Tenspeed and Brown Shoe

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Tenspeed and Brown Shoe is an American detective/comedy series originally broadcast by the ABC network between January and June 1980. The series was created and executive produced by Stephen J. Cannell.

Video Tenspeed and Brown Shoe

Plot

The one-hour program revolved around two detectives who had their own detective agency in Los Angeles. E. L. ("Early Leroy") "Tenspeed" Turner (Ben Vereen) was a hustler who worked as a detective to satisfy his parole requirements. His partner Lionel "Brownshoe" Whitney (Jeff Goldblum) was an archetypal accountant, complete with button-down collars and a nagging fiancee (at least for the pilot episode), who had always wanted to be a 1940s-style Bogart P.I. A running joke was his penchant for reading a series of hard-boiled crime novels, subtitled, "A Mark Savage Mystery", written by Stephen J. Cannell (though he never wrote such a series of novels), with Goldblum reading particularly purple passages in voice-over. He was sharper than he seemed, although a little naïve and more reasonable than his career path demanded, and had picked up karate to black-belt standard.

Maps Tenspeed and Brown Shoe

Cast

• Ben Vereen as E.L. Turner
• Jeff Goldblum as Lionel Whitney
• Richard Romanus as Tedesco
• Larry Manetti as Chip Vincent

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Production

This was the first series to come from Stephen J. Cannell Productions as an independent company (it was distributed through Paramount Television, one of only two such collaborations - the other was Riptide) and is also the only one not to carry the famed Cannell logo on any episodes, having "A Stephen J. Cannell Production" appearing in-credit (the logo was introduced in 1981 when The Greatest American Hero began airing).

The show had broad similarities to the later television series Simon & Simon and Moonlighting, in that it was a lightly dramatic program with many comedic moments about two dissimilar detectives who attempt to solve cases together. Cannell recycled the basic idea of Tenspeed and Brown Shoe (a crime-solver on the right side of the law working with and taking responsibility for the rehabilitation of an ex-criminal) in watered-down form as the successful Hardcastle and McCormick.

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Episodes

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Reception

The show was heavily promoted by ABC at the time it premiered in late January 1980. The series attracted a substantial audience for its first few episodes (indeed, the series was the 29th-most watched program of the 1979-80 U.S. television season, according to Nielsen ratings), but viewership dropped off substantially after that, and the series was not renewed for the 1980-81 season.

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Home media

On March 9, 2010, Mill Creek Entertainment released Tenspeed and Brown Shoe on DVD in Region 1 for the first time. Because CBS, who held ownership of the pilot, refused to come to an agreement on its use, MCI revealed in January 2010 that it would not be included on the DVD. However, the full-length pilot is included in the German DVD release.

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Awards

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Cross-overs

Ben Vereen later reprised his role as Tenspeed on five episodes of J.J. Starbuck, another Cannell production:

• "The Rise and Fall of Joe Piermont" (1988)
• "Rag Doll" (1988)
• "Permanent Hiatus" (1988)
• "A Song from the Sequel" (1988)
• "Cactus Jack's Last Call" (1988)

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References

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External links

• Tenspeed and Brown Shoe on IMDb
• Tenspeed and Brown Shoe at TV.com
• Tenspeed and Brown Shoe at epguides.com
• Stephen J. Cannell's Archive of American Television Interview

Source of article : Wikipedia