Mon 30 Jan 2012
A TV Series Review by Michael Shonk: THE OUTSIDER (1968-69).
Posted by Steve under Reviews , TV mysteries[24] Comments
THE OUTSIDER. NBC. 1968-1969. 26 episodes at 60 min each. Universal and Public Arts (* Executive Producer Roy Huggins). Cast: Darren McGavin as David Ross. Theme by Pete Rugalo. Created by John Thomas James (Roy Huggins). Produced by Gene Levitt. (*) Huggins had nothing to do with the series but owned Public Arts so his credit was with the Public Arts Production screen credit. Previously on this blog: A review of the TV Movie pilot The Outsider.
The Outsider tried hard to be loyal to its noir roots but it was born at the wrong time. From Broadcasting (8-19-68) article entitled “1968-69: The Non Violent Seasonâ€:
“Actually no show has had a rougher time of it in the anti-violence climate than the Universal Television–Public Arts Production of The Outsider. It was bought by the network and in production long before the [Bobby] Kennedy assassination.â€
It was August (first episode aired September 18th) and fifteen episodes had been completed, but NBC was still demanding changes. Series producer Gene Levitt commented that they were still redubbing the first eight episodes and had been doing so every day for the last seven weeks.
The article sites an example of the changes. In episode “Love Is Under L,†the original finished scene had the bad guy attack Ross with a knife. Ross flips the guy over a bar counter. The guy rises from behind the bar ready to continue the fight when he realizes his knife is in his chest. He pulls out the knife and dies. The edited scene that made it to the air has the man never rising from behind the bar and Ross’ reaction telling the audience the bad guy was dead.
The first episode was a hit in New York easily winning its Wednesday 10pm time slot with a 43 share. But the reaction was best summed up by Chicago Daily News Dean Gysel, “It is one thing to avoid violence … another to avoid drama.†(Broadcasting, 9/23/68)
While not as well remembered as Roy Huggins, showrunner Gene Levitt also had a long successful career. In 1947 he adapted Raymond Chandler’s stories for the radio series Philip Marlowe starring Gerald Mohr. Most famous for creating Fantasy Island, Levitt’s credits include such shows as Front Page Detective, Maverick, Combat, Alias Smith & Jones, Barnaby Jones, and Hawaii Five-O.
I have recently watched the following episodes:
“One Long-Stemmed American Beauty.†Written by Shirl Hendryx. Directed by Alexander Singer.
Noir tale of life in Hollywood as Ross investigates the death of a former dancer turned bit part player and gigolo. Guest Cast: Judith McConnell as Dorothy, Marie Windsor as Leslie.
“I Can’t Hear You Scream.†Written by Edward J. Lakso. Directed by Alexander Singer.
Noir with a heavy mix of 60’s social injustice has Ross on his own trying to save a black small time criminal from execution. The black cop does not think the criminal is worth saving, the thief’s mother does not trust Ross because he is white, the childhood sweetheart refuses to help, and the current girlfriend is more worried about her Hollywood career. Guest Cast: James Edward as Lt. Wagner, Ena Hartman as Eleanor.
“Tell It Like It Was…And You’re Dead.†Written by Bernard C. Schoefeld. Directed by Alexander Singer.
A lonely forgotten star of burlesque decides to write her memoir. When someone tries to kill her, she hires Ross to find out who wants her silenced. Ross falls deeply in love with the memoir’s ghostwriter (who survives and apparently never mentioned again). Noirish soap opera. Guest Cast: Whitney Blake as Judy, Jackie Coogan as Rusty.
“The Girl From Missouri.†Written by Edward J. Lakso. Directed by Richard Benedict.
Naïve girl is looking for her brother in the evil big city L.A. She plans to reunite him with their dying father back in Missouri. Less noir and more like a Mannix episode. Guest Cast: Mariette Hartley as Mary, Jaye P. Morgan as Ginny.
