History Creator / QuinnMartin

[[quoteright:238:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/quinn_martin.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:238:A QM Production!]]

Quinn Martin (born Irwin Martin Cohn; May 22, 1922 – September 5, 1987) was a prolific television producer of the 1960s and '70s. He holds the record for most consecutive prime time seasons with a television series, with 21 seasons.

!!Act II: The 1960's

!!Act III: The '70's

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.

Martin took his professional name from the mispronunciation of his real last name of 'Cohn'. Some folks pronounced it 'CO-en', but others thought it was 'Co-EN'. It was bastardized into 'Quinn', which became a childhood nickname.

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/AgentsOfSHIELD'' episode "[[Recap/AgentsOfSHIELDS7E05ATroutInTheMilk 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]].

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'' (indeed this was a TransatlanticEquivalent of ''The Avengers''). ''Barnaby Jones'' did three episodes over the end of the series that served as pilots as well.

Martin's next series was for ABC. Attempting to cash in on the success of ''Series/HawaiiFiveO'', Martin developed
''Caribe'', a Caribbean-based crime drama that debuted in the Spring of 1975. Originally, Quinn wanted Creator/RobertWagner to star in the series, but Creator/StacyKeach wound up starring as Inspector Ben Logan. The series faltered in the ratings and was over in 13 episodes. It didn't help that the series' TroubledProduction meant the series had to be filmed on location in UsefulNotes/{{Florida}} instead of throughout the Caribbean as planned.

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 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.

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/TheInvaders1967'', 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 Creator/WilliamConrad, ''The FBI'' Marvin Miller and ''The Invaders'' William Woodson).

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.

Unfortunately, ''Barnaby Jones'' would be the last successful series for QM. He did another pilot that sold, ''The Manhunter'', set in the 1930's, about a Marine who became a bounty hunter. Ken Howard starred as Dave Barrett, who initially took up bounty hunting to make enough money to save his parents' farm, but continued as he felt it was his calling. Despite having ''Cannon'' as a lead-in, ''The Manhunter'' couldn't hold the audience for Cannon and was done after one season.

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''; ''[[ReuionShow 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).

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).

* ''Series/TheInvadersTVSeries'' (Executive Producer for 43 episodes, 1967-68)

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/TheInvadersTVSeries'', 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 Creator/WilliamConrad, ''The FBI'' Marvin Miller and ''The Invaders'' William Woodson).

For the company's next series, they went outside the crime milieu and into science fiction with ''Series/TheInvadersTVSeries''. A sci-fi variant of ''The Fugitive'', it starred Creator/RoyThinnes 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.

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.

->''"The Quinn Martin page! A Wiki/TVTropes Production! Starring Quinn Martin! Also starring The Editors... The Contributors... The Readers! Tonight's episode: 'Biography of a TV Producer'!"''

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 based in England during UsefulNotes/WorldWarII. 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.

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 Creator/WilliamConrad, ''The FBI'' Marvin Miller and ''The Invaders'' William Woodson).

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. investigation, but also the agents' personal lives as well. Viewers complained about that, and eventually more time
Also, the series itself would change in scope...the earliest episodes not only focused on the crime and was given to the criminals and their pursuit. ''The FBI'' was a huge hit, running until 1974 and tallying 240 episodes, making it QM's most successful series.

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 Creator/RoyThinnes 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.

* ''Series/TheInvaders'' (Executive Producer for 43 episodes, 1967-68)

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.
Also, the series itself would change in scope...the earliest episodes not only focused on the crime and investigation, but also the agents' personal lives as well. Viewers complained about that, and eventually more time was given to the criminals and their pursuit. ''The FBI'' was a huge hit, running until 1974 and tallying 240 episodes, making it QM's most successful series.

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 Creator/PaulSorvino 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 1975, Martin tried to sell another series to NBC (''Crossfire'' starring James Farentino as an undercover cop), but couldn't get past the pilot stage. Two other TV movies were made under the QM banner ''The Abduction of Saint Anne'' and ''A Home of Our Own''.

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 Creator/Robert Forster and Creator/DonJohnson as the cops, while ''The Hunted Lady'' took the concept of ''The Fugitive'', with Donna Mills as a cop framed for murder. Another 1977 TV movie from QM was ''Film/CodeNameDiamondHead'', a spy thriller set in UsefulNotes/{{Hawaii}} starring Roy Thinnes, France Nuyen and former ''Series/HawaiiFiveO'' regular Zulu. This film would later be [[Recap/MysteryScienceTheater3000S06E08CodeNameDiamondHead mercilessly skewered]] on ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000''.

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. Another 1977 TV movie from QM was ''Film/CodeNameDiamondHead'', a spy thriller set in Hawaii starring Roy Thinnes, France Nuyen and former ''Series/HawaiiFiveO'' regular Zulu. This film would later be [[Recap/MysteryScienceTheater3000S06E08CodeNameDiamondHead mercilessly skewered]] on ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000''.

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. Another 1977 TV movie from QM was ''Film/CodeNameDiamondHead'', a spy thriller set in Hawaii starring Roy Thinnes, France Nuyen and former ''Hawaii Five-O'' regular Zulu. This film would later be mercilessly skewered on Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000.

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

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.

The new regime, led by Saltzman, landed one final series under the QM banner, a spy series starring Creator/RobertConrad, entitled ''A Man Called Sloane'', which aired on NBC in 1979. Once again, they were dealing with a difficult leading man, and once again, the show failed, running for only 12 episodes. The series' pilot, which was filmed earlier in 1979, was entitled ''Death Ray 2000''. It starred Robert Logan as Sloane and aired in 1981, well after the series had been canceled.

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. Another 1977 TV movie from QM was ''Code Name: Diamond'', a spy thriller set in Hawaii starring Roy Thinnes, France Nuyen and former ''Hawaii Five-O'' regular Zulu. This film would later be mercilessly skewered on Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000.