Bourbon Street Beat


Bourbon Street Beat is a private detective television series that aired on the ABC network from October 4, 1959, to September 26, 1960. It starred Richard Long as Rex Randolph and Andrew Duggan as Cal Calhoun, with Arlene Howell as detective agency secretary Melody Lee Mercer and Van Williams as Kenny Madison.
Randolph and Calhoun — Special Services was based in the Absinthe House, a French Quarter nightclub on the title street. The firm's telephone number was Epress 7123. The show's theme, "Bourbon Street Beat", was composed by Mack David and Jerry Livingston.

Characters

The series was one of several Warner Bros. detective shows which aired on ABC during this era, but Bourbon Street Beat was not as successful as the others. When the series ended, the character of Rex Randolph moved to 77 Sunset Strip for a year, joining the L.A.-based detective firm of Bailey & Spencer for the 1960-61 season. The character of Kenny Madison moved to the spin-off Surfside 6, which aired in the Bourbon Street Beat time slot the following season. Set in Miami, this show lasted through mid-1962. Andrew Duggan's character, Cal Calhoun, was later seen on a 1962 episode of 77 Sunset Strip; it was established that he quit the P.I. business and returned to being a member of the New Orleans police force.

Legacy

had appeared several times on 1957's western series Maverick and was a former Miss USA; she appears to have retired from the screen after a last appearance as an understandably astonished Sergeant Carter's blind date on Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.. Richard Long went on to play the lead in the western series The Big Valley and the sitcom Nanny and the Professor. Van Williams eventually played The Green Hornet opposite Bruce Lee. Andrew Duggan continued to portray an amazing number of character roles in films and television, including two other stints as series lead, taking over Cary Grant's movie role in the short-lived television version of Room for One More, and as the sullen patriarch in Lancer, a western in the vein of Bonanza, albeit darker and more complex.
, Arlene Howell, Van Williams and Richard Long in Bourbon Street Beat

Cast

The following are among the many guest stars on Bourbon Street Beat: