77 Sunset Strip

77 SUNSET STRIP was so cool that the breeze from the show could air condition your living room every Friday night from 1958--1964. This series had it all: two cool private detectives, gumshoe intrigue against the backdrop of Hollywood environs, a bee-bop-speaking parking lot attendant who became an overnight teen sensation, and not to be forgotten---one of the sexiest musical scores ever.

Whether 77 SUNSET STRIP was the best all-around private-eye series on television might be debatable, but what can't be debated is the hipness the series delivered to its loyal fans once a week. The formula wasn't rocket science: a damsel in distress who turned out to be fashioning grand larceny, a ten-cents-a-dance ballroom where a maniac slipped beautiful girls a mickey, a run-a-way beauty with a millionaire grandpa.

Effrem Zimbalist, Jr. (Stuart Baily) and Roger Smith (Jeff Spencer) were the two suave PI's who ran the Sunset Strip detective agency. Zimbalist was the more cerebral of the pair; Smith was the unabashed playboy who never saw a pair of shapely legs he didn't like. Then, to top it off, Ed "Kookie" Byrnes stunned Warner Brothers executives when he became a teen sensation as the hip parking lot attendant who combed his locks and called everybody "Daddy-O." When Byrnes recorded KOOKIE, LEND ME YOUR COMB with Connie Stevens, his place among teen-heart-throbs was cinched. In fact, his fame catapulted the ratings so dramatically, he was finally promoted to private investigator with his own office. There was the sexy French receptionist Suzzanne (Jackqueline Beer) and Roscoe (Louis Quinn), the part-time gopher and race track addict who supplied comic relief. And if all this wasn't enough, just across the parking lot there was swinging Dino's-- Dean Martin's real life watering hole where the Frankie Ortega jazz trio pounded out tunes like "I Get A Kick Out Of You."

Sadly, in the final years of the series, Roger Smith developed brain disease and was replaced by Richard Long. SUNSET STRIP was never the same after that. Moreover, it didn't seem right to see a suddenly mature "Kookie" sitting at a desk in a three-piece suit replaced by Robert Logan who was now parking the cars. The show went off the air in 1964 after seven seasons.

While many of the episodes are available on tape and DVD, it is hard to understand why 77 SUNSET STRIP is not shown more often on nostalgic television. For it's fan base remains solid and it is one of the most watchable of the older detective shows. PETER GUNN, RICHARD DIAMOND, and BOURBON STREET BEAT may have been solid competitors, but if you place them side by side, it's not really a contest. Has any other show ever compared to the cool temperatures of 77 SUNSET STRIP? As Kookie would say: "It's really the ginchiest..."

Trivia: It is rather remarkable to consider the impressive pantheon of Warner Brothers successful television series in the 1950's: MAVERICK, CHEYENNE, SUGARFOOT, HAWAIIAN EYE, SURFSIDE SIX, BOURBON STREET BEAT, COLT 45, LARAMIE--all had strong ratings in the 1950's and early 1960's....Moreover, it has often been said that when it came to the movies, WARNER BROTHERS owned the detective genre (Cagney, Bogart, Robinson); and MGM owned fantasy (Astaire, Kelly, Garland). Apparently, this was also true of television where WARNER BROTHERS invested heavily in westerns and detective shows....After Roger Smith developed a brain disorder and left the show, he later developed MLS! But he appears to be doing well today. He married actress Ann Margaret many years ago and when he retired from acting, managed her career...Effrem Zimbalist, Jr. went on to play Inspector Erskine in THE F.B.I. series in the early 1970's...Jacqueline Beer, who played the sexy 77 SUNSET STRIP office receptionist, was Miss France, 1954, and married explorer Thor Hyerdahl...As for Kookie (Ed Byrnes): his late '50's recording of KOOKIE, LEND ME YOUR COMB with Connie Stevens resulted in some 15,000 fan letters a week to Warner Bros....During the height of the series, Byrnes had a serious studio contract dispute with Warner Bros. who refused to allow the actor to do outside films such as Rio Bravo with John Wayne. But the dispute was settled and Byrnes re-appeared in the series as an investigator, not a parking lot attendant. Ratings, however, nosedived and it wasn't long before the series tanked....Byrnes also had a rather severe bout with drug addiction which he describes in an autobiography...Dino's nightclub, just across the parking lot from 77 SUNSET STRIP, was very real and was owned by Dean Martin for years...But there was never really a marquee reading 77 SUNSET STRIP in the way the series portrayed: the interior shots were all filmed at WARNER BROTHERS. In fact, if you pass by 8524 Sunset Blvd. today and look in front of the doorway of the building there now, you'll see a plaque stating that it was once the site for 77 SUNSET STRIP, filmed from 1958--1964....