“A Bowl of Cherries.†Written by Bob and Esther Mitchell. Directed by Michael Caffey.
A friend from prison asks Ross to check on his son. The young hotheaded Latino has fallen in love with his white boss’ son girlfriend. Pure 60’s social injustice plot with noir ending illustrating how close 50’s noir and 60’s social injustice stories were in theme. Guest Cast: John Marley as Jason, Tom Skerritt as Arnie.
“Through a Stained Glass Window.†Written by Ben Masselink. Directed by Charles S. Dubin.
The next to last episode of the series was a comedy. The thief who stole and hid $250,000 is finally out of prison. Ross is hired by the victim to follow the thief and get his money back. Ross is not alone as others have the same idea. On the way Ross encounters a series of eccentric characters right out of an episode of The Avengers. Guest Cast: Ruth McDevitt as Alice, Walter Burke as Fox.
“48-Hr. Mile.†TV movie featuring episodes: “Flipside†and “Service For One.†Produced by Harry Tatelman and Gene Levitt. Written by Rita Lakin & Rick Edelstein and Don Carpenter. Directed by Gene Levitt.
“Flipsideâ€: Janet, a shy prudish woman wants Ross to find and stop her out of control sister Diane. Average psychological drama with a better than average cast. Guest Cast: Carrie Snodgrass as Janet, Michael Strong as Dr. Gaynor.
“Service For Oneâ€: Ross is hired to serve a subpoena to reclusive billionaire Bernard Christie. Ross encounters a woman who has fallen in love with Christie’s alter-ego Harry, and a writer who was ruined by the ruthless rich man. Nice noir ending. Guest Cast: William Windom as Christie, Kathie Browne as Amy.
The two episodes are clumsily linked with added storyline of Ross thinking Diane was another girlfriend of Christie.
“Anatomy of a Crime.†TV Movie featuring episodes “Tell It Like It Was…And You’re Deadâ€(see above) and “There Was A Little Girl.†Written by Bernard C. Schoenfeld and Kay Lenard & Jess Carneol. Directed by Alexander Singer and John Peyser.
“There was a Little Girlâ€: A woman claims her step-daughter is really a rich man’s daughter who was kidnapped 12 years ago and never found. Guest Cast: Joan Blondell as Sadie, Simon Scott as Harrington.
The two episodes were awkwardly joined by a voice over (Ross) explaining the two different clients hired Ross on the same day.
From the episodes I have seen, it is apparent the writers were still exploring who David Ross was. Should he fall in love every week or be a detached professional? Is he an outsider with no friends and live in a dump of an apartment or does he have old friends, wear suit and tie, and live in a typical PI office (no secretary)?
McGavin had his limitations. While he made loser Ross admirable, McGavin was unbelievable as Ross the ladies man.
Levitt and the writers would have fixed those problems with time. But the problem no amount of time could fix was NBC, a network so scared it reportedly didn’t want them to show Ross with a gun. And something had to take up all that time the network edited out of the shows.
Fans interested in what Los Angeles looked like in 1967 will be thrilled with the many long drives through various sections of my favorite city. According to Broadcasting (8/19/69), when the writers failed to find enough filler to make the hour time slot, NBC added Public Service ads. There is nothing better for the pace and tension of a dramatic story than long car rides and more commericals.
In typical noir fashion, The Outsider was doomed to fail.
Recommended website:
Darren McGavin & Kathie Browne McGavin’s Authorized website:
http://www.darrenmcgavin.net/the_outsider.htm
January 30th, 2012 at 10:11 pm
There’s been no official release of this series on DVD, so far as I know, but copies on the collector-to-collector market are easily obtainable.
Which I thought I’d done, but an intensive search through my accumulation of such DVDs came up empty. The set must have been on my wish list all this time, and I’ve never followed through.
Which I shall, post-haste!
