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Johnny Staccato

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7.3/10
TV

Genre
  
Crime drama

Country of origin
  
United States

First episode date
  
10 September 1959

Network
  
NBC

8.5/10
IMDb

Also known as
  
''Staccato''

Composer(s)
  
Elmer Bernstein

Original language(s)
  
English

Final episode date
  
24 March 1960

Executive producer
  
Everett Chambers

Johnny Staccato Beat Street Johnny Staccato Film Comment

Starring
  
John Cassavetes Eduardo Ciannelli Frank London

Cast
  
John Cassavetes, Eduardo Ciannelli

Similar
  
The Lawless Years, Checkmate, Peter Gunn, The Detectives, M Squad

Johnny Staccato is an American private detective series starring John Cassavetes which ran for 27 episodes on NBC from September 10, 1959 through March 24, 1960.

Contents

Johnny staccato ep9 fly baby fly feat gena rowlands


Synopsis

Johnny Staccato Beat Street Johnny Staccato Film Comment

Titular character Johnny Staccato, played by John Cassavetes, is a jazz pianist/private detective. The setting for many episodes is a Greenwich Village jazz club belonging to his friend, Waldo, played by Eduardo Ciannelli. The show featured many musicians, such as Barney Kessel, Shelly Manne, Red Mitchell, Red Norvo, and Johnny Williams. (Ironically, given the show's New York setting, all of these men were closely identified with the West Coast jazz scene, as the show was filmed largely in Los Angeles.) Elmer Bernstein composed both of the main theme tunes used and Stanley Wilson was music supervisor. Cassavetes also directed five episodes.

Johnny Staccato Beat Street Johnny Staccato Film Comment

After its initial airing on NBC, ABC presented reruns of the series from March 27 to September 25, 1960.

On October 12, 2010, the series was released on Region 1 DVD by Timeless Media Group.

Reruns currently air Saturday mornings on GetTV.

DVD release

Timeless Media Group released the complete series on DVD in Region 1 on October 12, 2010.

Johnny Staccato Cult TV Lounge Johnny Staccato 195960

  • The show was later parodied on SCTV as Vic Arpeggio (portrayed by Joe Flaherty), a saxophonist/private investigator whose cases were usually solved by accident. Arpeggio claimed to have been “framed” for drug possession, and that the detective gig was merely a sideline until he got his solo career back on track.

    • Johnny Staccato wwwgstaticcomtvthumbtvbanners413123p413123

  • Thomas Pynchon references Johnny Staccato in his 2009 novel Inherent Vice, set in late 1960s Los Angeles. Pynchon's main character, private investigator Larry "Doc" Sportello, praises Staccato as "the shamus of shamuses," ranking him with past greats Philip Marlowe and Sam Spade.
  • The theme, performed by Elmer Bernstein, received little attention in the US, but went to #4 in Britain.
  • Legendary artist Harvey Kurtzman parodied the show in his classic "Jungle Book" (Ballantine Books 1959) as "Thelonius Violence"

    • Johnny Staccato JOHNNY STACCATO Episode Guide

  • The Colts Drum and Bugle Corps' 2015 show was called "...and a Shot Rings Out: A Johnny Staccato Murder Mystery", which was a play on the TV show.

    • References

    Johnny Staccato Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA