History Creator / QuinnMartin

Quinn Martin died of a heart attack on September 5, 1987, at his home in California. He was 65 years old. He is remembered as one of the most successful producers of his time, and his distinctive approach to title sequences has been parodied by ''Series/PoliceSquad'', the ''WesternAnimation/SpaceGhostCoastToCoast'' episode "Jacksonville", the ''Series/AgentsOfS.H.I.E.L.D.'' episode "A Trout in the Milk" (interestingly enough, also the title of a ''Streets of San Francisco'' episode) , and this very article. A video tribute to Martin, which includes opening titles from his series along with promos and interviews, can be found [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OdQROqBezNc here]].

Also in 1974, QM made the TV-movie ''Panic On the 5:22'', a movie inspired by the 1967 theatrical film Film/TheIncident. The first of three QM/Warner Bros. FBI TV-movies aired in late 1974, though none of the regulars from the FBI series appeared in any of them.

For the company's next series, they went outside the crime milieu and into science fiction with ''Series/TheInvaders''. A sci-fi variant of ''The Fugitive'', it starred Roy Thinnes as architect David Vincent, who pulls off the side of the road during a long trip to get a little rest, only to see the landing of a craft from outer space. From that point on, Vincent becomes singularly obsessed with convincing the rest of the human race that 'they' are here to take over the world. For one and a half seasons, Vincent is dismissed as a kook by many, but also targeted by the aliens, who do any number of things to him, either to kill or, at the very least, discredit him. Eventually, during the second season, he's given a group of cohorts who call themselves 'the Believers', people who've also had alien encounters. Sadly, though the series was well done, it never was a ratings hit and was canceled in the Spring of 1968. And because the series wasn't a huge hit like ''The Fugitive'', it was never given a proper finale. It took director Creator/GeorgeARomero, a huge fan of the series, to produce a mini-series over two decades later, in which a new character played by Creator/ScottBakula finally thwarted the aliens.

Also in 1974, QM made the TV-movie ''Panic On the 5:22'', a movie inspired by the 1967 theatrical film ''The Incident". The first of three QM/Warner Bros. FBI TV-movies aired in late 1974, though none of the regulars from the FBI series appeared in any of them.

For the remainder of 1977, Martin fell back on TV movie pilots...''The City'' was yet another variant of ''The Streets of San Francisco'', with Robert Forster and Don Johnson as the cops, while ''The Hunted Lady'' took the concept of ''The Fugitive'', with Donna Mills as a cop framed for murder.

Quinn Martin died of a heart attack on September 5, 1987, at his home in California. He was 65 years old. He is remembered as one of the most successful producers of his time, and his distinctive approach to title sequences has been parodied by ''Series/PoliceSquad'', the ''WesternAnimation/SpaceGhostCoastToCoast'' episode "Jacksonville", and this very article. A video tribute to Martin, which includes opening titles from his series along with promos and interviews, can be found [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OdQROqBezNc here]].

Some good came out of the series for Martin, though. He met two of his most prolific collaborators, Arthur Fellows and director Walter Grauman, while working on ''The Untouchables''. Additionally, he picked up a number of stylistic elements that characterized his future series: the use of 'wipes' to enhance the {{Title Sequence}}s and open each act, the announcer in the opening credits (Hal Lampson did the announcing for The Untouchables. Martin brought in Dick Wesson to do the announcing for ''The New Breed'', ''Series/TheFugitive'', ''12 O'Clock High'' and ''Series/TheInvaders'', and Hank Simms for ''Series/TheFBI'' and all the others), and the narrator over the opening and closing scenes (''The Untouchables'' memorably used columnist Walter Winchell in that role. ''The New Breed'' used Art Gilmore, ''The Fugitive'' used William Conrad, ''The FBI'' Marvin Miller and ''The Invaders'' William Woodson).

Some good came out of the series for Martin, though. He met two of his most prolific collaborators, Arthur Fellows and director Walter Grauman, while working on ''The Untouchables''. Additionally, he picked up a number of stylistic elements that characterized his future series: the use of 'wipes' to enhance the opening credits and open each act, the announcer in the opening credits (Hal Lampson did the announcing for The Untouchables. Martin brought in Dick Wesson to do the announcing for ''The New Breed'', ''Series/TheFugitive'', ''12 O'Clock High'' and ''Series/TheInvaders'', and Hank Simms for ''Series/TheFBI'' and all the others), and the narrator over the opening and closing scenes (''The Untouchables'' memorably used columnist Walter Winchell in that role. ''The New Breed'' used Art Gilmore, ''The Fugitive'' used William Conrad, ''The FBI'' Marvin Miller and ''The Invaders'' William Woodson).