January 30th, 2012 at 10:59 pm
For a period of anti-violence I was surprised by one scene in “I Can’t Hear You Scream.” The Hollywood girlfriend knew where the man who may have committed the killing was. Ross had to slap her around the room to make her talk. No doubt McGavin was having Mike Hammer flashbacks. There is no way that episode would be shown on any of today’s TV networks.
My favorite scene was in “Through a Stained Glass Window.” A little old lady (Ruth McDevitt) was a former chief of a Somona island. She like to serve a non-alchoholic drink called kava that packed a punch like moonshine. Every time someone (except her she loved the stuff) took a drink the camera would cut to a shot of shaking fannies of female island dancers to the sound of the beating drums. The episode remains my favorite but was completely wrong for what they wanted to do with the series.
January 31st, 2012 at 8:51 am
I need to watch more episodes of this, but I still think McGavin was an acquired taste, which I never seemed to acquire. I did try getting though that two-parter with William Windom and Carrie Snodgrass, but it was rough going for me. Your reference above to a “noir ending” piques my interest. To me McGavin just never seemed to have the soulfulness of James Garner or David Janssen.
January 31st, 2012 at 9:17 am
David
I don’t believe playing David Ross required any soulfulness on the part of Darren McGavin, just the ability to portray a PI just barely getting by, in both his life and his career, the 180 degree counterpart of a Peter Gunn, say, and I thought he was perfect in the part.
But as I’ve said before, probably as a comment following Michael’s review of the pilot movie, I feel a little leery now about watching any of the episodes of THE OUTSIDER, for fear that they won’t match up to my memories.
I’ve recently been watching McGavin play Mike Hammer, his earlier TV series, and while he’s adequate in the role, he certainly wasn’t Mike Hammer, not even a Mike Hammer watered down for television. I watch those as a run-of-the-mill television PI series, with nothing there to kindle anything by the most minor of sparks.
McGavin’s on-screen persona also was perfect for his role as Kolchak, but for him to play either Harry-O or Rockford? No. I know what you mean. Not at all.
January 31st, 2012 at 11:27 am
#3 David, the two parters featured two average episodes ruined but editing them together. The ending for the Snodgrass episode was as predictable as the rest of the episode. It was the ending of the Windom episode with only Ross getting what he wanted, that was noir for its broken characters at the end. The girl’s final line is as “happy” as noir should get.
As for McGavin, he was better in the TV Movie because the movie was pure noir written by a pulp writer with experience in the genre. The TV series too often reminded me of MANNIX. McGavin, like very few actors could, made this loser someone you wanted to watch. But he, as I pointed out in the review, was limited by scripts having him do things beyond his range.
I liked McGavin better in THE OUTSIDER than I did in MIKE HAMMER or KOLCHAK. He took more chances as an actor here.
I really enjoyed a few of the episodes of MIKE HAMMER, but the show was too repetitive in format, and after awhile all the episodes seemed the same.
Most fans, such as Steve, who remember THE OUTSIDER will most be disappointed when comparing it to what soon followed. Most who see this as a missing link from 50/60’s PIs to the 70’s will also be disappointed. MANNIX still is more what they seek.
The show deserved a better chance. How much better would it have been if Levitt and the staff had spent time making the scripts and show better rather than less violent? The show was doomed when they were still redubbing the first eight episodes a month before air date.
For those curious, David and I are “arguing” about TV noir and series in the Pacific Northwest in his comment section at his blog.
http://www.paleycenter.org/b-bushman-northwest-noir
January 31st, 2012 at 1:09 pm
I vaguely recall at least one other comic episode. I can’t recall the title, but Lois Nettleton was the guest star. She played a lady whose boyfriends were meeting bad ends at an alarming rate, usually after consuming some concoction of hers made with roots of some sort; the immediate effect was that they would start talking like Elmer Fudd (“Woots?”). That’s all I remember, and I probably have most of the details wrong, which is why I’d like to see the whole series again.
About those “Movies”:
My brother and I used to call these “Tatelman’s Bargain-Basement Bonanzas”, after the Universal exec who took a producer credit for smooshing them together.
