One of the first TV detective shows I liked watching was Richard Diamond, Private Eye. It was created by Blake Edwards as a radio show that ran from 1949 to 1953 starring Dick Powell and it later returned as a TV series that ran from 1957 to 1960 and starred David Janssen. It was the first of Janssen's four TV series, the other three being The Fugitive, followed by O'Hara, U.S. Treasury, followed by Harry O. As longtime readers of this blog know, Harry O is my favorite TV series about a detective.
I discovered Richard Diamond in syndicated reruns in the early sixties and I was sometimes puzzled by various elements. That was until I discovered that the show had run four seasons with major format changes from time to time, and the local station didn't air them in sequence. The shows were on a very low budget but the scripts were clever, a lot of notable actors guest-starred and it was hard to take your eyes off Mr. Janssen for two seconds.
I also liked his mysterious secretary "Sam," played by an uncredited actress who for a time was Mary Tyler Moore. You heard her voice and saw a little of her face or legs but not enough to really know what she looked like. My crush on Ms. Moore started before I know to whom the voice and legs belonged and I definitely noticed when someone else took over as "Sam."
It's Mary in this typical episode, which was the first in Season Three. It also features Barbara Bain, Ross Martin and the role of Mort Sahl was played by Mort Sahl…