The Partners from the studio that gave us Dragnet 1968, Adam-12, Emergency! and The Munsters Lalo Schifrin did music for The Partners, Petrocelli, The Young Lawyers, Medical Center, Paramount Television Jingles, Mannix, Mission: Impossible, Season 2 of The Man From U.N.C.L.E. and Season 1 of Starsky & Hutch God Bless Him
I never heard of this show until I saw this a few years ago here on You Tube. Also, I never heard of the version of the Universal song . A little after this someone included this version of the Universal song on a history of Universal Television.
It's a spoof on the popular crime dramas of the time (Cannon, Columbo, McCloud, McMillan & Wife, O'Hara, U.S. Treasury, Mod Squad etc...) much like Adam's previous series (Get Smart!) was a spoof on the spy craze of the 1960s.
An initial review of the show panned it as a "knockout", and maybe it was. However, maybe it wasn't a "Get Smart!" or even a "Tennessee Tuxedo and his Tales"--but I recall The Partners as being a funny show. Which is more than you can say for Inspector Gadget (the old cel cartoon). Yes the show was brilliantly designed and had a great score, the voice cast was outstanding (Don Adams not the least), and Inspector Gadget, Penny, Brain, Chief Quimby, and Dr. Claw were well-drawn characters. The trouble was the show just wasn't very funny. I got the feeling watching the episodes was jabbing me in the ribs as I watched the episodes, "Wasn't that funny?" "Wasn't that hilarious?" when the scripts and dialogue were good for mild smiles at the most. I felt the show was vastly overrated.
the only one of those shows that ever aired before The Partners was Mod Squad, the rest came out at exactly the same time and couldn't have been parodied, I'd compare to Mod Squad, Dragnet, Adam-12, maybe
I believe that the people who think this show was not good, except for the theme, ought to take another look at it. The writing & acting was brilliant, at least in my opinion.
' _I hope this series didn't perish in the Universal fire_ .' Only the _music_ from Universal _Music_ Group, not the _pictures_ (movies and TV shows), sonofretrotvluver.
Weak opening. I see a lot of folks like the Schifrin theme; I like his music as well, but this theme is simply not in the same league as Mannix or Mission Impossible.
