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Tenspeed and Brown Shoe was an American television series originally broadcast by the ABC network between January and June 1980.
The one-hour program revolved around two detectives who had their own detective agency in Los Angeles. E.L "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 fiance (at least for the pilot episode), who had always wanted to be a 40's style Bogart P.I. He was sharper than he seemed, although a little naive and more reasonable than his career path demanded, and had picked up karate to Black Belt standard. The show had some 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.
Produced by Stephen J. Cannell in association with Paramount Television (one of only two such collaborations), Tenspeed and Brown Shoe 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.
Trivia
- It was revealed in the pilot episode that in Tenspeed's name, "E.L." stood for "Early Leroy".[1]
- Lionel regularly read pulp detective novels of the lurid, garish 1940s type, and his reading of their prose was often used as a comedy voice over by Goldblum. The author photograph was Cannell himself, in a gently self-mocking skit, and the author appeared in person at a police station, again in a cameo appearance by Cannell.
Cast
Jeff Goldblum as Lionel Whitney (13 episodes, 1980)
Ben Vereen as E.L. Turner ... (13 episodes, 1980)
Richard Romanus as Tedesco (2 episodes, 1980)
Larry Manetti as Chip Vincent (2 episodes, 1980)
Bill Capizzi as(2 episodes, 1980)
Henry G. Sanders as (2 episodes, 1980)
Production
Series Produced by Alex Beaton .... producer (1 episode, 1980) Stephen J. Cannell .... executive producer (1 episode, 1980)
Series Original Music by Pete Carpenter (1 episode, 1980) Mike Post (1 episode, 1980)
Series Cinematography by William Gereghty (1 episode, 1980)
Series Film Editing by Gloryette Clark (1 episode, 1980) Robert Hernandez (1 episode, 1980)
Series Casting by Reuben Cannon (1 episode, 1980)
Series Art Direction by Allen E. Smith (1 episode, 1980)
Series Set Decoration by Jacqueline S. Price (1 episode, 1980)
Series Costume Design by Winnie D. Brown (1 episode, 1980) Ken Harvey (1 episode, 1980)
Series Makeup Department Monique DeSart .... hair stylist (1 episode, 1980) Robert Jermain .... makeup artist (1 episode, 1980)
Robert L. Stevenson .... hair department head (unknown episodes)
Series Production Management Sheldon M. Hayutin .... production manager (1 episode, 1980)
Series Second Unit Director or Assistant Director William A. Morrison .... first assistant director (1 episode, 1980) Michael Winter .... second assistant director (1 episode, 1980)
Series Art Department Allan Gordon .... property master (1 episode, 1980)
Kurt V. Hulett .... lead man (unknown episodes)
Series Special Effects by Charles E. Dolan .... special effects supervisor (unknown episodes)
Series Stunts Gene LeBell .... stunts (1 episode, 1980) Dennis Madalone .... stunt coordinator (1 episode, 1980) Tom Morga .... stunt double (1 episode, 1980)
James Winburn .... stunt double (unknown episodes)
Series Other crew Susan Frush-Itkin .... production coordinator (1 episode, 1980) Stephen McPherson .... story editor (1 episode, 1980) Glenn Nicol .... production accountant (1 episode, 1980)
References
External links
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