!!Epilogue: The Aftermath, Part II

QM Productions continued as a generic production company for new owners, Taft Broadcasting, producing a series of inane comedy pilots (''Help Wanted: Male'', ''Landon, Landon and Landon'' and ''Quick and Quiet'') and also a handful of TV-movies (''The Aliens Are Coming!'', yet another attempt to reboot ''The Invaders''; ''The Return of Frank Cannon'', a lame teen comedy entitled ''Senior Trip'', and the final production from the company, a Western entitled ''September Gun'', which aired in late 1983).

Quinn Martin died of a heart attack on September 5, 1987, at his home in California. He was 65 years old.

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* Series/HighwayPatrol (Sound Supervisor for 55 episodes, 1955-57)
* Series/TheCiscoKid (Sound Supervisor for 4 episodes, 1956)
* Series/TheUntouchables (Executive Producer for 28 episodes, 1959-60)
* Series/TheFugitive (Executive Producer for 120 episodes, 1963-67)
* Series/TheFBI (Executive Producer for 240 episodes, 1965-74)
* Series/TheInvaders (Executive Producer for 43 episodes, 1967-68)
* Series/DanAugust (Executive Producer for 26 episodes, 1970-71)
* Film/TheMephistoWaltz (Executive Producer, 1971)
* Series/{{Cannon}} (Executive Producer for 120 episodes, plus a pilot film, 1971-76)
* Series/TheStreetsOfSanFrancisco (Executive Producer for 120 episodes, 1972-77)
* Series/BarnabyJones (Executive Producer for 131 episodes, 1973-78)

Quinn's first wife was Madelyn Pugh, one of the main writers for ''Series/ILoveLucy'', which no doubt led to his being hired by Creator/DesiluStudios. He produced a segment of ''Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse'' entitled "The Scarface Mob", which detailed the battle between Federal Agent Eliot Ness and mobster Al Capone. This proved so successful that Desilu managed to sell it to Creator/{{ABC}} as a series for the Fall of 1959.

With one success under his belt, it was inevitable that others would follow. Creator/TwentiethCenturyFox enlisted Martin to develop a series based on the classic 1949 film ''12 O'Clock High'', about Air Force soldiers in World War I. Martin and Fox teamed up for the series, and Robert Lansing was cast in the lead role as Brigadier General Frank Savage. The series was a hit, but behind the scenes turmoil derailed it. Martin, who was never very comfortable around actors, grew to despise Lansing, and asked William Self, the head of 20th Century-Fox Television, if he could replace Lansing. Self told him he could, but Fox would have to approve the replacement. Martin mentioned Paul Burke, and Self gave the green light. Savage was killed off in the final episode of the first season, and Burke took over as the new lead character, Major Joe Gallagher. Additionally, for the second season, ABC moved the series to an earlier time slot on another day. The series never recovered from both moves and lasted for the whole second season and an half season in 1966-67 before being canceled.

Quinn's first wife was Madelyn Pugh, one of the main writers for ''Series/ILoveLucy'', which no doubt led to his being hired by Creator/{{Desilu}}. He produced a segment of ''Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse'' entitled "The Scarface Mob", which detailed the battle between Federal Agent Eliot Ness and mobster Al Capone. This proved so successful that Desilu managed to sell it to Creator/{{ABC}} as a series for the Fall of 1959.

Quinn's first wife was Madelyn Pugh, one of the main writers for ''Series/ILoveLucy'', which no doubt led to his being hired by Desilu. He produced a segment of ''Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse'' entitled "The Scarface Mob", which detailed the battle between Federal Agent Eliot Ness and mobster Al Capone. This proved so successful that Desilu managed to sell it to Creator/{{ABC}} as a series for the Fall of 1959.

* Series/BarnabyJones (Executive Producer for 131 episodes, 1973-78)

Martin tried another series for NBC in 1978. He was taken with Robert Reed after seeing the actor deliver great performances on ''The Streets of San Francisco'' and ''Barnaby Jones'' and brought him in for a new series, ''Operation: Runaway'', where he would play Dr. David McKay, who specialized in searching for runaway kids. He should have consulted Creator/SherwoodSchwartz before hiring Reed, as he soon discovered just how difficult the actor could be. The series barely survived to make it to another season, but major changes came with the new season, the least of which was Quinn's non-involvement, as he'd sold the company. The title of the show also changed, to ''The Runaways'', and it had a new lead actor in Alan Feinstein (who, oddly, bore some resemblance to Reed, but fortunately was much easier to deal with) as Dr. Steve Arrizio. Despite all the changes, the show tanked.

