Shark Bytes

BANYON was a wonderful detective series from the 60's that I really loved due to its setting...the 1930's. A lovingly created period piece with a world weary protagonist who actually gave us shades of Sam Spade and Phillip Marlowe. The show was done with a great deal of attention to detail and was consistently smart and watchable. BANYON never jumped the shark.

I agree with previous posters that the series didn't live up to the stylish, beautifully cast pilot. The pilot's executive producer Richard Alan Simmons ("The Price of Tomatos") was more creatively ambitious that the Quinn Martin factory that took over for the series. Writer/producer Ed Adamson ("Richard Diamond") was ill during production of the series and died during production of the series or soon after, and this certainly didn't help matters. I think the series might have had a better chance if 1) it had taken place in the present rather than the 30's, 2) if the Darren McGavin character from the pilot had been played by Ralph Meeker or John Ireland rather than the bland (in this role) Richard Jaeckal 3) if the great Joan Blondell was axed and replaced by a permanent sex-kitten secretary (Sherry Jackson or Lana Wood), and 4) if they brought back Herb Edelman as a regular (hey, 77 Sunset Strip did it with Edd Byrnes). I also would have given Banyon an ex-wife and a daughter to try to humanize Forster's stud persona. When Quentin Tarentino was writing Max Cherry he said he was considering Paul Newman, Gene Hackman, John Saxon, or Robert Forster. Fortunately he chose Forster. But if the producers of Banyon had tried a little harder, we wouldn't have had to wait 25 years to find out that Forster had greatness in him.

Have to agree with the previous poster regarding the movie, which was excellent but set a standard in terms of guest stars (Jose Ferrer, Darren McGavin, Herb Edelman) that the series was hard-pressed to match. Using Joan Blondell in the Peggy Revere role (she operates the secretarial school which provides Banyon with a trainee a week) during the series was probably an improvement over Hermione Gingold, but what Banyon really seemed to miss during the series was Edelman, who'd played his buddy/right hand man in the pilot (but who couldn't be reprised for obvious reasons). Still, the series was a cut above the typical private eye show as I recall it, with plenty of shots of Banyon's office in LA's Bradbury Building and just enough film noirish sequences to keep you interested...

For anyone who saw the original two hour NBC World Premiere Movie that served as this show's pilot (a good year and a half before the series debuted), "Banyon" was a disappointment from its very first episode. Robert Forster was still good, and Richard Jaeckel was fine (though no match for Darren McGavin who played the same role in the movie) but the behind the scenes personnel changed. The result was a show vastly different in look and style than the movie. Quinn Martin produced the show, and made it over in the image of his other programs.

Very good private eye drama set in the 1930's. Robert Forster and the late Richard Jaeckel were excellent. Too bad it only lasted half a season. NBC in those days was notorious for not giving its new drama series a chance to develop an audience.

Thank you Quentin Tarantino for reviving the career of Robert Forster, star of the quickly demised show Banyon and who appeared in such movies as The Black Hole and Hurricane. Robert is a fantastic actor. He was nominated for an oscar portraying the easygoing bail bondsman Max Cherry in the film Jackie Brown. He was so confident and good in the movie even badass Samuel Jackson couldn't mess with him. Robert Forster rules and I hope he'll appear in more films in the future. And Quentin, when will you revive the career of Epstein from Welcome Back Kotter?