My own personal fave was “Confessions Of The D.A. Man”, consisting of four half-hour segments of Robert Conrad’s short-lived The D.A. from 1971, spot-welded into one “continuous” narrative. One episode served as a framing device, and the other three were “flashbacks”, with much voice-over bridging by Conrad. The reason I liked this one was that one of the “flashbacks” – this one featuring Tim Matheson as an eager-beaver public defender who’s memorized every delaying tactic in the book – isn’t at all bad; actually kinda funny.
Harry Tatelman’s job at Universal was apparently to convert short-running TV series into “movies”, putatively for overseas theatrical release, but with an eye on future TV use, filling up syndication packages. At MCA, the guiding rule was “Don’t throw anything out that you can possibly sell anywhere later on.”
Obviously, it worked.
January 31st, 2012 at 3:53 pm
Mike, Lois Nettleton (a favorite of mine since TWILIGHT ZONE) was in “Periwinkle Blue.” I would like to see it because it sounds comedic. Nettleton plays a widow who has buried two husband and number three is so worried he hires David Ross who apparently alternates between falling for her and being driven crazy by her.
But the Elmer Fudd bit was in “Through the Stained Glass.” Kava was a drink made of roots, hit with the power of a shaking fanny, attacked the joints so the drinker could not stand up steady, and affected the upper lip so “roots” came out as “woots.”
I would be interested in seeing the complete series. A glance at the episode index seemed to have Ross falling for the girl episodes grouped together, Ross as Mannix episodes grouped together, and perhaps the comedic episodes grouped together. Which would hint that they were really struggling to find what worked.
February 1st, 2012 at 9:35 am
fascinating review. i loved the show when i was a kid. i loved McGavin. i didn’t notice its inconsistencies, but i was only twelve years old. i liked the show so much that a year later, i tried writing a mystery novel with a black private eye, more or less modeled on the David Ross character. where did you get a hold of all these episodes? i’d be very interested in seeing a couple of them, see if it was anywhere as good as i remember.
February 1st, 2012 at 12:28 pm
Michael — thanks for the plug. On the subject of “48-Hr. Mile,” one of the things that really distracted me was the music, which was just so damn … whimsical. I like my noir pitch-black! Mike Doran — I love that background information on “Tatelman’s Bargain-Basement Bonanzas”! Tatelman is a very obscure name indeed. I can’t help wondering how you know so much about this subject — is it just as an extremely attentive viewer? Or did you work in the industry?
February 1st, 2012 at 4:57 pm
#8 Clem. There is a black market among collectors that dates back to when collecting began. You can find sellers at places such as iOffer.com, sell.com and even ebay.
I would be more specific about who if I wasn’t worried about getting the seller in trouble for violating copyright.
Collectors buy because they want to watch the show. Nearly all prefer to buy the studio legal version, but with this series as with so many others it remains unavailable to watch any other way.
I used to write a production book for the series REMINGTON STEELE. I was not paid for it, but it was my way to keep the door open so I could submit unsolicited scripts to be rejected.
I was approached by a collector who knew my interest in the series, he was selling my book for $10. I thought it was funny, but the production people saw no humor in it. They were about to call the lawyers when I mentioned it was just a collector to collector thing. The lawyers were called off, but I was told if a business had done it, MTM et al would have sued them.
I have worried about whether I should review only TV series available legally. I feel since this is a site interested in preserving entertainment history, doing reviews such as this is worthwhile. Even if I am sometimes in the position of saying, “this is good, but you can’t see it.”
February 1st, 2012 at 5:19 pm
I have reviewed many movies and TV shows on this blog that have not been officially released, and I will continue to do so. When inquiries as to availability are made, I do as Michael has just done, and referred them to the “collector-to-collector” market.
I’d rather do this than identify sellers more specifically. Some dealers in out of print materials try to keep a low profile, while others advertise freely.
