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Crazy Like a Fox is an American television series set in San Francisco, California, that aired on CBS from December 30, 1984, to May 3, 1986.
| Crazy Like a Fox | |
|---|---|
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| Genre | Crime drama/Comedy |
| Created by | John Baskin Roger Shulman George Schenck Frank Cardea |
| Starring |
|
| Theme music composer | Mark Snow |
| Composers | |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 35 |
| Production | |
| Executive producers | John Baskin Roger Schulman George Schenck Frank Cardea |
| Producers |
|
| Running time | 60 mins. |
| Production companies | Cardea-Schenck-Baskin-Schulman Productions Columbia Pictures Television |
| Original release | |
| Network | CBS |
| Release | December 30, 1984 – May 3, 1986 |
| Related | |
Overview
editThe series starred Jack Warden as Harry Fox, a free-spirited private detective who lived by his wits, and John Rubinstein as his high-strung attorney son, Harrison, who unwillingly, and frequently, found himself dragged into his father's cases.
The show's opening would always feature Harry and Harrison talking on the phone in their offices like this:
- Harrison: Hello?
- Harry: Harrison, I need your help.
- Harrison: Dad, you keep forgetting. I'm a lawyer. You're the detective!
- Harry: Aw, come on son. All I need is a ride. What could possibly happen?
Penny Peyser played Harrison's wife and Della Reese had a recurring role as a nurse at the local hospital who had an antagonistic (but joking and friendly) relationship with Harry, often assisting him in his investigations and providing information.[1]
Originally airing Sundays at 9 pm (EST), the show was a hit in its first season, ranking 10th with a 19.9 rating, and initially continued to pull solid numbers during its second season. But midway through that season, CBS brought back its Sunday Night Movie, which displaced the show (along with Trapper John, M.D., which followed Crazy Like a Fox up to that point), resulting in its being bounced around to various time slots, which caused ratings to drop significantly and led to its cancellation at the end of the season. The second season ended up ranking 44th with a 15.0 rating.[2]
Reruns were later shown in syndication and on the CBN Cable Network, and a reunion TV movie, Still Crazy Like a Fox, aired on CBS in 1987, featuring Monty Python's Graham Chapman in one of his last roles.
For his performance, Warden received two nominations for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series.[3][4]
As of 2020, the show airs on the UK GREAT! TV. In 2023, reruns of the show aired for the first time on American television in over 30 years, being added to the MeTV schedule, five days a week at 11AM.[5]
Broadcast history
edit| Season | Time slot (ET) |
|---|---|
| 1984–85 | Sunday at 9:00 pm |
| 1985–86 | Sunday at 9:00 pm (Episodes 1–11) Wednesday at 9:00 pm (Episodes 12–18) Saturday at 8:00 pm (Episodes 19–22) |
Cast
edit- Jack Warden as Harrison Joshua "Harry" Fox, Sr.
- John Rubinstein as Harrison Joshua Fox, Jr.
- Penny Peyser as Cindy Fox (Harrison's wife)
- Robby Kiger as Harrison Joshua "Josh" Fox III (Harrison's and Cindy's son)
- Lydia Lei as Allison Ling (1984–1985)
- Patricia Ayame Thomson as Allison Ling (1985–1986)
- Robert Hanley as Lt. Walker
- Theodore Wilson as Ernie
- Della Reese as Nurse Flood (1985–1986)
Episode list
edit| Season | Episodes | Originally aired | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First aired | Last aired | |||
| 1 | 13 | December 30, 1984 | April 7, 1985 | |
| 2 | 22 | October 6, 1985 | May 3, 1986 | |
| Special | 1 | April 5, 1987 | ||
Season 1 (1984–85)
edit| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | "Pilot" | Gary Nelson | John Baskin & Roger Shulman and George Schenck & Frank Cardea | December 30, 1984 |
| 2 | 2 | "Turn of the Century Fox" | Paul Krasny | Tom Chehak | January 6, 1985 |
