Faraday and Company

Mildly diverting series that was one of the four rotating segments of The NBC Wednesday Mystery Movie during its second and final season (1973-74). Dan Dailey, previously seen in the ABC sitcom "The Governor and J.J.," played Dan Faraday, a private detective who returns to Los Angeles after a quarter century in a South American jail. The son he didn't know he had is now in business as a private investigator. Dad helps him solve cases, along with girl Friday Sharon Gless, several years away from success as one half of "Cagney and Lacey."

The entertainment value of most of the episodes (only four were produced) were dependent on Dailey's attempts to grapple with a world that passed him by. The charm that saw Dailey through numerous big screen musicals is showcased in each episode to good effect, but the premise was a bit too gimmicky to ensure a long run. After one season, "Faraday and Company" was cancelled along with "Banacek" (in its second season), "Tenafly," and "The Snoop Sisters." NBC, having failed to duplicate the success of the original "Mystery Movie" trio ("Columbo," "McMillan and Wife," and "McCloud") that premiered in 1971, cancelled the second night of mysteries all together.

This was my favorite of the NBC Wednesday MYSTERY MOVIE segments, along with "The Snoop Sisters." Dailey played Frank Faraday, a hard-boiled gumshoe of the postwar era, who is falsely incarcerated in a South American jail by criminals he was trying to track down. After 28 years, a revolution frees him and he returns to the puzzling world of the 1970s. A son he didn't know he had (the son's mother was Frank's secretary, who had always loved her boss) is now running his detective agency with electronic gadgets instead of old-fashioned intuition. The series has a long list of classic 1970s guest stars including Joe Flynn, Craig Stevens, Howard Duff, David Wayne, Charles Cioffi, and Jack Kelly, and the wonderful character actress Geraldine Brooks played Frank's old love, Lou Carson.