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JOHNNY STACCATO

(1959-60)

Twenty-seven episodes (one season) of this series about a jazz pianist, played by John Cassavetes, who supplemented his meagre income by taking on detective work, screened on America's NBC network between September 1959 and March 1960, when it was picked up by the ABC network, who aired it in re-runs through September 1960.

Set in a jazz club in New York's Greenwich Village it featured the Pete Candoli Combo as 'The Band at Waldo's', which included musicians Ray Brown, Barney Kessel and Red Norvo. The series bore a close resemblance to the more successful Peter Gunn, exchanging the latter’s laidback Los Angeles vibe for a more edgy, brash New York sensibility. This episode was first screened on the 24th of March, 1960.

Sources: Tim Brooks and Earle Marsh: The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network TV Shows, 1946-present (1985);  ACMI catalog.