Checkmate

I remember Checkmate. It had great style, action, plots & characters. I never knew it was created by Eric Ambler, the author of A Coffin For Dimitrios.

I had just moved to San Francisco in 1960 & it was a very exciting place to be - the fog, the cable cars, the bridges, Alcatraz & Chinatown. They all appeared in episodes of Checkmate. I recall the series was saturated with a sense of the city.

It would be great to see some of those old episodes again. They might seem corny now, but I'd like to see that great gray city by the bay again the way it was way back then.

In the late 50's/early 60's, the general American public all of a sudden were inundated with tons of Detective shows (mostly on ABC) and most of them either carried on the tradition in a Noir Style of a single Male Detective And maybe a hot young secretary who was always fighting against bad guys, or a group of young guys (and maybe one girl in the mix) who were always fighting crimes and solving murder mysteries or embezzlement/financial crimes, and each of these shows had really cool Jazz Underscores but they all seem to follow the same underlying theme/formula with slight variations in locations and settings

Now the distinction Checkmate had with 90% of the other shows on the air is that the Checkmate Detective Agency of Don Corey (Anthony George) and Jed Siles (Doug McClure) and Dr Carl Hyatt (Sebastian Cabot) specialized in solving crimes BEFORE they happened, so because of this, they always seemed one or two steps ahead the potential "criminal" they are fighting against, where as in all o the other detective shows, the crime is pretty much always already committed, so the detectives were call in to find out who committed it and track him of her down and arrest the person that committed the crime. Each character played a role in preventing these crimes before they happened, Anthony George was often the tough guy who the would be criminals would not want to mess with or would be caught in a big city alley in the middle of the night with. Doug McClure was often the soft nice and like able guy who was easy to trust who often got a long well with his clients, Sebastian Cabot was often the brains behind the whole bunch who could think of clever ways of always staying one step ahead of the potential criminal before such crimes were committed (he also supposedly had a PHD in Psychology, hence the Dr in his name, so he always knew how to psychologically outsmart the would be criminals before they got to the clients they were signed on to protect.)

So in hindsight, The detective agency of Checkmate (who according to the show was based in San Francisco, i think some of the exteriors were shot in that city as well), Was called in to protect their clients when they are feeling threatened or they felt like their life was in danger from someone else they were associated with, but the other amazing thing about this show is the impeccable list of guest stars there are on this show, and many people commented how from Season 1 to 2, they didn't like how the Checkmate team went from protecting clients from being murdered to protecting them for other reasons besides that for season 2, but I think the fact that they strayed away from just strictly "murders" made the show more special and unique and less "cliche".

And yes if your a fan of these old school Detective Series, definitely check this series out! The plots are exciting and unpredictable. And the guest stars are fantastic too! Everyone from then old school movie actors like Peter Lorre Peter Lawford, Joseph Cotten, and Mickey Rooney, to then fresh new faces like Robert Vaughn, Tony Randall, Lee Marvin, James Coburn and so much more! I'd definitely get this series, as the entire show is available on DVD thanks to Timeless Media plus a few select episodes on YouTube! (That is how I was able to see this series, I haven't bought the DVD yet but I plan to in the near future).

During the early 1960's, the series "77 Sunset Strip" (one of my favorites...) spawned a rash of hip detective knockoffs, many of them from the same studio, Warner Brothers, several more from other studios. Surprisingly, Revue Studios, known mainly for its cookie-cutter formulaic dramas, came up with one that stood head and shoulders from the rest of the imitators, and was an original in its own right. "Checkmate" is the name of a detective agency in San Francisco with an unusual twist: not just content to protect their clients, their aim is to prevent the crimes before they start. The approach is like a game of chess, hence the name, "Checkmate".

First and foremost, "Checkmate" strayed from the pretty-boy lighthearted mysteries, and settled for taut, intelligent, serious cases with a noir fashion. The fact that famed mystery writer Eric Ambler created the show speaks for itself. Plus, while "77 Sunset Strip" relied on Warners' stock company of character actors and rising young stars, "Checkmate" had the ability and the budget to include major big guest stars like Joan Fontaine, Peter Lorre, Mickey Rooney, David Janssen, Harry Guardino, Julie London, etc., giving it a sheen of class denied the other imitators.