''Most Wanted'' debuted in the Fall of 1976 on ABC. It was a series about an elite division of the LAPD who went after high-profile criminals. Creator/RobertStack played Captain Linc Evers, the leader of the squad. Allegedly, the series was doing fairly well in the ratings when, during a heated meeting with ABC executives, Quinn Martin pounded on the table, which sent an ashtray flying across the table, hitting one of the execs squarely in the chest. It was not only the end of the series, but also the end of Martin's relationship with the network as well.

* Series/TheUntouchables (Executive Producer, 1959-60)

* Series/BarnabyJones (Executive Producer, 1973-78)

Quinn Martin died of a heart attack on September 5, 1987, at his home in California. He was 65 years old.

Martin teamed up with Robert Forster one more time, for a TV-movie entitled ''Standing Tall'', in which Forster played a rancher who was being bullied by a land baron played by Chuck Connors.

Martin's biggest success came about in the following season (1965-66). FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover was approached by Creator/WarnerBrothers about doing a series about the Bureau, and Hoover agreed to it. He first approached his friend, Mervyn LeRoy, about producing the series, as LeRoy directed the movie ''The FBI Story'' in the late 1950's, but LeRoy wasn't interested in doing television. Someone suggested Martin's name to Hoover, and he agreed. In the Fall of 1965, ''Series/TheFBI'' was launched, with Creator/EfremZimbalistJr as Inspector Lewis Erskine. Martin was under extreme scrutiny while making the show. He had to make sure that the actors playing agents (Zimbalist, Stephen Brooks and Philip Abbott) all looked, dressed and acted like FBI agents (meaning that the characters couldn't do things like smoke or put their feet up on desks, to name a couple of things), plus the Bureau insisted on vetting EVERY ACTOR that did the show, to make sure that there was nothing about them that would embarrass the Bureau (this led to the legendary Creator/BetteDavis being turned down for a guest role). Martin said that, if they did that, production would be pushed back considerably, so they compromised: only the main actors and main guests would have to be vetted.

Some good came out of the series for Martin, though. He met two of his most prolific collaborators, Arthur Fellows and director Walter Grauman while working on ''The Untouchables''. Additionally, he picked up a number of stylistic elements that characterized his future series: the use of 'wipes' to enhance the opening credits and open each act, the announcer in the opening credits (Hal Lampson did the announcing for The Untouchables. Martin brought in Dick Wesson to do the announcing for ''The New Breed'', ''Series/TheFugitive'', ''12 O'Clock High'' and ''Series/TheInvaders'', and Hank Simms for ''Series/TheFBI'' and all the others), and the narrator over the opening and closing scenes (''The Untouchables'' memorably used columnist Walter Winchell in that role. ''The New Breed'' used Art Gilmore, ''The Fugitive'' used William Conrad, ''The FBI'' Marvin Miller and ''The Invaders'' William Woodson).

With one success under his belt, it was inevitable that others would follow. Creator/TwentiethCenturyFox enlisted Martin to develop a series based on the classic 1949 film ''12 O'Clock High'', about Air Force soldiers in World War I. Martin and Fox teamed up for the series, and Robert Lansing was cast in the lead role as Brigadier General Frank Savage. The series was a hit, but behind the scenes turmoil derailed it. Martin, who was never very comfortable around actors, grew to despise Lansing, and asked William Self, the head of 20th Century-Fox Television, if he could replace Lansing. Self told him he could, but Fox would have to approve the replacement. Martin mentioned Paul Burke, and Self gave the green light. Savage was killed off in the final episode of the first season, and Burke took over the lead role, played Major Joe Gallagher. Additionally, for the second season, ABC moved the series to an earlier time slot on another day. The series never recovered from both moves and lasted for the whole second season and an half season in 1966-67 before being canceled.

Martin tried another series for NBC in 1978. He was taken with Robert Reed after seeing the actor deliver great performances on ''The Streets of San Francisco'' and ''Barnaby Jones'' and brought him in for a new series, ''Operation: Runaway'', where he would play Dr. David McKay, who specialized in searching for runaway kids. He should have consulted Sherwood Schwartz before hiring Reed, as he soon discovered just how difficult the actor could be. The series barely survived to make it to another season, but major changes came with the new season, the least of which was Quinn's non-involvement, as he'd sold the company. The title of the show also changed, to ''The Runaways'', and it had a new lead actor in Alan Feinstein (who, oddly, bore some resemblance to Reed, but fortunately was much easier to deal with) as Dr. Steve Arrizio. Despite all the changes, the show tanked.

