''Griff'' is an American

crime drama Crime films, in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its detection. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and comb ...

starring

Lorne Greene Lorne Hyman Greene (born Lyon Himan Green; 12 February 1915 – 11 September 1987) was a Canadian actor, musician, singer and radio personality. His notable television roles include Ben Cartwright on the Western ''Bonanza'' and Commander Ad ...

and

Ben Murphy Benjamin Edward Murphy (born Benjamin Edward Castleberry Jr., March 6, 1942) is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Kid Curry in the ABC television series ''Alias Smith and Jones''. Early life Murphy was born in Jonesboro, Ar ...

, which aired on ABC from September 29, 1973, to January 4, 1974.

Synopsis

Lorne Greene portrayed Wade "Griff" Griffin, a former police officer who becomes 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 ...

. Ben Murphy plays Greene's 31-year-old partner, S. Michael "Mike" Murdock. Vic Tayback portrays Captain Barney Marcus of the

Los Angeles Police Department The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), officially known as the City of Los Angeles Police Department, is the municipal police department of Los Angeles, California. With 9,974 police officers and 3,000 civilian staff, it is the third-lar ...

, Griff's continuing contact with the police. Patricia Stich appeared as Gracie Newcombe, the secretary for the two detectives. The two-hour pilot movie, titled ''Man on the Outside'', did not air until June 25, 1975, almost a year and a half after the cancellation of the series. Ben Murphy does not appear in the pilot, which has a plot identical to the plot of the pilot for ''

Barnaby Jones ''Barnaby Jones'' is an American detective television series starring Buddy Ebsen as a formerly retired investigator and Lee Meriwether as his widowed daughter-in-law, who run a private detective firm in Los Angeles, California. The show was o ...

''. Wade Griffin's son is murdered, and Griff goes after the man who killed him. ''The Case of the Baltimore Girls'' is a TV movie compiled from two episodes, "The Last Ballad" (11/10/73) and "All The Lonely People" (10/13/73), and features

Kim Hunter Kim Hunter (born Janet Cole; November 11, 1922 – September 11, 2002) was an American theatre, film, and television actress. She achieved prominence for portraying Stella Kowalski in the original production of Tennessee Williams' ''A Streetcar ...

, Patricia Crowley,

Lawrence Pressman Lawrence Pressman (born David M. Pressman; July 10, 1939) is an American actor, probably best known for roles on '' Doogie Howser, M.D.'', ''Ladies' Man'', a recurring role on '' Profiler'', the title character on '' Mulligan's Stew'' and as a ...

Dabney Coleman Dabney Wharton Coleman (born January 3, 1932) is an American actor. Coleman's best known films include ''9 to 5'' (1980), '' On Golden Pond'' (1981), ''Tootsie'' (1982), '' WarGames'' (1983), '' Cloak & Dagger'' (1984), ''The Beverly Hillbillies ...

, William Windom, and Herbert Rudley. ''Death Follows A Psycho'' is another TV movie compiled from two episodes, "Countdown To Terror" (11/17/73) & "Elephant In A Cage" (11/24/73).

Guest stars

* Christopher Connelly * Barbara Feldon *

Norman Fell Norman Fell (born Norman Noah Feld; March 24, 1924 – December 14, 1998) was an American actor of film and television, most famous for his role as landlord Mr. Roper on the sitcom ''Three's Company'' and its spin-off, ''The Ropers'', and his fi ...

* Susan Howard *

Warren Stevens Warren Albert Stevens (November 2, 1919 – March 27, 2012) was an American stage, screen, and television actor. Early life and career Born in Clarks Summit, Pennsylvania, Stevens entered the United States Naval Academy in 1937 but was medical ...

* Sal Mineo *

Ricardo Montalbán Ricardo Gonzalo Pedro Montalbán y Merino, KSG (; ; November 25, 1920 – January 14, 2009) was a Mexican and American film and television actor. Montalbán's career spanned seven decades, during which he became known for performances in a var ...

Nick Nolte Nicholas King Nolte (born February 8, 1941) is an American actor. He won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for the 1991 film ''The Prince of Tides''. He received ...

Ben Piazza Ben Piazza (July 30, 1933 – September 7, 1991) was an American actor. Life and career Piazza made his film debut in Sidney J. Furie's Canadian film ''A Dangerous Age'' (1959) followed by his Hollywood debut in '' The Hanging Tree'' (1959). Th ...

* Inga Swenson

Production notes

The series was executive produced by Steven Bochco, David Victor, Peter S. Fischer and Robert F. O'Neill. ''Griff'' was filmed by Groverton Productions at Universal City Studios in Los Angeles. The series followed the ''ABC Suspense Movie'' at the 10 p.m. Eastern timeslot on Saturdays opposite CBS's ''

The Carol Burnett Show ''The Carol Burnett Show'' is an American variety/sketch comedy television show that originally ran on CBS from September 11, 1967, to March 29, 1978, for 279 episodes, and again with nine episodes in fall 1991. It starred Carol Burnett, Har ...

'' and the ''

NBC Saturday Night at the Movies ''NBC Saturday Night at the Movies'' was the first TV show to broadcast in color relatively recent feature films from major studios. The series premiered on September 23, 1961, and ran until October 1978, spawning many imitators. Previously, te ...

''.McNeil, ''Total Television'', appendix

Episodes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Griff (Tv Series) 1973 American television series debuts 1974 American television series endings 1970s American crime drama television series American Broadcasting Company original programming English-language television shows Television series by Universal Television Television series created by Larry Cohen Television shows set in Los Angeles American detective television series