| 3 | 3 | "Premium for Murder" | Paul Krasny | Stephen Lord and Tim Maschler | January 13, 1985 |
| 4 | 4 | "Till Death Do Us Part" | Stuart Margolin | Tim Maschler | January 20, 1985 |
| 5 | 5 | "Motor Homicide" | William Asher | Roger Shulman & John Baskin and George Schenck & Frank Cardea | February 3, 1985 |
| 6 | 6 | "Wanted Dead and Alive" | Paul Krasny | John Baskin & Roger Shulman and George Schenck & Frank Cardea | February 17, 1985 |
| 7 | 7 | "Bum Tip" | Stuart Margolin | George Lee Marshall | February 24, 1985 |
| 8 | 8 | "Fox Hunt" | Bob Sweeney | Tom Chehak | March 3, 1985 |
| 9 | 9 | "The Geronimo Machine" | Stuart Margolin | W.M. Whitehead | March 10, 1985 |
| 10 | 10 | "Fox in Wonderland" | Paul Krasny | Roger Shulman & John Baskin and George Schenck & Frank Cardea | March 17, 1985 |
| 11 | 11 | "Fox and Hounds" | Charles Braverman | Story by : Robert Malcolm Young Teleplay by : Ruel Fischmann | March 24, 1985 |
| 12 | 12 | "Suitable for Framing" | Paul Krasny | Tim Maschler | March 31, 1985 |
| 13 | 13 | "The Man Who Cried Fox" | Vincent McEveety | Tom Chehak | April 7, 1985 |
Season 2 (1985–86)
edit| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14 | 1 | "Eye in the Sky" | Paul Krasny | Paul Robert Coyle | October 6, 1985 |
| 15 | 2 | "Sunday in the Park with Harry" | Paul Krasny | Harvey Weitzman & Sid Dorfman | October 13, 1985 |
| 16 | 3 | "Requiem for a Fox" | Vincent McEveety | Tom Chehak | October 20, 1985 |
| 17 | 4 | "Murder is a Two Stroke Penalty" | Don Weis | George Schenck & Frank Cardea and Roger Shulman & John Baskin | October 27, 1985 |
| 18 | 5 | "Fox in 3/4 Time" | Charles Braverman | Julie Friedgen | November 3, 1985 |
| 19 | 6 | "Desert Fox" | Vincent McEveety | Tim Maschler | November 10, 1985 |
| 20 | 7 | "Some Day My Prints Will Come" | Paul Krasny | Story by : David R. Toddman & Philip Saltzman Teleplay by : Harvey Weitzman & Sid Dorfman | December 1, 1985 |
| 21 | 8 | "If the Shoe Fits" | Marc Daniels | Maryanne Kasica & Michael Scheff | December 15, 1985 |
| 22 | 9 | "Is There a Fox in the House?" | Paul Krasny | Elroy Schwartz | December 22, 1985 |
| 23 | 10 | "Year of the Fox" | Michael Lange | Jack V. Fogarty | December 29, 1985 |
| 24 | 11 | "Fox and the Wolf" | Paul Stanley | Aubrey Solomon & Steve Greenberg | January 5, 1986 |
| 25 | 12 | "Hearing Is Believing" | Paul Krasny | Julie Friedgen | January 15, 1986 |
| 26 | 13 | "Hyde-and-Seek" | Paul Krasny | Paul Robert Coyle | January 22, 1986 |
| 27 | 14 | "The Road to Tobago" | Paul Krasny | Tim Maschler | January 29, 1986 |
| 28 | 15 | "You Can't Keep a Good Corpse Down" | Marc Daniels | Richard Raskind | February 5, 1986 |
| 29 | 16 | "The Fox Who Saw Too Much" | Paul Krasny | Robin Bernheim | February 12, 1986 |
| 30 | 17 | "Just Another Fox in the Crowd" | Mike Vejar | Gerald Sanoff | February 26, 1986 |
| 31 | 18 | "Fox on the Range" | Michael Caffey | Tim Maschler | March 5, 1986 |
| 32 | 19 | "The Duke Is Dead" | Reza Badiyi | Story by : Paul Robert Coyle Teleplay by : Roger Shulman & John Baskin and George Schenck & Frank Cardea | April 5, 1986 |
| 33 | 20 | "Rosie" | Marc Daniels | Story by : Bryce Maritano Teleplay by : Maryanne Kasica & Michael Scheff | April 12, 1986 |
| 34 | 21 | "Dead on Arrival" | Michael Lange | Paul Robert Coyle | April 19, 1986 |
| 35 | 22 | "A Fox at the Races" | Sigmund Neufeld, Jr. | Robin Bernheim | May 3, 1986 |
TV reunion film (1987)
edit| Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|
| "Still Crazy Like a Fox" | Paul Krasny | Frank Cardea and George Schenck | April 5, 1987 |
See also
edit- So Help Me Todd, a current CBS series with a similar premise
References
edit- ^ "Gospel singer, actress of 'Touched by an Angel' fame della Reese dead at 86". 21 November 2017.
- ^ "The TV Ratings Guide: 1985-86 Ratings History".
- ^ 1985 Comedy Actor Emmy nominees
- ^ 1986 Comedy Actor Emmy nominees
- ^ "MeTV Plus Program Schedule - 1st Quarter 2023" (PDF). MeTV. January 2, 2023. Archived (PDF) from the original on April 29, 2023.