Barnaby Jones is a television detective series starring Buddy Ebsen and Lee Meriwether as a father and daughter-in-law who run a private detective firm in Los Angeles, California. The show was introduced as a midseason replacement on the CBS network and broadcast from 1973 to 1980. After four seasons, halfway through the series run, Mark Shera was added to the cast as the cousin of Ebsen's character, who joins the firm. Ratings improved in seasons 6 and 7. William Conrad guest-starred as Frank Cannon of Cannon on the first Barnaby Jones episode, "Requiem for a Son", and the 1975 two-part crossover episodes, "The Deadly Conspiracy". The series was produced by QM Productions. It had the second-longest QM series run, 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.
Plot
After Barnaby Jones had worked as a private eye 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. Until the cancellation of Cannon, the characters of both series moved back and forth between the two shows. In 1976, the character of Jedediah Romano "J.R." Jones, the son of Barnaby's cousin, joined the cast. He had come to try to solve the murder of his father but stayed around to help Barnaby and Betty, while also attending law school. 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 among the three actors, with Ebsen, Meriwether and Shera each being the focus of a third of the season's episodes. Ratings 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, reruns aired in syndication.
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:
In later seasons, guest stars included Wayne Maunder, formerly on CBS's Lancer 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 actressLurene Tuttle played Emily Carter 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:
Buddy Ebsen's real-life daughter, Bonnie Ebsen, and Lee Meriwether's real-life daughter, Kyle Aletter-Oldham, made cameo appearances in one episode. Future Trapper John, M.D. stars Pernell Roberts, Gregory Harrison, and Charles Siebert all made guest appearances on one episode. Future WKRP in Cincinnati stars Loni Anderson and Gary Sandy made guest appearances, as well.
Episodes
Reception
Home media
On February 16, 2010, CBS DVD 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, it was announced that Visual Entertainment 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.
DVD Name
Ep#
Release Date
Season One
13
February 16, 2010
The Complete Collection
179
December 11, 2015
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, adapted from Ebsen's television series of the same name. It was Ebsen's final theatrical appearance.
Reruns
Beginning September 3, 2019, MeTV began broadcasting Barnaby Jones reruns.