Dennis Caracciolo

Several episodes of 77 Sunset Strip and Hawiian Eye were shown late at night/early morning on channel 9 in Australia several years ago, and they was fantastic. It appeared briefly on cable TV but is this is only geared for the post 1970 generation they did not last long and were taken off. Gee cable is rubbish. I use to watch 77 Sunset Strip and its clones regularly in the late 50's & 60's. 77 Sunset Strip still stands up today even though or because it is black and white. I cannot understand why Warners don't release these old shows on double sided DVD's and sell them as boxed sets at a reasonable price like several companies have done with old black & white movies. 77 Sunset Strip & its pilot "Girl on the Run" would fit onto 10 or 11 double sided DVD's. There would be some money it for Warners, and if they wait too long people like me won't be around to buy and appreciate these shows. Also what about CHEYENNE, Surfside Six, Bronco, Adventures in Pardise, Sugarfoot etc. Maybe the independents could bring out the old westerns and cop & private eye shows right back to the beginning of the 50's.

Although at the time it was on the air 77 Sunset Strip was primarily known as the vehicle that launched Edd Byrnes into short lived teen idol stardom. Looking back however 77 Sunset Strip set a pattern of Warner Brothers television detectives, it spun so many copycat shows.

At 77 Sunset Boulevard was quartered the private detective firm of Bailey and Spencer. Stu Bailey and Jeff Spencer were played by Efrem Zimbalist, Jr. and Roger Smith. These two guys did not take their detectives cues from rumpled private eyes like Sam Spade and Philip Marlowe. With their stylish clothes and hipster rat pack style dialog, Zimbalist and Smith were the new style private eyes for the Fifties.

These guys were good, but what really made the show a success was the presence of Edd Byrnes playing one Gerald Lloyd Kookson, III AKA Kookie. Second to Elvis Presley, Byrnes was the first teen idol I was cognizant of in my youth. He talked as hip as Zimbalist and Smith and he had the most carefully groomed hair on television. Kookie was never without his comb and in fact he and the comb spawned a hit record of the time, Kookie, Kookie, Lend Me Your Comb. In fact his character name became a slang term for strange, still used among folks in my age bracket. Byrnes was a parking lot attendant and he was always getting vehicles for the stars.

Eventually the guys actually made Kookie a detective in the firm and a new teen idol Robert Logan was hired as J.R. Logan however never took off the way Kookie did.

There is one constant in show business. If something succeeds, copy it to death. Warner Brothers put out Surfside Six, Hawaiian Eye, Bourbon Street Beat and a few others as did other producers trying to imitate them. During the late Eisenhower and Kennedy years, television was inundated with hip private eyes. None of them had the success of the original. Zimbalist and Smith guest starred on some of these other shows and they in turn had visiting detectives as well. In fact Richard Long who co-starred in Bourbon Street Beat after that show was canceled, Long and his character Rex Randolph moved from New Orleans to Los Angeles to get taken into the Bailey-Spencer firm.

After five seasons ABC canceled 77 Sunset Strip. Roger Smith was developing the health problems that forced him to leave acting and CBS picked up the show and promptly fired everyone else, except Zimbalist. From the hip Stu Bailey, Zimbalist became Stu the cynic. He was now an international secret agent and man of mystery.

The first five shows were appropriately entitled Five. It was possibly the first mini-series ever. Some 25 guest stars appeared in a five part show that was not bad in and of itself, but it certainly shocked those who expected what they were used to. 77 Sunset Strip didn't last long after that and Efrem Zimbalist, Jr. joined The FBI next season.

Still as a pioneering show of sorts, 77 Sunset Strip has an honored place in TV Land memories.

By the way, the end of that Kookie song had Byrnes telling some girl she was the 'ginchiest'. To this day I don't know what that means.

With the advent of the DVR, this show - which I loved as a kid - has once again become a staple of my TV viewing. To my mind, it has aged well and still stands up after all these years.

The show had good stories and tried to have something for everyone - it's TV after all - and not take itself too seriously. Kookie was there for the kids and, along with Roscoe, brought colorful comic relief. In one episode, Spencer arrives in Hong Kong and passes a rickshaw-hop (Byrnes in mufti) running a comb through his hair. It was a fun show! And the West Coast jazz they played at Dino's was very hip and still sounds great.

But at the heart of the show were Bailey and Spencer and the cases they solved. And these remain on a par with the best of episodic TV. The two characters work, the scripts are fairly thoughtful and bring in good characters. Zimbalist and Smith were spot on. Terrific TV.

This was a wonderful show. Kookie and Roscoe gave it an added comic element. It also allowed for human effort. As I recall, even the secretary often gave ideas for solving cases.

I recall the caper where Roscoe, the horse player who always played hunches (and always lost) had to come up with all the winners for the day's races. After much effort he did so, but of course he did not bet on a single one.

I watch little TV any more but I tried out Remington Steele, because the daughter of Efriam Zimbalist, Jr.: Stephanie Zimbalist was cast as one of the leads. The two shows shared much similarity. They were both detective shows which really was only peripherally about solving cases. Mostly they were about relationships.

I'm guessing that all the film of these shows is not around any more or I think they would be shown as reruns. I would sure love to see some of these shows either on TV or bought on VHS tapes.