Written by Joel CarpenterArnold ManoffBill S. BallingerElliott NormanSteven GethersTheodore ApsteinAlvin BoretzErnest Kinoy Directed by Fielder CookPaul StanleyWilliam Corrigan Starring Patrick O'NealPhyllis NewmanChester MorrisMartin HustonCal Bellini Theme music composer Irwin KostalEdward ScottJoe Hamilton | ||
Diagnosis: Unknown is an American medical drama that aired on CBS from July 5 to September 20, 1960. Produced by Bob Banner, the series aired as a summer replacement for The Garry Moore Show, a variety program.
Synopsis
The series stars Patrick O'Neal as pathologist Dr. Daniel Coffee, who works at a metropolitan hospital and uses forensic medicine to assist the police in solving unconventional murders. The co-stars were Phyllis Newman, as Doris Hudson; Cal Bellini, a native of Singapore, as Dr. Motilal Mookerji; Chester Morris, the former star of Boston Blackie, as detective Lieutenant Max Ritter, and Martin Huston as Link, the young handyman. The characters were originally featured in a series of short stories written by Lawrence Blochman, initially published in Collier's magazine.
Diagnosis: Unknown aired at 10 p.m. Eastern time, and was preempted twice in July by the major party national conventions.
In 1993, thirty-three years after Diagnosis: Unknown ended its brief run, CBS launched the successful Diagnosis Murder series, starring Dick Van Dyke and his son, Barry Van Dyke, as a physician, Dr. Mark Sloan and a police detective, Steve Sloan, respectively, who collaborate in the solving of difficult crimes. The Van Dyke series was similar in title, theme, and plot to Diagnosis: Unknown.