts 1980 American television series endings English-language television shows American detective television series Films scored by Laurence Rosenthal