User Reviews

I really enjoy Barnaby Jones, he reminds me of Colombo. We start with a murder, then he figures it out with some twists and turns along the way. Colombo had his schtick of acting like a bumbling fool and Barnaby does the old boy, shucks ma'am routine, which works well. This was a good story, fairly well done, with a few glaring errors. Barry Sullivan as Jason Craig was great, as was Alex Henteloff as Harry March. The bad parts were Carol Ohmart and Meg Foster. Carol, fortunately was only in it for a hot minute, but the acting in her only scene was awful. All I remember of ever seeing Meg Foster is those striking eyes; unfortunately her acting in this was pretty bad. Overall it was a good show.

Who better to play the part of a famous, though aging and desperate actor than Barry Sullivan. Here, his money is starting to run out and he's dabbling in some illegal activities. Another actress, who it seems also needs dough, accidentally stumbles onto his second "job" and dies.

The question here is whether it really was murder, though Sullivan made the lady's death appear to be an accident. What now?

Robert Day, one of the most popular directors in Hollywood, handled this story, the man behind the AVENGERS tv series. So you know this is going to be clever stuff, and a bit like a COLUMBO episode.

Shiryl Hendrix wrote this mystery, also a master at spinning some good detective stories for such shows as MOD SQUAD. There is also a very creepy slant to this one, sort of in the tradition of NIGHT GALLERY. Day had this one covered as he also directed two of Boris Karloff's chillers in the late 50s.

The actress (who knows too much) is briefly played by Carol Ohmart, with dark wig and sunglasses, best known for her role as Vincent Price's wife in the original HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL (1959). Carol was quite popular on tv, having also appeared on MANNIX. The question always asked her if she would ever pair up again with Vincent Price. They made a terrific couple, which is now part of cult movie history.

For travel fans, Barnaby meets Betty at Mel's Diner on Sunset Boulevard, not that far from his office, and it's still around after all these years. Barnaby's office building is about a block from Hollywood and Vine, and sometimes you will see brief shots of it with Cannon's Lincoln parked out front (from the debut episode). Watch carefully.

Recommended from SEASON 1, EPISODE 12 remastered CBS dvd box set.

An aging actor in need of money has done something very illegal to get it. It turns out when he was discussing this conspiracy over the phone that another person overheard it...and wants to blackmail him. But Jason (Barry Sullivan) panics and knocks her out. Then, he puts her into her car and arranges an 'accident' to dispose of her. What he didn't know is that the woman had VERY severe acrophobia....and her daughter knows she NEVER would have taken that high mountain road...especially at night. So, she contacts Barnaby Jones for his help.

How Barnaby and the daughter solve this crime REALLY is hard to believe for so many reasons. Because of this, it's not among the better episodes I've seen from season one. Still, it is entertaining and worth seeing...despite its shortcomings.

By the way, this episode is at least the third time in season one where Barnaby was bashed over the head and knocked out. While this is a common trope, in reality to knock someone out, brain damage would be inevitable. I saw Mannix knocked out at least 20 times on his show and his brain should have been like tapioca after this!