Poor guy has been dead for more than 40 years. Reminds me of the early death of Ross Martin. Janssen died in 1980 and Martin in 1981 both of a heart attack. RIP
Not that early in Martin's case; the man was 61 years ago. His death wasn't unexpected either, as he had a history of heart trouble going back to 1968.
Show had decent ratings and critics liked it. But, ABC decided to go in new directions and dumped the show for Charlie's Angels, taking Farrah with them. I remember discovering this show in reruns around 1979 when I was in high school. CBS ran it late night. David got shafted. This series deserved better.
This for the great show and sadly the toll a working on the fugitive eventually took its toll and David had a massive heart attack and died he is sorely missed
It was also said that David Jansen had a party lifestyle of Alcohol and Smoking. I noticed he did smoke a lot during his interviews on TV Talk Shows. His interviews might still be posted on RU-vid. I think he was on "The Mike Douglas Show" & "The Dinah Shore Show."@georgesenda1952y
@@davidbrown386 I've heard it said by others that by the time he portrayed Harry Orwell that he really wasn't "acting" That's really was the man's demeanor offstage &away from the camera. He struggled with alcoholism at least since the end of the series The fugitive then got sober after a few years and everybody was happy that he did but eventually he started drinking again. Anybody who drinks a quart of vodka a day &smokes four packs of cigarettes has a death wish. I think David Jansen had some demons that he took to the grave.
@@frankpaya690 In reading "The Fugitive Recaptured" by Ed Robertson, Janssen comes across as a man who was well liked by everyone he worked with. It didn't matter if one was an actor, director, producer or a lesser role in the show's production, Janssen seemed like a nice guy who always had a kind word for everybody. If he had demons, apparently he kept them private and to himself.
@@davidbrown386 Harry O was an excellent show. David Janssen, Henry Darrow and Farrah Fawcett are gone, but Anthony Zerbe, Paul Tulley ( Sergeant Roberts) and Bill Henderson (Spencer Johnson) are still with us.
A series that deserved to run for many more years than it did. I look at the garbage produced today, highlighting the negative aspects of people's behaviour, cheat to win, me first, reality TV just complete garbage, with no incentive for promoting honesty, integrity, or commitment.
Harry O was cancelled not because of poor ratings but because the [then] president of the television network that aired the show was not a fan of the program. That decision prompted David Janssen to state he would never do another regular TV series again.
Go ahead and say the name of the spoil sport, the legendary programmer of "the Big Three" (ABC, CBS, NBC) at different times in his career: Fred Silverman. To David Janssen professionally and "Harry O" fans nationwide Silverman was not a nice man. Janssen's "The Fugitive" from Quinn Martin Productions had helped bring ABC out of the Nielsen basement in the mid 1960s. According to one of "Harry O's" producers at Warner Bros. TV, Michael Sloan via "Just One More Thing," his colorful, informative memoirs, Warners had scripts in development for the assumed third season. Separately, TV GUIDE, with its long lead time, honored Janssen and Anthony Zerbe with a "Harry O" cover portrait and Zerbe profile for its June 12, 1976 issue, following Zerbe's bittersweet Emmy win in light of Silverman's yanking it off the '76-77 line-up. (TV GUIDE was not known for profiling talent of cancelled series. It was a safe assumption year three was "a go.") Silverman pulled a similar, mean stunt with other hour favorites the following year when he seemingly went out of his way to put Quinn Martin Productions -- which had had an exclusive deal with ABC in the '60s supplying it quality, one-hour dramas, "The FBI," "The Fugitive," "The Invaders," "12 O'Clock High" -- out of business by brazenly cancelling "The Streets of San Francisco" and "Most Wanted." For Karl Malden's steadily-performing "Streets", ABC had funded half a dozen scripts to get a jump on the sixth season's production on location in 'the city by the bay.' Veteran "Untouchables" star Robert Stack saw his 1976 -77 cop show, "Most Wanted," reach the coveted Nielsen 'Top Ten' by the early spring. But in May, when cancellations and renewals become known, the network/Silverman shockingly cancelled both "Streets" and "Most Wanted." . . . Quinn Martin Productions' perennial "Barnaby Jones" over at CBS helped 'keep the lights on.' One connection coming out of this: Former "Streets" producer John Wilder was ensconced at Universal producing its ambitious, acclaimed 26-hour "Centennial" mini-series on which Janssen served as narrator for the entire run and co-starred in a couple of the contemporary hours -- for NBC's 1978 - 79 season, programmed by its new exec, Fred Silverman, who landed there June 1978. "It's a small world" in Hollywood.
Oh wow. A sad loss. He was a brilliant Music Composer. This version of the "Harry -O" Theme Song was one of the best for an Action/Detective show... Not to mention the Intro & the Outro's Visual imagery. I put it up there with other Shows like "Starsky & Hutch, Kojak, The Rookies, Chase, Adam-12, The Streets of San Francisco, (the original) SWAT, The Mod Squad, (the original) Hawaii 5 - O, Police Story and it's Spin-Off Police Woman," and so many more.
Every Thursday Night at 9pm right after the Streets Of San Francisco on ABC. Great team of David Janssen right after Karl Malden and Michael Douglas. Great memories of the 1970's.
when Harry O was on American Life Television Network, at the end of the closing credits had the current Warner Bros. Television closing logo. Oh my! Do i miss American Life TV Network, I watched reruns of Harry O every Monday night on that channel!