Martin managed to sell two TV series in 1972. Returning to his relationship with Warner Bros. Television, Martin sold a pilot about two homicide detectives in UsefulNotes/SanFrancisco, one a hardened veteran detective, the other a young and handsome idealist. ''Series/TheStreetsOfSanFrancisco'' was filmed on location in the Bay City and was an instant hit, thanks in no small part to the chemistry between the two leads, Karl Malden (as Lt. Mike Stone) and Creator/Michael Douglas (as Inspector Steve Keller). The series lasted for five seasons (four with Douglas, the last with Richard Hatch) and 120 episodes.

Martin managed to sell two TV series in 1972. Returning to his relationship with Warner Bros. Television, Martin sold a pilot about two homicide detectives in UsefulNotes/SanFrancisco, one a hardened veteran detective, the other a young and handsome idealist. ''Series/TheStreetsOfSanFrancisco'' was filmed on location in the Bay City and was an instant hit, thanks in no small part to the chemistry between the two leads, Karl Malden (as Lt. Mike Stone) and Michael Douglas (as Inspector Steve Keller). The series lasted for five seasons (four with Douglas, the last with Richard Hatch) and 120 episodes.

Quinn Martin (born Irwin Martin Cohn, May 22, 1922, in UsefulNotes/NewYorkCity; died September 5, 1987, in Rancho, Santa Fe, UsefulNotes/California) was a prolific television producer of the 1960's and 1970's. He holds the record for most consecutive prime time seasons with a television series, with 21 seasons.

Act I: The Early Years

His early career was primarily as a sound editor, and it was in that capacity that he worked for the early television production company, Ziv Television, starting out with ''Science Fiction Theater'' and branching out to the company's other shows, including the hit Series/HighwayPatrol. Martin also dabbled in writing for television. His actual first credit was a teleplay credit on ''Four Star Playhouse''. He wrote for a few other anthology series as well.

Quinn's first wife was Madelyn Pugh, one of the main writers for Series/ILoveLucy, which no doubt led to his being hired by Desilu. He produced a segment of ''Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse'' entitled "The Scarface Mob", which detailed the battle between Federal Agent Eliot Ness and mobster Al Capone. This proved so successful that Desilu managed to sell it to Creator/ABC as a series for the Fall of 1959.

With Series/TheUntouchables, Martin began his meteoric rise in the world of television. The series was an instant hit, and on the surface, it looked like things were going well, but behind the scenes, they were not. Quinn Martin and Desi Arnaz clashed constantly. Arguing with your boss never works out well, and for Martin, it proved to be the end of his stint with Desilu, as Arnaz fired him.

Some good came out of the series for Martin, though. He met two of his most prolific collaborators, Arthur Fellows and director Walter Grauman while working on ''The Untouchables''. Additionally, he picked up a number of stylistic elements that characterized his future series: the use of 'wipes' to enhance the opening credits and open each act, the announcer in the opening credits (Hal Lampson did the announcing for The Untouchables. Martin brought in Dick Wesson to do the announcing for ''The New Breed'', Series/TheFugitive, ''12 O'Clock High'' and Series/TheInvaders, and Hank Simms for Series/TheFBI and all the others), and the narrator over the opening and closing scenes (''The Untouchables'' memorably used columnist Walter Winchell in that role. ''The New Breed'' used Art Gilmore, ''The Fugitive'' used William Conrad, ''The FBI'' Marvin Miller and ''The Invaders'' William Woodson).

Act II: The 1960's

Martin wasn't unemployed for very long. ABC hired him to oversee his own company to produce shows for the network, which he named 'QM Productions'. Teaming with another ABC-financed company, Selmur Productions, the producer was able to sell his first series to the network in 1961, a police series called ''The New Breed'', which starred Creator/LeslieNielsen and dealt with a special division of the LAPD that used computers and other gadgets in the fight against crime. The series lasted only one season, but bigger things were on the horizon for both companies. Selmur would bounce back the following season with the hit war drama Series/{{Combat}}. For QM Productions, it would take slightly longer, and an odd twist of fate gave them a hit TV series.

