Sat 6 May 2023
A PI TV Episode Review: SURFSIDE 6 “Country Gentleman” (1960).
Posted by Steve under Reviews , TV mysteries[10] Comments
SURFSIDE 6. “Country Gentleman.” ABC / Warner Brothers. 03 October 1960 (Season One, Episode One). Lee Patterson (Dave Thorne), Troy Donahue (Sandy Winfield II), Van Williams (Ken Madison), Diane McBain, Margarita Sierra. Guest Cast: Ray Danton, Frank DeKova, Robert Burton, Janet Lake. Director: Irving J. Moore. Many shows available for streaming on the Internet Archive.
As far as least a secondary function of the first show of the season is o introduce the characters, this particular one is (was) a gigantic flop. It might be me, but I felt as though I could have been watching an episode in the middle of the season rather than the first one.
Not that that was much of a problem. The picture filled itself in easily enough, if all you want is to watch is a show with three good-looking guys running a PI agency in Florida (Miami) with the usual light-hearted effort to put on an otherwise ordinary PI TV show.
But to put in the effort that a blogger who likes to watch old PI TV shows should be doing, let me crib from IMDb:
“Ken, Dave, and Sandy are three hip private detectives living on, and working out of, a houseboat in Miami, Florida. A yacht, belonging to socialite Daphne [Diane McBain], is anchored next to their houseboat. While not pursuing criminals, they spend time at the Fontainebleau Hotel chasing Cha Cha [Margarita Sierra], who works as an entertainer in the Boom Boom Room.â€
It is interesting to note that Van Williams’ character (Ken) was a fellow who previously was one the lead players on Bourbon Street Beat, another Warner Brothers/ABC production which had just closed down for good the previous spring.
In this one, a cool suave but still somewhat crude gangster (played by totally cool suave but still somewhat crude Ray Danton) is trying to use his money and charisma to join whatever high society that Miami has to offer, and hitting a brick wall in doing so. When one of the gents who blackballed him is found dead, guess who is the obvious suspect? Not to mention that he and the Commodore’s daughter have become very close.
This is a somewhat mediocre episode and yet perhaps as enjoyable a one as viewers were able to see in 1960. The stories may very well have improved, as the series was on for two years. But when the “villain” of the piece has more screen appeal than its nominal three stars, something’s just not right.
May 6th, 2023 at 3:20 pm
I am a fan of the Warner Bros. “Backlot Quartet†– 77 Sunset Strip, Hawaiian Eye, Surfside 6, and Bourbon Street Beat. Sure, they are formulaic entertainment, but still fun. The character and actor crossovers could make you dizzy. The series also represent a moment in television that was about to end – within the next decade, location shooting would become the norm for this type of show, and the backlot standing in for Miami Beach, New Orleans, and Honolulu would come to seem rather quaint.
May 6th, 2023 at 4:56 pm
I did not like any of these productions but was susceptible to the Stuart Bailey/Efrem Zimbalsit stories, but the more Kookie evolved, the less I cared, until finally despite the title song, I moved on.
May 6th, 2023 at 7:32 pm
I agree, to some extent. Dare I say that as far as the general public is concerned, 77 SUNSET STRIP is the only one of those four WB productions that’s remembered today?
Unfortunately, perhaps, a good percentage of its popularity was, guess who? Kookie.
May 6th, 2023 at 7:54 pm
Yeah, lend me your comb.
May 6th, 2023 at 10:04 pm
Critics were savage when this replaced BOURBON STREET BEAT (Richard Long went to 77 SUNSET STRIP), and with some reason. SURFSIDE SIX never did become much more than handsome guys getting some sun and half heartedly solving mysteries while chasing girls.
I think Jay Flynn wrote the novelization for the series.
Donahue, like Williams, had done a season and a half on HAWAIIAN EYE, not as a private eye, but as Connie Stevens boy friend and a manager at the hotel the detectives worked from.
Most of the runs of HAWAIIAN EYE and BOURBON STREET are available on Internet Archive too, some with surprising guests like James Coburn, Mary Tyler Moore, Richard Chamberlain (in the BEAT episode with Coburn both as assassins), John Marley, and Buddy Ebsen.
May 7th, 2023 at 10:09 am
As a twelve-year old, I couldn’t get enough of these shows.
May 7th, 2023 at 3:43 pm
Except for 77 SUNSET STRIP, which was a big favorite, I never had a chance to see any of the others while they were on, and SUNSET STRIP was picked up by the local CBS station only because of a certain kookie character, I’m sure. Back then we had access to only two stations, one CBS, the other NBC. ABC was a totally foreign country. I could read about their shows, but could never see them.
This first show of the SURFSIDE SIX series I saw last week is the first time I’ve EVER watched an episode of it.
May 8th, 2023 at 9:53 am
Like Patti, I couldn’t get enough of 77 Sunset Strip, Hawaiian Eye, Surfside 6, and Bourbon Street Beat when I was a 12-year-old. I haven’t watched any of these series since the Sixties so I’ll guess they’re pretty dated today.
May 14th, 2023 at 11:30 pm
[…] opposed to my recent encounter with the first episode of Surfside 6, this is, wow, the way to start off a brand new private eye TV […]
August 12th, 2023 at 11:39 am
Check out the 77 Sunset Strip TV Show Facebook Page for coverage of all “Four” of the Warner Brothers Detective Series of the 1958-1964 ERA…Fun, relaxed, and enjoyable programs from a Different ERA.