The Big W logo reminds me of the movie Argo released in 2012 with "A Time Warner Company" instead of "A Warner Communications Company" that takes place in the late 70s (1979-80).
0:18 - 0:21 Here's my favorite image of David Janssen from the main titles. The titles' many other clips are ideally-suited at showing him in his capacity as the working private eye Harry Orwell and of those some represent Harry's appealing, well-written working relationship with Lt. Trench (Anthony Zerbe). Yet here we see the upbeat, inviting, engaging attraction of David Janssen; showing elements of his appeal as a TV star. . . . More than a pity, it's a downright shame that "Harry O" didn't survive to a third season. In the ideal world we'd be treated to that additional year PLUS the experience of immersing ourselves in 26 episodes each season, instead of the too-brief 22. Finally, IMO we we could see less, considerably less, of Lester (a little of Les goes a LONG way). And replace the lackluster season one two-parter with two stand-alone episodes.
"Harry O" end titles at 1:28; there it is, FARRAH FAWCETT-MAJORS as Sue, single card. That's right, single card, what a theatrical agent negotiates on their client's behalf -- counting on the producer and casting director to agree to the merit of the actor's/actress's prominence, significance (i.e., no other performer(s) sharing the 'card'). In 1975 Farrah's landed the key role here of star David Janssen's (Harry Orwell) Santa Monica and Malibu (beach) neighbor-friend-lover, Sue -- for eight episodes scattered throughout a season and a half. Capable, memorable work she does. In 2019 People magazine does a near 100-page special issue, "Remembering Farrah," and shamefully, unprofessionally, inconceivably the writers and editors of the tribute don't even mention this key credit. (ed. Oh wait, on p. 45 they do mention "Harry O," but only as a near-trivia item why "Charlie's Angels" is titled "Charlie's Angels" and not a previous name, "Harry's Angels".) You know, the one just prior the "Charlie's Angels" juggernaut in 1976 - 77 which they regurgitate ad nauseam letting near everyone seem to think Farrah plopped into out of thin air following a hair ad and a bit in "Myra Breckinridge" (the notorious 1970 feature). You may recall at the time of Farrah's passing practically all her obituaries ignored, overlooked, forgot the significant "Harry O" credit. Never should have happened.
It strikes me as weird that Robert Dozier is listed as the story consultant when, as I recall, he was the co-producer from the second half of season 1 on. There are also episodes of Mannix where Ivan Goff and Ben Roberts are identified as both the story consultants and producers.
Wasnt that at the latter half of the series? Perhaps the show needed the experience of Goff and Roberts with their story development ? Yes. Ive seen it myself in the credits.
@@eles2147 I would think that would be part of the job of a producer, and Goff and Roberts were the producers from season 2 until the end. Nowadays, notice how many staff writers go from that to some form of producer if a show stays on the air long enough?
I don't see how / where Janssen's time spent bedding / romancing willing females would contribute, as you claim: "womanizing". His heavy tobacco habit and steady, over-indulgence in alcohol consumption compounded with the grueling hours he endured those four years top-lining Quinn Martin Production's "The Fugitive" (with all its location and night shooting, hallmarks of QM-produced series) the previous decade together contributed to his tired, aged, beaten down look. However, anecdotes inform and entertain us it didn't deter females' attraction for him, whether he was married or "in between". . . . I'm quite the fan of "Harry O", its star and THIS version of the theme, in main and end titles, plus the extensive location filming. I've a personal preference for the Malibu / Santa Monica set-up over the first half of season one, shot in San Diego. As I noted elsewhere, it's wonderful the end credits with its dazzling visuals and beautiful, iconic theme run an entire minute instead of the usual 35 seconds most series were limited to (by the networks). . . . I have ZERO complaints about Janssen's respective, recurring female co-stars Kathrine Baumann ('Betsy'), Farrah Fawcett-Majors ('Sue') or Barbara Leigh ('Gina') except that I wish 'Betsy' had contributed more than her three episodes (before she and her never-seen 'Walter' were jettisoned off to Hawaii, as 'Sue' informed Harry -- and the audience -- in Farrah's first of eight guest appearances). With the 20 year age difference, 25 in appearance, between Harry and his fetching neighbors at Malibu beach, one has to wonder why they're not involved with any of the plentiful surfers, lifeguards, musicians, actors populating the '70s southern California "scene" each and all closer to their ages, i.e., mid 20s. In real life 'Sgt. Roberts' (Paul Tulley) aka "Roberts !" as voiced over and over by 'Trench' (Anthony Zerbe), would surely be pursuing one, if not all, of them for female companionship. . . . One of these years were bound to learn the reasoning, the details for each actresses' casting; and for Baumann and Leigh, the brevity of their runs. Thank you for posting, Cathode Ray 60. Even though I own the DVD sets it's terrific to have the close-and-easy availability of the "Harry O" elements here on RU-vid.
@GaryPeterson67 yeah..I remember that. Back in the day, media didn't focus as much on those indescretions. Since he died apparently while "exerting" himself, they probably didn't want to pile on. Let's be honest here... who WOULDN'T want to go out like that?