Quinn had an idea that never came to fruition for his next project...he wanted to do a series about legendary lawyer Clarence Darrow, in which Ed Begley was to star. Why that never came about is anyone's guess. What did happen, though, was the company being given a storyline that ABC found that was developed by fellow producer Roy Huggins. Huggins came up with the idea of a wrongfully accused killer roaming the Old West in search of the real killer, all the while being pursued by a dogged lawman intent on returning him to face the death sentence that was imposed on him. Huggins left TV production briefly to become a professor at Columbia University, so he abandoned the idea in a desk to be forgotten. ABC found it and gave it to QM to see what they could do with it. Changing the setting to the present day, Martin retooled the idea, and Series/TheFugitive debuted in the Fall of 1963, with Creator/DavidJanssen starring. The series was a runaway success, running for four seasons, winning a Golden Globe and an Emmy, and the series' final episode, "The Judgement", set a Nielsen ratings record that stood for over a decade.

With one success under his belt, it was inevitable that others would follow. Creator/20thCenturyFox enlisted Martin to develop a series based on the classic 1949 film ''12 O'Clock High'', about Air Force soldiers in World War I. Martin and Fox teamed up for the series, and Robert Lansing was cast in the lead role as Brigadier General Frank Savage. The series was a hit, but behind the scenes turmoil derailed it. Martin, who was never very comfortable around actors, grew to despise Lansing, and asked William Self, the head of 20th Century-Fox Television, if he could replace Lansing. Self told him he could, but Fox would have to approve the replacement. Martin mentioned Paul Burke, and Self gave the green light. Savage was killed off in the final episode of the first season, and Burke took over the lead role, played Major Joe Gallagher. Additionally, for the second season, ABC moved the series to an earlier time slot on another day. The series never recovered from both moves and lasted for the whole second season and an half season in 1966-67 before being canceled.

Martin's biggest success came about in the following season (1965-66). FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover was approached by Creator/WarnerBrothers about doing a series about the Bureau, and Hoover agreed to it. He first approached his friend, Mervyn LeRoy, about producing the series, as LeRoy directed the movie ''The FBI Story'' in the late 1950's, but LeRoy wasn't interested in doing television. Someone suggested Martin's name to Hoover, and he agreed. In the Fall of 1965, Series/TheFBI was launched, with Creator/EfremZimbalistJr as Inspector Lewis Erskine. Martin was under extreme scrutiny while making the show. He had to make sure that the actors playing agents (Zimbalist, Stephen Brooks and Philip Abbott) all looked, dressed and acted like FBI agents (meaning that the characters couldn't do things like smoke or put their feet up on desks, to name a couple of things), plus the Bureau insisted on vetting EVERY ACTOR that did the show, to make sure that there was nothing about them that would embarrass the Bureau (this led to the legendary Creator/BetteDavis being turned down for a guest role). Martin said that, if they did that, production would be pushed back considerably, so they compromised: only the main actors and main guests would have to be vetted.

For the company's next series, they went outside the crime milieu and into science fiction with Series/TheInvaders. A sci-fi variant of ''The Fugitive'', it starred Roy Thinnes as architect David Vincent, who pulls off the side of the road during a long trip to get a little rest, only to see the landing of a craft from outer space. From that point on, Vincent becomes singularly obsessed with convincing the rest of the human race that 'they' are here to take over the world. For one and a half seasons, Vincent is dismissed as a kook by many, but also targeted by the aliens, who do any number of things to him, either to kill or, at the very least, discredit him. Eventually, during the second season, he's given a group of cohorts who call themselves 'the Believers', people who've also had alien encounters. Sadly, though the series was well done, it never was a ratings hit and was canceled in the Spring of 1968. And because the series wasn't a huge hit like ''The Fugitive'', it was never given a proper finale. It took director Creator/GeorgeARomero, a huge fan of the series, to produce a mini-series over two decades later, in which a new character played by Creator/ScottBakula finally thwarted the aliens.

Act III: The '70's

After two seasons without a new series, QM Productions was back in business with Series/DanAugust, a police procedural about a homicide detective in the fictional UsefulNotes/California town of Santa Luisa. The series was developed out of QM's first TV-movie, ''The House on Greenapple Road''. Martin wanted the movie's star, Christopher George, to play August in any series that would develop, but since George had already made another commitment, Creator/BurtReynolds was brought in for the series. It only lasted for one season and 26 episodes, but eventually got recognition a couple of years later when it was re-ran to cash in on Reynolds' box office success.

