Brett Hallidays’ tough as nails detective comes to life. Good to see Richard Denning as Shayne. I never bought Lloyd Nolan in the movie version. Herbert Rudley is Miami police chief Will Gentry. Jerry Paris is Mike’s best friend, reporter Tim Rourke. Secretary Lucy Hamilton was played first by Margie Regan and then by Patricia Donahue. I question the addition of a brother for Lucy that gets involved with Mike’s cases. He’s not in the book series and really doesn’t belong here. Missing is one of the series best characters, Miami Beach police chief Peter Painter. He was always trying to lock Mike up. He was jealous that Mike solved the big cases and made him look stupid. A number of episodes were based on the books.
Lots of guest stars in this one season series including: Julie London in “Die Like A Dog”, Donna “Elly May Clampett” Douglas and Ross Martin in “Murder Is A Fine Art” and Bert Reynolods in “The Boat Caper.”
Jerry Paris was neighbor Jerry Helper on “The Dick Van Dyke Show.”
