***SPOILERS*** Five what? does this mean five episodes? Bummer. Diane McBain is cool, and in this episode a diamond among the coals. That includes Zimbalist. I griped about this before, and I'm right. For a guy who supposedly served with the O.S.S., he don't know nuthin' about fightin'. He's always getting beaten up. One of the other reviewers mentioned his getting hit on the head about like Mannix. Too TRUE. My dad used to be able to predict just when it would happen - "It's about time for him to get hit on the head" sure as sunup --BONK! Besides that, If they were gonna have a spinoff, it should have featured Kookie. His character was far more interesting than the others; Jacqueline Beer could have been his assistant in crime fighting. THIS bomb was the beginning of a short end. It's a 6.
10 Reviews
Stu Bailey, now suddenly a solo PI, slogs through a myriad of clues and an all-star cast, to figure out why "the devil" was run over in the opening scene.
psyclops-923823 October 2017
I was a teen when my favorite TV show had its fall premiere in 1963 with this five part episode. I hated it and, without warning, the total revamp of the series. All my favorite characters were gone, without explanation, and suddenly Stu Bailey no longer worked at 77 Sunset Strip....despite the show's name. All they kept was EZ, Jr. and the show name, and they changed Bailey's personality significantly from an easy-going PI who got along well with the police, to a terse PI who maintained the typical film-noir antagonism with the cops.
I felt totally betrayed by the show's producers and there was no way I was prepared to accept this "abomination", so I stopped watching and was not surprised when I heard it was canceled in mid-season. Watching these episodes now fifty years later, as an older adult, they actually were fairly well done if you're a fan of the film-noir style, a hard-bitten detective slinging along solo and taking on all comers.
On its own, this five-part season opener and the subsequent episodes hold up well...as a totally separate show. My opinion is that Jack Webb and William Conrad shot themselves, and the show, in the foot by trying to hold onto the show's audience by keeping same name. If they had changed the name of the show, say to "Stu Bailey, PI", and opened the first episode with some explanation as to why the dramatic change, it might have worked better and held an adult audience. As it was, us kids back then could not accept it...we wanted our Kookie!
I felt totally betrayed by the show's producers and there was no way I was prepared to accept this "abomination", so I stopped watching and was not surprised when I heard it was canceled in mid-season. Watching these episodes now fifty years later, as an older adult, they actually were fairly well done if you're a fan of the film-noir style, a hard-bitten detective slinging along solo and taking on all comers.
On its own, this five-part season opener and the subsequent episodes hold up well...as a totally separate show. My opinion is that Jack Webb and William Conrad shot themselves, and the show, in the foot by trying to hold onto the show's audience by keeping same name. If they had changed the name of the show, say to "Stu Bailey, PI", and opened the first episode with some explanation as to why the dramatic change, it might have worked better and held an adult audience. As it was, us kids back then could not accept it...we wanted our Kookie!
77 Sunset Strip in name only
VetteRanger19 September 2017
While there is some praise for the last season of 77 Sunset Strip, it is obviously misplaced. The show only got an order for about half the episodes of seasons one through five, and then it was gone.
The iconic theme song was replaced by a drab James Bond wannabe composition. The colorful co-stars -- gone without explanation. In the first show, Bailey claims to be broke.
While the series always threw in a few noir plots, the last season seems dedicated to that, with drab voice-over exposition and a constantly dark look.
We can blame Jack Webb for much of this. His vision of TV worked OK for Dragnet. It torpedoed 77 Sunset Strip and sent it straight to the bottom. When a series has a loyal following for five years, it's sheer folly to turn everything on its ear. Possibly the desire to bandwagon the spy craze spelled the end for Sunset Strip just as it did for Burke's Law. Sad. However, this season really didn't even manage that. All they managed was to copy cheesy 30s and 40s noir film.
Efrem Zimbalist, Jr. looks miserable and out of sorts for this entire episode. With his co-stars and friends axed and the premise ruined, I'm sure he was at odds with the changes and felt the death grip of tanking ratings closing about the throat of the series. Even the character of Stuart Bailey is present in name only, with lines completely foreign to the character's history.
This show was the first of a five part episode, and the supporting cast is deep and impressive -- but ultimately wasted with the depressing plot and shady characters.
The iconic theme song was replaced by a drab James Bond wannabe composition. The colorful co-stars -- gone without explanation. In the first show, Bailey claims to be broke.
While the series always threw in a few noir plots, the last season seems dedicated to that, with drab voice-over exposition and a constantly dark look.
We can blame Jack Webb for much of this. His vision of TV worked OK for Dragnet. It torpedoed 77 Sunset Strip and sent it straight to the bottom. When a series has a loyal following for five years, it's sheer folly to turn everything on its ear. Possibly the desire to bandwagon the spy craze spelled the end for Sunset Strip just as it did for Burke's Law. Sad. However, this season really didn't even manage that. All they managed was to copy cheesy 30s and 40s noir film.
Efrem Zimbalist, Jr. looks miserable and out of sorts for this entire episode. With his co-stars and friends axed and the premise ruined, I'm sure he was at odds with the changes and felt the death grip of tanking ratings closing about the throat of the series. Even the character of Stuart Bailey is present in name only, with lines completely foreign to the character's history.