TV-movies became a staple for QM. In 1971, they did four of them. One was a straight-up thriller (''The Face of Fear''), but the other three were intended as pilots: ''Travis Logan, D.A.'' (with Creator/VicMorrow as a dogged prosecutor), ''Incident in San Francisco'' (about newspaper reporters and cops, starring Christopher Connelly, Richard Kiley and Creator/LeslieNielsen) and ''Cannon'' (a pilot about an overweight ex-cop-turned-private detective, starring Creator/WilliamConrad). Only the final one sold. Series/{{Cannon}} would mark the first time a QM series appeared on a network other than ABC (Creator/CBS). For the next five seasons, Frank Cannon would prove time and again that being overweight didn't hinder him in his chosen career...as a matter of fact, it helped him, as he used his girth to subdue villains. The series lasted for 120 episodes before Conrad and Martin mutually decided to end the series.

Also in 1971, Martin managed to make his only theatrical film, a thriller called Film/TheMephistoWaltz, for 20th Century-Fox. It starred Creator/AlanAlda, Creator/JacquelineBisset and Curt Jurgens.

Martin managed to sell two TV series in 1972. Returning to his relationship with Warner Bros. Television, Martin sold a pilot about two homicide detectives in UsefulNotes/SanFrancisco, one a hardened veteran detective, the other a young and handsome idealist. Series/TheStreetsOfSanFrancisco was filmed on location in the Bay City and was an instant hit, thanks in no small part to the chemistry between the two leads, Karl Malden (as Lt. Mike Stone) and Michael Douglas (as Inspector Steve Keller). The series lasted for five seasons (four with Douglas, the last with Richard Hatch) and 120 episodes.

The other series was Martin's first venture for Creator/NBC, based on a pilot that his company had nothing to do with. ''Banyon'' began life as a TV-movie for NBC, produced by Warner Bros. Television by Richard Alan Simmons. The story dealt with a private detective in 1930's UsefulNotes/LosAngeles framed for a murder committed with his own gun. Creator/RobertForster starred as the main character, Miles Banyon, and the character was created by Ed Adamson, who served as the line producer for the pilot. However, Simmons hated working with the headstrong Adamson, so he refused to be involved with the series. Warners brought in QM as a co-producer. The series debuted in the Fall of 1972, but low ratings, coupled with the death of Ed Adamson, ensured that the series would be canceled, and it was, after only 13 episodes.

1973 saw another unsold QM pilot, entitled ''Intertect'', about a computerized detective agency. It also brought in Martin's second-most successful series. Initially, the pilot episode was to have been done as an episode of ''Cannon'', but a time slot opened up, and CBS ordered Series/BarnabyJones to go into production in January of 1973. The pilot episode, in which elderly detective Barnaby Jones (Buddy Ebsen) comes out of retirement to investigate the murder of his son, featured William Conrad guest-starring as Frank Cannon. For the next seven and a half seasons, Barnaby Jones proved to be another successful 'quirky' character, a private eye whom many a bad guy underestimated, simply because he was an old man. ''Barnaby Jones'' lasted for 178 episodes.

Martin's next series was for ABC. Attempting to cash in on the success of Series/HawaiiFiveO, Martin developed

In January of 1977, Martin decided he wanted to do an anthology series in the vein of Series/AlfredHitchcockPresents, and ''Quinn Martin's Tales of the Unexpected'' debuted on NBC. Unlike the Hitchcock series, Martin didn't appear on camera to introduce the series, but rather William Conrad provided ominous opening and closing narration for each episode. Two episodes were notable, one being the two-hour episode "The Force of Evil", which aired for years in slots devoted to old movies, and the other was "The Nomads", an attempt to revive ''The Invaders''. This series lasted for eight episodes.

Act IV: The Aftermath

In 1978, Quinn Martin decided to sell his company to Taft Broadcasting. The company continued as QM Productions for the next few years. Philip Saltzman moved into the Executive Producer position for ''Barnaby Jones'', and William Robert Yates took over ''The Runaways''. Additionally, the company produced two unsold pilots that sounded interesting, both for CBS: ''Colorado C.I.'', which was a precursor to the hit series Series/CSICrimeSceneInvestigation, and ''Escapade'', a light-hearted spy romp co-produced by Brian Clemens, who was one of the producers of Series/TheAvengers. ''Barnaby Jones'' did three episodes over the end of the series that served as pilots as well.

