Barbary Coast (TV series)
| Barbary Coast | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre | Western/Spy-fi |
| Created by | Douglas Heyes |
| Written by |
Howard Beck Michael Philip Butler Cy Chermak James Doherty William D. Gordon Douglas Heyes Harold Livingston Stephen Lord |
| Directed by |
Hal De Windt Alexander Grasshoff Don McDougall Herb Wallerstein Don Weis |
| Starring |
William Shatner Dennis Cole Doug McClure |
| Composer(s) | John Andrew Tartaglia |
| Country of origin | USA |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 13 (+1 TV movie) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Cy Chermak |
| Producer(s) | Douglas Heyes |
| Cinematography | Robert B. Hauser |
| Running time | 45 mins. |
| Production company(s) |
Francy Productions Paramount Network Television |
| Distributor | CBS Television Distribution |
| Release | |
| Original network | ABC |
| Audio format | Monaural |
| Original release | May 4, 1975 – January 9, 1976 |
Barbary Coast is an American television series that aired on ABC. The pilot movie first aired on May 4, 1975 and the series itself premiered September 8, 1975; the last episode aired January 9, 1976.
Barbary Coast was inspired by a similar 19th-century spy series, The Wild Wild West, and like the earlier program, Barbary Coast mixed the genres of Western and secret agent drama.
Synopsis
Barbary Coast features the adventures of 19th century government agent Jeff Cable (played by William Shatner), and his pal, conman and gambler Cash ("Cash makes no enemies") Conover (Doug McClure; played by Dennis Cole in the pilot) who is the owner of the Golden Gate Casino.[1] This was Shatner's first attempt at a live-action series since Star Trek (also produced by Paramount Television).
In their battle against various criminals and foreign spies, Cable and Conover operated out of the latter's saloon and casino located on San Francisco's notorious Barbary Coast. Like Wild Wild West's Artemus Gordon, Cable frequently donned disguises in the course of his investigations.[1]
The producers modeled the show's Byzantine plotlines/conspiracies on the Mission: Impossible paradigm (in fact, they hired a number of Mission: Impossible's writers). Other regulars on the series included recurring Wild Wild West villain actor Richard Kiel as Moose Moran and Dave Turner as Thumbs.
Series overview
Television movie
The series began as a two-hour television movie entitled The Barbary Coast that aired on ABC on May 4, 1975, and which served as a backdoor pilot.
Episodes
| Episode # | Episode title | Original airdate |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Funny Money" | September 8, 1975 |
| 2 | "Crazy Cats" | September 15, 1975 |
| 3 | "Jesse Who?" | September 22, 1975 |
| 4 | "The Ballad of Redwing Jail" | September 29, 1975 |
| 5 | "Guns for a Queen" | October 6, 1975 |
| 6 | "Irish Luck" | October 13, 1975 |
| 7 | "Sauce for the Goose" | October 20, 1975 |
| 8 | "An Iron-Clad Plan" | October 31, 1975 |
| 9 | "Arson and Old Lace" | November 14, 1975 |
| 10 | "Sharks Eat Sharks" | November 21, 1975 |
| 11 | "The Day Cable was Hanged" | December 26, 1975 |
| 12 | "Mary Had More Than a Little" | January 2, 1976 |
| 13 | "The Dawson Marker" | January 9, 1976 |
Awards and nominations
The pilot episode, an The ABC Sunday Night Movie, was nominated for an Emmy Award for Art Direction for the art director Jack De Shields and set decorator Reg Allen.[2]
DVD release
The series was released on DVD/Blu-ray in June 2014.[3]
Cultural references
The Mad Magazine satire "Keep on Trekkin'" (1976) depicts William Shatner as Captain James T. Kirk on the bridge of the U.S.S. Enterprise singing a version of Send in the Clowns[4] that includes the lyrics "Look at me now/At my old post/Happy that I can forget/Barbary Coast!"
References
- 1 2 Tim Brooks; Earle Marsh (2003). "Barbary Coast, The (Western)". The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows 1946–Present (Eighth ed.). New York: Ballantine Books. p. 86. ISBN 978-0-345-45542-0.
- ↑ Emmy Nomination Certificate
- ↑ Announcement
- ↑ Mark Clark (April 1, 2012). Star Trek FAQ: Everything Left to Know About the First Voyages of the Starship Enterprise. Applause Theatre & Cinema. pp. 44–45. ISBN 978-1557839633.
External links
- Barbary Coast TV movie at the Internet Movie Database (television movie)
- Barbary Coast (series) at the Internet Movie Database
- Barbary Coast at TV.com