''The Devlin Connection'' is an American television crime drama starring

Rock Hudson Rock Hudson (born Roy Harold Scherer Jr.; November 17, 1925 – October 2, 1985) was an American actor. One of the most popular movie stars of his time, he had a screen career spanning more than three decades. A prominent heartthrob in the Golde ...

and

Jack Scalia Jack Scalia (born November 10, 1950) is an American actor. He has had many roles in television series (both as a regular and as a guest-star), television movies, and feature films. He is perhaps best known for his role as Chris Stamp on ''All My ...

. The show aired on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters ...

for 13 episodes in 1982, premiering on October 2.

Premise

Hudson stars as Brian Devlin, a former military intelligence officer and ex-owner of a detective agency who is now the director of the Performing Arts Center in Los Angeles. Devlin meets

racquetball Racquetball is a racquet sport and a team sport played with a hollow rubber ball on an indoor or outdoor court. Joseph Sobek invented the modern sport of racquetball in 1950, adding a stringed racquet to paddleball in order to increase v ...

pro and

private investigator 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 ...

Nick Corsello (Scalia), who is revealed to be Devlin's son from a brief affair 28 years earlier. The accent of the show was put on the fun of investigating crimes instead of classic drama crime investigation. Hudson's intent was to create "classy, sophisticated, educational, literate entertainment".Unger, Arthur (October 1, 1982)
"Rock Hudson looks back on his films and ahead to his TV series"
''

The Christian Science Monitor ''The Christian Science Monitor'' (''CSM''), commonly known as ''The Monitor'', is a nonprofit news organization that publishes daily articles in electronic format as well as a weekly print edition. It was founded in 1908 as a daily newspaper ...

''. Retrieved June 17, 2016. The duo proceed to solve a mystery-of-the-week. Hudson and Scalia had previously worked together on the film ''The Star Maker'' in 1981. ''The Devlin Connection'' was Harvey Frand's first job as a producer.

Cast

as Brian Devlin, director of Performing Arts Center *

as Nick Corsello, racquetball pro and private detective *

Leigh Taylor-Young Leigh Taylor-Young (born January 25, 1945) is an American actress who has appeared on stage, screen, podcast, radio and television. The most famous films in which she had important roles include ''I Love You, Alice B. Toklas'' (1968), '' The Hors ...

as Lauren Dane, Brian's assistant *

Louis Giambalvo Louis Giambalvo (born February 8, 1945) is an American actor, frequently seen on television in guest roles. Early life and education Giambalvo was born and raised in the Sunset Park neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York City, where he attended Ca ...

as Lt. Earl Borden, Nick's friend and former colleague from New York * Takayo as Mrs. Watanabe, Brian's housekeeper * Melanie Vincz as Alice Arms, Nick's health club co-worker *

Jack Kruschen Jacob "Jack" Kruschen (March 20, 1922 – April 2, 2002) was a Canadian character actor who worked primarily in American film, television and radio. Kruschen was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role as Dr ...

as Max Salkall, orchestra conductor at Performing Arts Center *

Irene Tedrow Irene Tedrow (August 3, 1907 – March 10, 1995) was an American character actress in stage, film, television and radio. Among her most notable roles are as Janet Archer in the radio series ''Meet Corliss Archer'', Mrs. Lucy Elkins on the TV sit ...

as Margaret Hollister, Brian's assistant * Herbert Jefferson, Jr. as Otis Barnes, Nick's friend and night club owner ¹Character only in second version filmed in 1982 but aired first.
²Character only in first version filmed in 1981 but aired second.

Production changes

Production started in 1981 but after several episodes were filmed it was delayed a year due to Hudson's heart problems (heart surgery with five heart bypasses). When the filming resumed there were many changes. In the first version Brian has an older assistant (

), and his office and apartment are modest. Nick is a Vietnam veteran and now just a small-time private detective who works out of a night club. The stories are grittier. In the second version Brian's assistant is glamorous (

), and his office and apartment are much larger and more sumptuous. Nick is a former NYPD officer and now a racquetball pro who works at a health club and investigates on the side. The stories are much more upscale. At Hudson's insistence, the nine flashier episodes aired first which was a little confusing because the episode where they actually meet, "Claudine", became the tenth episode.

Episodes

¹NBC

burned off In American broadcast programming, "burning off" is the custom of quickly airing the remaining episodes of a television program, usually one that has already been or is planned to be cancelled, without the intent to attract a large number of vie ...

the final episode in 1983. All 13 episodes aired on

TV Land TV Land is an American pay television channel owned by Paramount Global through its networks division. Originally a spinoff of Nick at Nite consisting exclusively of classic television shows, the channel now airs a combination of recent and cl ...

in the late 1990s.

Ratings

Video releases

In the mid-1980s

Trans World Entertainment Kaspien Holdings, Inc. (formerly Trans World Entertainment) is an American company that provides software and services for ecommerce. Kaspien Holdings operates on Amazon in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Spain, France, Italy, Germany ...

officially released the first three episodes on VHS videotape cassettes."Devlin Connection Vol. 3"

Amazon.com Amazon.com, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational technology company focusing on e-commerce, cloud computing, online advertising, digital streaming, and artificial intelligence. It has been referred to as "one of the most influential econom ...

. Retrieved July 1, 2016. There are also

bootleg Bootleg or bootlegging most often refers to: * Bootleg recording, an audio or video recording released unofficially * Rum-running, the illegal business of transporting and trading in alcoholic beverages, hence: ** Moonshine, or illicitly made a ...

DVDs of all the

aired episodes.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Devlin Connection 1980s American crime drama television series 1980s American mystery television series 1982 American television series debuts 1982 American television series endings American detective television series English-language television shows NBC original programming Television series by CBS Studios Television shows filmed in Los Angeles Television shows set in Los Angeles