Epilogue: The Aftermath, Part II

After the cancellation of ''Barnaby Jones'' in 1980, the staff of that series was hired by Warner Bros. Television to develop a TV series version of Film/FreebieAndTheBean, which aired briefly on CBS in the Fall of 1980.

Martin's biggest success came about in the following season (1965-66). FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover was approached by Creator/WarnerBrothers about doing a series about the Bureau, and Hoover agreed to it. He first approached his friend, Mervin LeRoy, about producing the series, as LeRoy directed the movie ''The FBI Story'' in the late 1950's, but LeRoy wasn't interested in doing television. Someone suggested Martin's name to Hoover, and he agreed. In the Fall of 1965, Series/TheFBI was launched, with Creator/EfremZimbalistJr as Inspector Lewis Erskine. Martin was under extreme scrutiny while making the show. He had to make sure that the actors playing agents (Zimbalist, Stephen Brooks and Philip Abbott) all looked, dressed and acted like FBI agents (meaning that the characters couldn't do things like smoke or put their feet up on desks, to name a couple of things), plus the Bureau insisted on vetting EVERY ACTOR that did the show, to make sure that there was nothing about them that would embarrass the Bureau (this led to the legendary Creator/BetteDavis being turned down for a guest role). Martin said that, if they did that, production would be pushed back considerably, so they compromised: only the main actors and main guests would have to be vetted.

For the company's next series, they went outside the crime milieu and into science fiction with Series/TheInvaders. A sci-fi variant of ''The Fugitive'', it starred Roy Thinnes as architect David Vincent, who pulls off the side of the road during a long trip to get a little rest, only to see the landing of a craft from outer space. From that point on, Vincent becomes singularly obsessed with convincing the rest of the human race that 'they' are here to take over the world. For one and a half seasons, Vincent is dismissed as a kook by many, but also targeted by the aliens, who do any number of things to him, either to kill or, at the very least, discredit him. Eventually, during the second season, he's given a group of cohorts who call themselves 'the Believers', people who've also had alien encounters. Sadly, though the series was well done, it never was a ratings hit and was canceled in the Spring of 1968. And because the series wasn't a huge hit like ''The Fugitive'', it was never given a proper finale. It took director George Romero, a huge fan of the series, to produce a mini-series over two decades later, in which a new character played by Creator/ScottBakula finally thwarted the aliens.

For the company's next series, they went outside the crime milieu and into science fiction with Series/TheInvaders. A sci-fi variant of ''The Fugitive'', it starred Roy Thinnes as architect David Vincent, who pulls off the side of the road during a long trip to get a little rest, only to see the landing of a craft from outer space. From that point on, Vincent becomes singularly obsessed with convincing the rest of the human race that 'they' are here to take over the world. For one and a half seasons, Vincent is dismissed as a kook by many, but also targeted by the aliens, who do any number of things to him, either to kill or, at the very least, discredit him. Eventually, during the second season, he's given a group of cohorts who call themselves 'the Believers', people who've also had alien encounters. Sadly, though the series was well done, it never was a ratings hit and was canceled in the Spring of 1968. And because the series wasn't a huge hit like ''The Fugitive'', it was never given a proper finale. It took director George Romero, a huge fan of the series, to produce a mini-series over two decades later, in which a new character played by Scott Bakula finally thwarted the aliens.

Also in 1971, Martin managed to make his only theatrical film, a thriller called Film/TheMephistoWaltz, for 20th Century-Fox. It starred Creator/Alan Alda, Creator/Jacqueline Bisset and Curt Jurgens.

The other series was Martin's first venture for Creator/NBC, based on a pilot that his company had nothing to do with. ''Banyon'' began life as a TV-movie for NBC, produced by Warner Bros. Television by Richard Alan Simmons. The story dealt with a private detective in 1930's UsefulNotes/LosAngeles framed for a murder committed with his own gun. Robert Forster starred as the main character, Miles Banyon, and the character was created by Ed Adamson, who served as the line producer for the pilot. However, Simmons hated working with the headstrong Adamson, so he refused to be involved with the series. Warners brought in QM as a co-producer. The series debuted in the Fall of 1972, but low ratings, coupled with the death of Ed Adamson, ensured that the series would be canceled, and it was, after only 13 episodes.

1976 saw further unsold pilots (''Law of the Land'', a crime drama-Western hybrid starring Jim Davis and Creator/DonJohnson) and two more unsuccessful series. ''Bert D'Angelo: Superstar'' was spun off from ''The Streets of San Francisco'' and starred Paul Sorvino as a New York cop who gets transferred to San Francisco. It lasted for 13 episodes, and most people who worked on the series refuse to talk about it, only to mention how much they hated the high-maintenance Sorvino.

