Wednesday, 9 November 2011

TV Theme Retrospective: Anything But A PI…

Yes, after TV cops, TV PIs (nearly always ex-cops) were the mainstay of US drama shows. Oh, they had to compete with lawyers and doctors occasionally, but the PI was king of the hill.

Until ’Banacek’ came along, based on a freelance claims investigator, of all things!

A tiny two-season run was all it got, the novelty of the profession plus it’s Polish-American lead character wearing off fast. It was the gorgeous theme music by Jack Elliott that I always remembered, though, rather than the plot:



While it might not have been a runaway success, it did open the floodgates to all kinds of other professions to get their own shows, from radio DJ to bounty hunter. We’ll look at one for the last post next month.

Next month’s theme: A Change Is As Good As A Rest
at

8 comments:

  1. MTG9 November 2011 at 14:18

    Some borrowing from the 'Shaft' theme of the previous year but classy and very enjoyable, nevertheless.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Michael Fowke9 November 2011 at 16:19

    Remember Spender with Jimmy Nail? I think he was a P.I in that.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Michael Fowke9 November 2011 at 16:22

    Update - No, he was a cop sent on unusual missions.

    ReplyDelete
  4. blueknight9 November 2011 at 21:00

    Produced by Howie Hortwitz, who also produced Batman in the mid 60s

    ReplyDelete
  5. Lerxst9 November 2011 at 22:15

    When it comes to PIs I hate to be mainstream but I was always more into the Rockford Files and, of course, Magnum. Classic series and themes both.

    http://www.metacafe.com/watch/982595/1978_tv_series_the_rockford_files/

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBVHKwf5mSc

    ReplyDelete
  6. JuliaM10 November 2011 at 05:38

    "Some borrowing from the 'Shaft' theme of the previous year..."

    You know, it does indeed have echoes of that!

    "Remember Spender with Jimmy Nail?"

    I do! That was a great series.

    "Produced by Howie Hortwitz, who also produced Batman in the mid 60s"

    That, I did not know!

    "... I was always more into the Rockford Files.."

    Ahh, yes!

    ReplyDelete
  7. andy10 November 2011 at 19:33

    Oh wow! how 70s is this theme music?
    But I remember seeing the pilot episode as a kid,it concerned the theft of some super car off a moving train if I remember right.

    ReplyDelete
  8. JuliaM11 November 2011 at 05:22

    According to the episode guide, that was episode 5.

    ReplyDelete