The regular cast contained no slouches. The recently deceased Anthony George played Checkmate's deep-voiced head honcho Don Corey with more intensity than even the Strip's Efrem Zimbalist, Jr. Doug McClure played Jed Sills with a self-depreciating flair, playing off his obvious good looks; when "Checkmate" was canceled, McClure would pull it off again in the role of Trampas on "The Virginian". The real highlight here is the late, great Sebastian Cabot, playing the esteemed scientific consultant, Dr. Carl Hyatt, with a blend of haughtiness, exasperation, and intelligence; a blend that was put to good use (or waste, depending on how you see it) when he later took on his signature role as Mr. French on "Family Affair".

And I also might add, the theme song wasn't a bouncy rock and roller like 77SS and the rest, but a tense, moody jazz instrumental by the legendary John "Johnny" Williams.

If you can find "Checkmate" on DVD, which, sadly, is the only way you'll get to see this wonderful lost gem, I strongly recommend you pick it up. Compare it (and for that matter, "77 Sunset Strip") to the current wave of police procedurals on TV today. See which is better.

"Checkmate" is a JaMco Production, financed by Jack Benny (yes, THE Jack Benny, who also did a guest spot here), and filmed by Revue Studios in Hollywood and San Francisco. 70 episodes were aired on CBS between 1960 and 1962.

The 70 black and white hour-long episodes of "Checkmate" were originally broadcast from 1960-62 on CBS. Those who only remember Sebastian Cabot as the prissy butler "French" on "Family Affair" will be surprised at his superior acting talent, which was nicely showcased in this series.

"Checkmate Inc." was an unusual organization based in San Francisco, a posh detective agency whose specialty was thwarting crimes "before" they occurred. The plot line for each episode was structured to resemble a chess game, which reflected the series title.

Middle age detective Don Corey (Anthony George) operated the firm out of his elegant Nob Hill apartment. Young Jed Sills (Doug McClure) was the designated hunk of the series. Dr. Carl Hyatt (Cabot) was a trained criminologist who served as the organization's brain trust. The three mostly worked as a team and a lot of the humor came from Cabot's frequent frustration over the dimness of his two associates.

Warner Brothers had hit on a successful formula for the intelligent detective series (insert "Surfside Six", "77 Sunset Strip", etc. here) and Jack Benny's "JaMco Productions" appropriated this and turned it into "Checkmate". At least they eliminated Warner's obligatory weird side-kick/informer and good looking but airheaded singer/girlfriend/etc.

So they basically had a main character targeted at all age levels of the female demographic, with one of which almost any male viewer could identify. And each episode included some attractive young actress(s) and a couple has-been movie stars in the cast.

The early John Williams' theme music was a memorable jazz instrumental for which he received a Grammy nomination. As often happens with these things they tried to get cute between seasons and added Jack Betts to the cast as investigator Chris Devlin and they moved the agency into a normal office suite. It limped through its second season until cancellation.

15 episodes from Season One are now out in a DVD package with the misleading title "Best of Checkmate:Season One". It does not appear that any effort was made to actually cull out the "best" episodes for this release, it looks more like this group was included because they were the only ones to which Edi Video had the rights and/or the only ones in good enough condition for digital re-mastering. The DVD package has no special features and is a relatively low-budget but serviceable effort. A similar collection of Season Two episodes is due for release in March 2008.

Then again what do I know? I'm only a child.

I loved this series, and I do not like television series in general. The cast was perfect: Corey as tough, worldly-wise chief of "Checkmate" and mentor to partner Doug McClure, who here was able to get away from the grinning, pretty-boy roles that would dog his career, playing the younger detective with (for him) a subdued grittiness. And then there was Sebastian Cabot--vested suits, walking stick, sparkling eyes, he stole every scene he was in. The writing was excellent, and yes, the opening was way ahead of its time. An all-around classy show with terrific guest stars...naturally it is not available on VHS or DVD. Another reason that even at that age I was in agreement with Newton Minnow's description of television programming as a "vast wasteland." And the waste is the stuff that makes it to TVland and DVD. Which would be fine if shows like "Checkmate" were not lost forever.