Also in 1971, Martin managed to make his only theatrical film, a thriller called ''The Mephisto Waltz'', for 20th Century-Fox. It starred Alan Alda, Jacqueline Bisset and Curt Jurgens.

''Caribe'', a Caribbean-based crime drama that debuted in the Spring of 1975. Originally, Quinn wanted Creator/RobertWagner to star in the series, but Stacy Keach wound up starring as Inspector Ben Logan. The series faltered in the ratings and was over in 13 episodes.

Martin's biggest success came about in the following season (1965-66). FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover was approached by Creator/WarnerBrothers about doing a series about the Bureau, and Hoover agreed to it. He first approached his friend, Mervin [[Le=Roy]], about producing the series, as [[Le=Roy]] directed the movie ''The FBI Story'' in the late 1950's, but [[Le=Roy]] wasn't interested in doing television. Someone suggested Martin's name to Hoover, and he agreed. In the Fall of 1965, Series/TheFBI was launched, with Creator/EfremZimbalistJr as Inspector Lewis Erskine. Martin was under extreme scrutiny while making the show. He had to make sure that the actors playing agents (Zimbalist, Stephen Brooks and Philip Abbott) all looked, dressed and acted like FBI agents (meaning that the characters couldn't do things like smoke or put their feet up on desks, to name a couple of things), plus the Bureau insisted on vetting EVERY ACTOR that did the show, to make sure that there was nothing about them that would embarrass the Bureau (this led to the legendary Creator/BetteDavis being turned down for a guest role). Martin said that, if they did that, production would be pushed back considerably, so they compromised: only the main actors and main guests would have to be vetted.

Martin wasn't unemployed for very long. ABC hired him to oversee his own company to produce shows for the network, which he named 'QM Productions'. Teaming with another ABC-financed company, Selmur Productions, the producer was able to sell his first series to the network in 1961, a police series called ''The New Breed'', which starred Creator/LeslieNielsen and dealt with a special division of the LAPD that used computers and other gadgets in the fight against crime. The series lasted only one season, but bigger things were on the horizon for both companies. Selmur would bounce back the following season with the hit war drama Series/Combat. For QM Productions, it would take slightly longer, and an odd twist of fate gave them a hit TV series.

Martin's biggest success came about in the following season (1965-66). FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover was approached by Creator/WarnerBrothers about doing a series about the Bureau, and Hoover agreed to it. He first approached his friend, Mervin LeRoy, about producing the series, as LeRoy directed the movie ''The FBI Story'' in the late 1950's, but LeRoy wasn't interested in doing television. Someone suggested Martin's name to Hoover, and he agreed. In the Fall of 1965, Series/TheFBI was launched, with Creator/EfremZimbalistJr as Inspector Lewis Erskine. Martin was under extreme scrutiny while making the show. He had to make sure that the actors playing agents (Zimbalist, Stephen Brooks and Philip Abbott) all looked, dressed and acted like FBI agents (meaning that the characters couldn't do things like smoke or put their feet up on desks, to name a couple of things), plus the Bureau insisted on vetting EVERY ACTOR that did the show, to make sure that there was nothing about them that would embarrass the Bureau (this led to the legendary Creator/BetteDavis being turned down for a guest role). Martin said that, if they did that, production would be pushed back considerably, so they compromised: only the main actors and main guests would have to be vetted.

TV-movies became a staple for QM. In 1971, they did four of them. One was a straight-up thriller (''The Face of Fear''), but the other three were intended as pilots: ''Travis Logan, D.A.'' (with Creator/VicMorrow as a dogged prosecutor), ''Incident in San Francisco'' (about newspaper reporters and cops, starring Christopher Connelly, Richard Kiley and Creator/LeslieNielsen) and ''Cannon'' (a pilot about an overweight ex-cop-turned-private detective, starring Creator/WilliamConrad). Only the final one sold. Series/Cannon would mark the first time a QM series appeared on a network other than ABC (Creator/CBS). For the next five seasons, Frank Cannon would prove time and again that being overweight didn't hinder him in his chosen career...as a matter of fact, it helped him, as he used his girth to subdue villains. The series lasted for 120 episodes before Conrad and Martin mutually decided to end the series.

Martin's next series was for ABC. Attempting to cash in on the success of Series/HawaiiFive0, Martin developed