User Reviews

On "Barnaby Jones", no one is in peril more often than Betty. If a baddie wants to get to Barnaby, they kidnap Betty. If Betty is having a party, someone there is likely to die or be a killer. If Betty has a longtime friend, they are either a killer or are in danger! And, if she goes on a vacation, crap happens to her! I really think Betty needs a keeper or perhaps a vicious protection dog to look after her!

In this case, Betty is fixing up a cabin the middle of no where. When she sees a young man approach her, he seems a bit creepy because he never speaks. What she doesn't know is that he's harmless and a mute. However, in her panic, she backs into a ladder and falls...injuring herself. The young man goes to get help and 'Doc' (Edward Winter) responds and bandages her and cares for her.

During this time, some men arrive in this tiny town looking for Doc...though they refer to him by some other name. Additionally, the locals all look after Doc...and alert him about these strangers. What's going on here?! And, considering Doc is her new friend, I assume Betty's bad luck is now extended to him!

The story actually ends up being a bit like the Joseph Conrad story "Lord Jim". All in all, an unusual and satisfying solution to this strange case. Well worth seeing...though Betty's sudden ability to interpret signing at the end was just strange!

By the way, the sign language that Will uses to communicate is actually pretty good...not just the usual gibberish when they have supposedly deaf or mute characters using signs. A few of his signs are wrong (such as the number 3) but at least they tried to get it right.

This started out strong....sucked me right in......featured Lee Merriweather the most..... Who is the good and bad guys?? Is Barnaby even necessary in this episdoe? He makes a couple of phone calls that he double checked ... Colonel Flagg from MASH does a great job.

The ending.....was a serious let down for me.

But i recommend watching it.

Margaret Armen wrote this excellent story revolving around Betty for a change of pace, and with a few surprises. Armen later wrote for FLAMINGO ROAD.

Betty is taking some time off, fixing up an old cabin as a home away from home in a small town, when a young man (played by David Gruner) surprises her and she takes a fall, requiring help from a doctor. Enter Ed Winter (best known for MASH) --who it turns out is a doctor in hiding -- all because of his not too honorable past. He ditched his men during the war to save his own skin. What a guy to be involved with, let alone his former colleagues who would like to bury him alive!

An exciting story and a chance for Lee Meriwether to shine once again, showing off some very good acting skills, much in the tradition of Gail Fisher on MANNIX. I agree with the last reviewer. The sign language connected to the mute man is believable, and actually they may have had a specialist on the set, unlike other cop shows which take an amateur route. Series director Kenneth Gilbert did a commendable job. He directed 12 episodes. One of Hollywood's oldest directors, he passed at age 87 in 2019.

Popular character actor Lou Frizzell plays McClooney, who was in several Quinn Martin productions. David Gruner, by the way, aside from his acting credits, was a famous welterweight boxer.

Filmed once again at the beautiful town of Piru, CA, close to Santa Clarita, about 50 miles north of LA. And lots of fresh air!

SEASON 6 EPISODE 10 remastered color/CBS.

I remember seeing repeats of this show in my childhood. I'm a sucker for nostalgic tv, so I watch. I don't expect much depth from 70s detective shows so it's mostly background. As I get further into the series, I'm constantly amazed at Betty's complete lack of awareness in almost every situation. She's a sidekick and not a brilliant detective, but one would think she would've learned something in all the years of working for the agency.

As for the episode, it was the usual and certainly not the worst one that I've seen. But she could've just thanked the kindly man who helped her and gone about her merry way.