Joe It was a great show in it's time. But like others have said, it declined in it's final season. They kept Stuart Bailey, but completely changed him from the suave, always a gentleman private eye, and tried to get us to accept him as a gritty, wisecracking 1940's type film noir P.I. It just didn't work. One thing that always amused me was the beginning of the show when the white Thunderbird convertible would pull out of the Dino's lot onto Sunset Boulevard. From the time it left the lot and entered the boulevard, it transformed itself into a Ford Fairlane 500 convertible, or a Galaxie 500 convertible depending on the year it was broadcast. It was no longer a Thunderbird once it hit the street.

Janet Harbison Warner Brothers had a hit with this show. Efrem Zimblist Jr. was wonderful as Stu Bailey. Roger Smith played his partner Jeff. Edd Byrnes played Kookie. And for one season 1960-1961 a character was moved from one show to another. It was the first time this had ever happened. Rex Randolph played by Richard Long came on board and helped take some of the burden off of Stu. Although he didn't stay but one season and only appeared in eleven episodes including a two parter, Long was wonderful as Rex. He and Jeff seemed to always get into one mess after another when they worked together on a case. But they usually solved them. I look forward to this show being issued out on DVD someday. It is truly a classic.

pozy What a time it was! Between Elvis and the Beatles. I guess you could call me a "tweener". Too young to go to Woodstock and too old to be a computer yuppie. I came across these shows (this show, FBI, Hawaiian Eye, Surfside 6) on Hallmark channel. What a travel back in time. Back to when I was two to three years old. Well as they say (George Harrison) "life goes on within you and without you".

schappe1 This was one of four detective shows from Warner Brothers, four of a couple dozen series they did for ABC, (that MADE that network), from the mid 50's to the early 60's under the stewardship of William Orr and with the creative genius of Roy Huggins, (who later came up with the best show of all time, "The Fugitive"). Huggins had fancied himself a detective writer in the 40's and came up with Stuart Bailey, an Ivy Leaguer with a background in World War II intelligence who set up his own detective agency in Los Angeles. When Huggins became a story editor for Warners, it was decided to create a show around the Bailey character, 77 Sunset Strip, which debut in 1958. They gave Bailey a partner, Jeff Spencer and created the character of Kookie, the parking lot attendant, for comic relief. It set the stage for the other three, similar shows, each with a pair, (or three) handsome detectives operating in glamorous or exotic locations. Warner's learned you needed a pretty girl involved and the comic relief. they also learned from "Peter Gunn" that a musical interlude would occasionally be welcome."Bourbon Street Beat", set in New Orleans, debuted in 1959. So did "Hawaiian Eye", from Honolulu and in 1960 came "Surfside Six" from Miami Beach. Each had a catchy theme tune from Mack David and Jerry Livingstone. The plots were not very inspired but serviceable, (they serviced many episodes, being frequently reused). Sometimes, Warner's would do versions of novels they owned the rights to or TV remakes of some of their classic movies of the past, such as "Strangers on a Train" or "Dial M for Murder", in the guise of episodes of these shows. Characters from one show would show up on another, either in crossover episodes or full scale transfers of characters to be new members of the casts. This was easy because the shows were not shot on location: it was all done in LA.The real difference in the shows were the cast members themselves. "77 Sunset Strip" had the charming and talented Ephram Zimbalist Jr. and Roger Smith. It also had the "Fonzie" of the 50's, Edd Byrnes. But it lacked a significant female regular or the musical interludes. "Bourbon Street Beat" had the charming and talented Richard Long, who took his charm and talent to Sunset Strip after BSB folded in 1960. It also had craggy character actor Andrew Duggan, young pretty boy Van Williams and Arlene Howell, a slightly ditzy southern belle. No one here was musically inclined but a jazz combo did a turn from time to time. "Hawaiian Eye" had it all. Anthony Eisley was a competent but slightly boring lead. Young Robert Konrad had the most charisma of any of them. Connie Stevens was a cute songbird who belted out the classic tin pan alley and show tunes. Poncie Ponce was a ukulele strumming cab driver who knew every place and every one or had a cousin who did. "Surfside Six" was maybe the weakest entry. Lee Patterson had some presence and acting ability but Van Williams, (over from BSB) and Troy Donahue were attractive but talent challenged. Marguerite Sierra was a clichéd Latin Spitfire songstress, (who unfortunately died young of a heart ailment). Diane McBain was attractive window dressing.The other main difference was the setting. "77 Sunset Strip" was about glamorous people up to no good or international intrigue, (and Stu Bailey traveled a lot more than these other guys did). "Hawaiian Eye" was exotic- perhaps a little too much so with an occasional embarrassing story about witch doctors and voodoo type curses and such. Natives were played by guys from Jersey and Chicago in the grand tradition. Surfside Six had a beachboy look to it. Bourbon Street beat was darker and more mysterious. New Orleans at that time was not a tourist trap but a relic of the old south in which Miss Havisham's cake might have seemed at home.But they were all pretty solid entertainment. If you liked one, I'm sure you'd like them all- if you could find them. They are all in black and white, so cable stations are loathe to show them It seems that the moment a younger audience sees those monotones, they turn the stations. It's too bad. They don't know what they're missing.