I also agree with Michael by saying that even if I have c2c copies of a movie or TV series, I will buy the official release if and when comes along. That’s the only way that studios will make their films available on DVD — and that’s if people will buy them.
But there are thousands of movies and TV shows for which copies exist and in all likelihood will never have an official release, whether in copyright or not. In many ways I think collectors who make them available for others are in their own way keeping our cultural heritage alive.
For example, as I understand it, when the recent DVD set of M SQUAD episodes was being put together, they had to ask for help from collectors who’d spend time and energy in saving them. Neither the producer nor the network had bothered to keep copies.
February 1st, 2012 at 6:05 pm
For David Bushman:
Extremely Attentive Viewer here.
I’m a ’50s kid from Cicago, and one of the ways I learned to read was from TV credit crawls – which in those days really crawled.
The names caught my attention, especially if they weren’t like those I came across in Catholic school. Since many actors, directors, writers, etc., worked on multiple shows (and even in multiple genres),I was able to make associations from a young age, with a major assist from TV Guide. I was also able to connect new TV with the old movies I was seeing – many people who did ’30s movies had moved right into ’50s-’60s TV.
It was in the ’70s that Universal-tv started melding their failed series into “movies” and that’s where I first saw Harry Tatelman credited as “producer” of shows he’d had nothing to do with in their original runs. I just connected the dots, is all. If that makes me the “TV Detective” – I’ll take it.
I still find ways to do this, even now.
There’s a cable channel that runs the old Lone Wolf series with Louis Hayward in the wee small hours of weekday mornings. I record them sometimes, and I can stil startle myself with the number of names I recognize – and can connect to shows and movies covering three to four decades.
Tell you something else – Lone Wolf isn’t a bad show at all, considering the obvious time and budget constraints of the period. Give it a look sometime, if you’re able (and stay tuned for the credits).
February 1st, 2012 at 7:04 pm
LONE WOLF TV series has one episode you can watch on YouTube:
Lone_Wolf_Las_Vegas_story_04_24_1954
Mike, I was disappointed in it since it had nothing to do with Louis Vance’s books or the B-Movie series.
February 2nd, 2012 at 1:10 pm
michael:
If that’s the only Lone Wolf episode you’ve seen …
… well, how many TV-movie adaptations are just like the original, anyway?
Taken on its own terms (and making the allowances for when and for how much it was produced), Lone Wolf-TV is about as good as most telefilm series from the ’50s get. Louis Hayward is likable in the lead, moving from charming to tough and back quite smoothly. He’s also good at selling the voice-over narration, an absolute necessity for a low-budget series that had to get everything in in a half-hour.
Apparently, much budget dollars went to getting silent 2nd-unit footage of Hayward walking around the cities where the stories were set. I can’t say for certain, but the Chicago scenes in one episode sure looked like the real deal (circa 1954, of course).
As I said above, the credits yield many familiar names among the writers (Robert Dennis, Al C. Ward, Bernard Girard, george waGGner, etc.), the directors (the aforementioned waGGner and Girard mainly), and even the cinematographers (Joseph Biroc and Nick Musuraca among others).
And of course the actors:
Ernest Borgnine as a good guy.
Harry Morgan as a bad guy.
Barbara Billingsley as a bad girl.
Beverly Garland (need I say more?).
Burt Mustin as a would-be private eye (a hoot and a half).
And many many others.
I’m seeing Lone Wolf on FamilyNet, which shows it at 5:30 in the blessed AM, Chicago time (Thank you Harry Morgan); of course I’m DVRing it, but you get the principle. Apparently FamNet doesn’t have all the episodes in stock, so I guess it’s off to the C2C market to find the others (if they still exist).
See what reading credits gets you into?
February 2nd, 2012 at 3:28 pm
I was always the last out of a movie. I kept index cards of TV series credits in the 70s. Did episode indexes for series. So I am with you, Mike.
So when are we going to see a review of LONE WOLF from you?
