Kevin Burton Smith (kvnsmith@colba.net)
Tue, 19 Oct 1999 08:20:31 -0400
Jim wrote:
> Strictly speaking, Huggins did not write a
"novelization" of
> *77 Sunset Strip*. The PI character, Stu Bailey,
played by E.
> Zimbalist, Jr., was introduced in the novel *The
Double Take*,
> then used in several short stories by Huggins
published in
> various slick magazines in the early '50s. These
stories were
> cobbled together as a episodic "novel" and published
by Dell
> under the title *77 Sunset Strip* to coincide with
the series
> basd on Huggins character. Ironically, it is
little-remembered
> now that Bailey, who made the smoothest an most
successful
> transition of all PI characters from prose fiction
to TV,
> actually was created in a novel that pre-dated the
TV series by
> at least 10 years. - Jim Doherty
And Roy Huggins (alone, and later with such folks as Stephen
J. Cannell) went on to create or executive produce some of
the most influential and interesting adventure/crime of the
fifties, sixties and seventies, including THE FUGITIVE,
MAVERICK, THE ROCKFORD FILES, CITY OF ANGELS, the 77 Sunset
clones (HAWAIIAN EYE, SURFSIDE SIX, etc.) and others. Along
with James Garner (whom he was later to work with in
Rockford), he rebelled against the studio system back in the
fifties. He received the Private Eye Writers of America
Lifetime Achievement award a few years ago, and I think it
was wholeheartedly deserved. In fact, I'm working on a
mini-bio and bibliography for my site, because, like it or
not, he did much to bring the P.I. form to television (and
hence a wider audience, and that in turn influenced the
literature as well). Somehow, I don't think I'll ever be
doing a similar bio of SNOOPS' David E. Kelley. (Twin nipple
cams?)
And THE DOUBLE TAKE still stands out as some kind of classic
of its kind. Had the studios kept their paws off it, and
trusted Huggins a bit more, 77 SUNSET STRIP would have been a
much better show.
(Really, lend me your comb?) Kevin Burton Smith The Thrilling
Detective Web Site http://www.colba.net/~kvnsmith/thrillingdetective/
IT'S OFFICIAL! October is Dashiell Hammett Month. Don't play
the sap for anyone.
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