Jessica Fletcher’s Contemporaries Part 4: Detective shows during the 1987-1988 TV season

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This post is the fourth in a series looking at what I like to call “Jessica Fletcher’s Contemporaries” — i.e. the detective shows that aired alongside Murder, She Wrote during its original run. Last month’s post looked at detective shows that aired during Murder, She Wrote‘s third season. In this month’s post, I focus on the shows that aired during Murder, She Wrote‘s fourth season (i.e. from Fall 1987 through Spring 1988). As always, I will be paying particular attention to those shows that either ended their run or premiered during that year.

The purpose of this series of posts is to (1) document the trends in television at the time, (2) to shed a light on Murder, She Wrote‘s unique appeal, and (3) perhaps revive some interest in other shows of the same era. So without further ado, here are the detective shows that aired during the 1987-1988 US TV Season…

The detective shows that continued through the season

Changings tastes and the sense that viewers were entering a new era of detective shows was further heightened during the 1987-1988 season. In comparison to previous years, the number of established shows that would endure into the subsequent season was much smaller. Thus, series that started in previous years and would be renewed for a subsequent season include the following 8 titles:

Additionally, if you look closely at the dates of the shows above, you may have also noticed that even if though they did get renewed for another year at this point, exactly half of the shows listed above would not ben continued into the 90s.

The detective shows that came to an end

On a related note, there were 7 shows in total that were cancelled at the end of this season:

While this is in line with the number of shows that got cancelled in previous years, it is notable that most of these were quite short-lived. Over half of them were what might be described as “two-season wonders” — shows that were renewed for a second season, only to be ultimately cancelled. In fact, some of these series (e.g. Ohara) had premiered as mid-season replacements in the previous year, and so by being cancelled so soon they barely made it to 30 episodes.

The (less than) one season wonders

One season wonders were particularly numerous this year in comparison to previous years. I counted at least 11 detective (or detective-adjacent) shows that premiered in the 1987-1988 TV season that did not make it past its first year. They were: Beverly Hills Buntz, High Mountain Rangers, The Highwayman, J.J. Starbuck, The Law & Harry McGraw, Leg Work, The Oldest Rookie, Once a Hero, Probe, Private Eye, and Sable.

In many cases, it’s surprising that these shows did not endure as they were either spin-offs of recently popular detective shows, or they brought back actors from popular 1970s detective shows. For instance, The Law & Harry McGraw was a spin-off of Murder, She Wrote; and Beverly Hills Buntz was a spin-off of Hill Street Blues. Even J.J. Starbuck brought in Ben Vereen to reprise his role from Tenspeed and Brown Shoe. Additionally, The Oldest Rookie brought back Paul Sorvino, who had previously starred as a detective in Bert D’Angelo/Superstar; and Probe starred Parker Stevenson from The Hardy Boys. Even The Highwayman brought back William Conrad (star of 1970s Cannon) to narrate the series. However, individually, these tactics were not enough to make a show endurable.

The detective shows that endured

As was the case in previous years, there were nonetheless a handful of series that premiered in the 1987-1988 season and which were renewed for a subsequent season:

  • Hooperman (1987-1989)
  • In the Heat of the Night (1988-1995) (which was in the Top 20 during this TV season)
  • Jake and the Fatman (1987-1992) (which was a spin-off of Matlock, which premiered in the previous year)
  • Sonny Spoon (1988)
  • Wiseguy (1987-1990)

Many of these would follow in the footsteps of the “two season wonders” I mentioned earlier. However, it’s notable that the two most enduring shows had two things in common: (1) they both starred popular detective show actors from the 1970s (Carroll O’Connor from All in the Family starred in In the Heat of the Night; and William Conrad from Cannon starred in Jake and the Fatman), and (2) they both had ties to previously popular movies and series (one was a spin-off of the 1967 movie starring Sidney Poitier, and the other was a spin-off of Matlock). This made them unlike the one-season wonders I discussed earlies as those shows fulfilled only one or the other criterion — not both.

Overall, this marked the beginning of an era of nostalgia for the detective genre, which would continue into the following year.

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