This show was the first of a five part episode, and the supporting cast is deep and impressive -- but ultimately wasted with the depressing plot and shady characters.
New Direction for an Old Favorite
azjimnson31 July 2006
Warning: Spoilers
By the fall of 1963, the granddaddy of Warner Bros. detective shows had grown pretty tired. At the same time, Jack Webb replaced Willian T. Orr (Jack Warner's son-in-law) as head of Warner's TV division. The result of this was a totally revamped 77 Sunset Strip. Only the Stu Bailey (Efrem Zimbalist Jr.) character was retained in the new format, and his office was moved from the Sunset Strip to a vintage office building in Los Angeles. The show kicked off with a five part episode ("Five") brimming with name guest stars and filmed in New York as well as LA (and, one presumes, on the Warner back lot). I was a junior in high school at the time, and can't remember too much of the plot, except that Stu Bailey needed to follow a number of obscure clues to find a key which fit a lock...OK, I don't remember what it would unlock. However, the production values were well above the previous level of this series and most anything on TV at the time. Webb may have directed some or all of the five parts of "Five." Certainly no expense was spared. The other stories after "Five" were also of a greater depth and quality than normally associated with Warner's penny pinching TV production reputation. Despite this, the series was canceled at the end of the season. And I believe Warner Bros. terminated Webb's contract at the same time. Of course, the fall of 1963 was a time when those who still retained an innocent optimism about America's future saw it fade with the assassination of John F. Kennedy. Perhaps after that, audiences weren't in the mood for serious drama on a series that had previously been played at least partially for laughs.
I also agree about the theme song
gary16118 January 2009
The new theme for the final season was written by Bob Thompson. On the Top Themes of 1964 album (which I also have on vinyl) the composition is incorrectly credited to Livingston-David who wrote the original theme. It was unfortunate that the final season of "77 Sunset Strip" did not find its audience. The blame was put on Jack Webb for changing the program so drastically in that season but I feel that he is only partly to blame since the shows themselves were well written and expensively produced. I put more blame on ABC for moving the program from its familiar Friday 9:00 or 9:30 pm time period to the early time of 7:30 pm. "77" was too adult for that early of a time slot.
A good way to sink a successful show
jameselliot-123 September 2017
Only Efrem Z. remains as the show dumps all of its great supporting cast and sunny LA locations and (partly) moves to a drab, Micky Spillane-style of Manhattan, the rest studio locations. His search for answers in the case of a hit and run leads him all over Europe in 5 badly-written, excruciating episodes. The only redemption: great guest stars and some interesting New York City cinematography that is reminiscent of Naked City, only the producers of NC did it much better. I lost track of the number of times Efrem virtually allows himself to be hit on the head in this forgotten mini-series within a series but it comes close to a season of Mannix.
Loved the new format
liz-339633 July 2018
As a long time fan of 77 Sunset Strip, I actually loved the new format and the new theme song. I only wish they had given the show a new name. I think fans of the original felt ripped off and would forever be missing the "old gang" . With a new title and complete launch of an entirely new show, I believe it could have been successful. I will always be a fan of all 6 seasons!
Brevity was needed
rbaumann3285 September 2021
A five-episode series introduction to a newly revamped show? Poor idea. Bailey chases one lead after another getting nowhere fast. It was as if the writer new he had to do five shows and was required to fill air time. Dull? Boring? Yeah.
An army of guest stars paraded before and after each episode cannot make up for the weaknesses in the story. This was so bad I decided not to bother with the remaining episodes of the season. Jack Webb and William Conrad are no longer around to share a clothespin award. Save yourself the trouble and agony of watching this season. It is not worth it.
An army of guest stars paraded before and after each episode cannot make up for the weaknesses in the story. This was so bad I decided not to bother with the remaining episodes of the season. Jack Webb and William Conrad are no longer around to share a clothespin award. Save yourself the trouble and agony of watching this season. It is not worth it.
How about the new theme song?
samurray11075012 June 2008
Somebody help me! No-one has mentioned what, to me, was the biggest change that came with the series re-vamping - new theme music. This was the best TV theme I have ever heard, up to and including today. It has as much to do with the previous finger-snapping nonsense as a commercial jingle has to Beethoven. It had horns and strings and was incredibly stirring music. I relate it to The Magnificent Seven theme in quality. I've been able to locate this series' original theme in several places, but no luck finding the last seasons' music. Please post a comment if you have any info on this. As far as the show in this final season, I had always enjoyed the program and I continued to watch even after every resemblance to the original was dropped.
Final season theme song for 77 Sunset Strip was a winner
b-westbrook16 June 2008
To Samurray: You are right on the money about the new theme song for the final season of 77 Sunset Strip. It's one of the best ever. I don't know of any source for this on CD, but I have an old 33 1/3 rpm vinyl record called Top TV Themes of 1964, and that's one of them, as performed by a Warner Bros. orchestra. It is truly stirring and exciting and should be better preserved. Best of luck finding a copy. Clearly, the show was taking an entirely new direction in this season, with only Efrem Zimbalist Jr. remaining from the original cast. The show took a far more serious tone and even opened its final season with a five-part storyline -- almost unheard of for a network series at that time. And again, the theme song drove home this new approach and new tone. So glad someone else recognizes it as such. Thanks.
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