Barnaby Jones

I just finished watching all 178 episodes of Barnaby Jones. I watched a few of them off and on back when they were first run. My parents loved this show.

I agree with others, the show went down hill starting with season 5. In the last couple of seasons, Buddy pretty much and sometimes literally "phoned it in". I admit to frequent use of "fast forward" towards the end of the series. There were a few good episodes near the end, but only a few. The last episode is definitely not how they wanted to go out. Obviously, another attempt to start a spin-off, which fortunately did not happen.

As fun as some of it was to watch, things like "chain of evidence" and other legal issues didn't seem to be important to the writers.

Dead-eye Barnaby. He was a great shot, often shooting from the hip. Somehow he killed lots of bad guys in the first part of the series, but later, he alway wounded the bad guy in the shoulder, arm, or hand. The Lone Ranger school of shooting. Also notice, never any blood, other than a stain here or there.

His six attempts to further the career of his daughter Bonnie were not pretty. She was a pretty good looking woman with below average talent. They were probably both very nice people.

Standard Quinn Martin series.

Buddy has class, dignity, manners, and is polite, and that really is enjoyable to watch.

Merriweather, is humble and a good supporting character.

Shera is alright.

I have watched the first five seasons, and besides the terrible DVD quality, every single episode, except a few, is about the same, and 95% are about murder:

Crime happens.

Jones visits with the person who hired him.

Immediately, he knows who commited the crime and visits with her or him.

They lie through their teeth.

He investigates, and proves them wrong.

Most times, he plugs the crook, but ALWAYS just wings them.

This is like the Lone Ranger, always tried only to injure.

Epilogue. Some little happy saying, then the credits.

Betty, almost always acts like she can't figure out how Barnaby, deduced something, which makes him look better.

Each season has about two excellent episodes.

But the main reason to watch is for Ebsen.

Another one of Quinn Martin's great 70's TV series, as a previous user said this show did come of as unintentionally funny at times due to the advanced age of the always entertaining Buddy Ebsen! I remember there would always be a scene in almost every episode where Mr Ebsen would stiffly run after someone. I kept thinking as a little kid that Buddy Ebsen looked soooo Skinny and frail that a puff of air could knock him down! Yet despite all of this, the show held our viewing interest for six seasons, perhaps we were drawn to the subliminal message that milk is good for your bones because it was obviously helping Barnaby Jones not to snap like a matchstick!

I know it's not profound TV, but I enjoyed the early murder plots of the show and Barnaby's way of making remarks that rattled the perpetrators (like a watered-down Columbo sometimes). I just bought Season One in DVD, and I enjoy seeing many big-name actors appearing and looking them up to see whether they're still alive and/or working. I will probably not purchase seasons beyond four or five, because, unlike some reviewers, I was disgruntled with the arrival of Barnaby's nephew, whose presence made the stories more contrived. I was annoyed when the later programs presented cases in which Secretary Betty was involved -- both contrived and unrealistic. The one-man show did it for me.

Buddy Epson & Lee Merriwether- very good acting & put together with Quinn Martin another winning combo. Actually, this show was CBS payback to Buddy who was extremely upset with CBS for canceling the Beverly Hillbillies while they were still a hit show. He kind of felt like he lost his family there & felt the execs at the network were a little nuts.

Buddy was right about that. This show is well done & CBS had raided ABC to get Quinn Martin to do this & Cannon. CBS wanted to change it's country image & these shows became a moderately successful way to do that. Trouble is CBS execs wasted more of the number 1 networks success & by the 1908's after they forced Walter Cronkrite to retire & dumbed down & tarted up their news with Dan Rather, they had pretty much become a second rated network.

This show's success along with MASH & a few others kept them on top through the 1970's. Buddy Ebsen was so talented that he could play almost anybody & make them believable. He comes off here as a fine detective & Lee Merriwether came into her own during this show.

Ebsen is one of the few TV actors to be part of successful shows in the 1950's, 60's, & 70's. It is a fitting tribute to such a unique talent who made his first splash in movies in the 1930's. He has an enduring legacy and this show is the last piece of it.