Jake and the Fatman

Why was this series cancelled? With the exception of Hunter, it was probably the best detective show since William Conrad starred in Cannon. Conrad played the eccentric district attorney, J. L. McCabe, with his ever-present dog Max to the hilt, and Joe Penny played detective Jake Styles just as well. The interplay of McCabe's and Styles's personalities added much to the mix.

This is probably the only other character besides Frank Cannon that William Conrad will always be associated with (other than his portrayal of Matt Dillon on the radio version of Gunsmoke). This was a good mixture of action and humor and the chemistry between William Conrad, Joe Penny and Alan Campbell was what made it so fun. Also, the best years of the show was when the locale was switched from Los Angeles to Honolulu. This seemed to add a little something to the show. Unfortunately, they had to move the show back to L.A. and that seemed to take the edge off the show. However, this show still will be one of the most underrated shows of the late-1980's.

I agree to my previous speaker: "Jake And The Fatman" was one of the best TV crime dramas, and surely on top of the list during the late 1980's. I would say it lines up nicely with the great TV crime series like The Streets of San Francisco, Cannon, Petrocelli, Vega$, and Miami Vice - all quite different and individual, but all classic. By the way, I had the impression that William Conrad had his good days and less good days during the Jake And The Fatman series, especially in later episodes filmed on Hawaii. Does anyone know if William Conrad suffered from (a beginning) Parkinson's disease?

I saw this serie for William Conrad performance. and, sure, for his dog. and the resemblace between them. in same measure, for the inspired architecture of each episode. and, sure, for the humor. because it remains more than a great crime serie. but one of the most energetic shows, and good example of the build of contrast in the portrait of lead characters.

Magnum P.I., Riptide (my personal favorite), Simon & Simon, and all the other little detective shows that were on during the late 70s and early 80s network battles were light entertainment.

It's not to say that they weren't great entertainment, but just that the tone of the shows were less stressful and more family friendly.

Jake and the Fatman got a bit darker. The action and comedy were still there, but it sort of feels like the older sibling of detective shows. And it does so in almost the same way that Columbo feels like the adult in the room of detective shows from that era.

However, it's still entertaining fair that I would love to see brought back in some form. Buddy detective shows are a lot better than police procedural melodramas.