February 2nd, 2012 at 4:53 pm
A review of Lone Wolf from me?
From me?
Isn’t that kinda what I just did?
Seriously, I’m not set up here for that. This is an office computer, and I’m stealing time here to do these.
As I stated above, I don’t have access to all the episodes (because FamilyNet doesn’t seem to have them all).
I don’t have a computer at home, and my reference library there is hit-and-miss.
Truth to tell, I’m more dependent on the contributions of other commenters, here and elsewhere, then they could ever be on mine.
So basically, I’m just one more voice in the chorus, who’s a bit older, has a few more arcane memories, and just wants to get a little fun out of this frustrating machine they gave me for my job.
That said, if there happens to be somebody out there who has access to all the Lone Wolf episodes, that’s the guy who ought to write the review.
I’ll be first in line to read it, if and when.
February 2nd, 2012 at 5:46 pm
Seems like a show ruined by early (AARRRGHHH !!) political correctness , with rune-Ss.
The Doc
February 2nd, 2012 at 6:41 pm
Not so much Political Correctness, but a Direct Response to the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy in June 1968. Looking back, I can’t say I blame the Networks, all of them, which cut back drastically on all Violence on TV, but affecting THE OUTSIDER the most, along with (as I recall) a western on ABC called THE OUTCASTS.
Here’s a site with some more information on that show, which also lasted only the one season: http://www.tvobscurities.com/2009/09/tv-violence-in-1968-the-outcasts/
August 9th, 2014 at 6:59 pm
The Millcreek DVD ‘Best of TV Detectives’, which features dozens of forgotten or semi-forgotten crime shows of the ’50’s and ’60s, has five Lone Wolf episodes on it.
February 11th, 2015 at 12:53 pm
Hi, Michael,
I read and enjoyed your review of The Outsider
TV series starring Darren McGavin, as I am a
fan of his shows (I have Riverboat the
complete series and Kolchak The Night Stalker
complete series/both pilot movies on commercial DVD).
I managed to recently locate on ioffer a set
of The Outsider which contained the pilot
movie, 6 episodes, and the 2 TV-movie
compilations. The pilot and 4 of the
episodes were from 16 mm. film prints–
in condition I would describe as
“watchable” while the other 2 were
from TV Land airings in the 90’s.
I’m afraid that at present this is going
to be as close to the 26 episodes of the
series as any of us are going to get
unless it gets released by either
Universal or Timeless Media Group at
some point in future.
I found another seller (Thomas Film Classics) who sells a similar set for
$24.95 and shipping the same as the
ioffer set but it contains an extra
episode Periwinkle Blue. However,
they are not responding to E-mail
inquiries. Whether they are still
offering DVD’s for sale or not,
I have no idea.
All I can say about this ioffer set of
The Outsider is, it’s better than nothing.
February 11th, 2015 at 5:43 pm
Jim, youtube has that episode.
THE OUTSIDER-PERIWINKLE BLUE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BVZ3hk89tQc
As for Thomas Film Classics. Dennis retired awhile back and sold the website to a company that is still in business as far as I know. Dennis still sends us former customers lists of what he is selling. The last email address I can find from him was dt740@hotmail.com
February 11th, 2015 at 7:34 pm
Thanks for the heads-up on Periwinkle Blue
being on youtube, Michael. I now have it.
I’ve ordered from Dennis in past too,
but not at Thomas Film Classics.
Whoever owns that company now does
not reply to my E-mails, so to me
that’s a red flag to me not to do
any business with them.
So 7 episodes and pilot is better than
nothing.
June 14th, 2023 at 9:20 pm
[…] you’ve never read Michael Shonk’s overview of the series, or you haven’t in a while, let me steer you there first before you read on […]
March 1st, 2024 at 1:20 am
Levitt was certainly no slouch. He’s co-writer of practically every installment of Phillip Marlowe I’ve ever heard. Every episode, razor sharp.