Series Description

The Peter Gunn TV show was a 30 minute private detective action series that aired on NBC for its first two seasons and then on ABC for the third season. It was about a fancy dressing private investigator with a love for jazz music. He was a hip, suave figure like other private eyes that were so popular in the 1950s and 60s.

Peter Gunn Cast

Craig Stevens .... Peter Gunn
Lola Albright .... Edie Hart
Herschel Bernardi .... Lieutenant Jacoby
Bill Chadney .... Emmett
Hope Emerson .... Mother (Season #1)
Minerva Urecal .... Mother (Season #2 and #3)
James Lanphier .... Leslie the Maitre D'

Peter Gunn Trivia

Series creator Blake Edwards got his inspiration for Peter Gunn from an earlier detective character he had created named Richard Diamond. That character was extremely popular on a radio series starring future TV and movie actor and director Dick Powell and then later on the "Richard Diamond, Private Detective TV Show" starring David Janssen who would later go on to further fame as "Doctor Richard Kimble" on the hit series, "The Fugitive".

While Peter Gunn was a terrific detective series, it's probably best known today for its catchy jazz theme song written by Henry Mancini which won an Emmy and two Grammys! It hit number one on Billboard's Pop LP charts for ten weeks and stayed on the list for a whopping two years! It has been performed by well-known artists including "The Blues Brothers", "Elvis Presley", "Aerosmith", "Emerson, Lake & Palmer", "Quincy Jones" and "Jimi Hendrix" among many others! Versions of the tune have been used on numerous movies and TV shows. It was even used as the background music for the popular 1983 video game, "Spy Hunter". You may not remember the Peter Gunn TV show but you're almost certainly familiar with its theme song!

Peter Gunn often hung out at "Mother's", a jazz club located on the water where his lady friend Edie Hart worked as a singer.

John Williams who played the piano portion of the theme song went on to become a super successful composer for TV series and movies. His TV credits include "Gilligan's Island", "Lost in Space", "Land of the Giants" and "Amazing Stories". His movie credits include "Superman", "Raiders of the Lost Ark", "ET: The Extraterrestrial", "Jurassic Park", "Schindler's List", "JFK", "Saving Private Ryan", "Minority Report", and way too many more to mention them all here!

Peter Gunn took place in a city on the waterfront but the name of the city was never mentioned.

Blake Edwards has made several attempts to revive Peter Gunn, mostly with little success. In 1960 a Peter Gunn novel and comic book were marketed. In 1967 a theatrical movie titled, "Gunn" was released with Craig Stevens again portraying Peter Gunn. In 1989 Peter Strauss ("Rich Man, Poor Man") starred as Gunn in a TV movie intended to be a pilot for a new series but it didn't garner a large enough audience to go on with the series. About the same time development began at Paramount studios for another theatrical movie but that never happened either.

Episodes List With Original Air Dates

Season 1

1. The Kill (9/22/1958)
2. Streetcar Jones (9/29/1958)
3. The Vicious Dog (10/6/1958)
4. The Blind Pianist (10/13/1958)
5. The Frog (10/20/1958)
6. The Chinese Hangman (10/27/1958)
7. Lynn's Blues (11/3/1958)
8. Rough Buck (11/10/1958)
9. Image of Sally (11/17/1958)
10. The Man with the Scar (11/24/1958)
11. Death House Testament (12/1/1958)
12. The Torch (12/8/1958)
13. The Jockey (12/15/1958)
14. Sisters of the Friendless (12/22/1958)
15. The Leaper (12/29/1958)
16. The Fuse (1/5/1959)
17. Let's Kill Timothy (1/19/1959)
18. The Missing Night Watchman (1/26/1959)
19. Murder on the Midway (2/2/1959)
20. Pecos Pete (2/9/1959)
21. Scuba (2/16/1959)
22. Edie Finds a Corpse (2/23/1959)
23. The Dirty Word (3/2/1959)
24. The Ugly Frame (3/9/1959)
25. The Lederer Story (3/16/1959)
26. Keep Smiling (3/23/1959)
27. Breakout (3/30/1959)
28. Pay Now, Kill Later (4/6/1959)
29. Skin Deep (4/13/1959)
30. February Girl (4/20/1959)
31. Love Me to Death (4/27/1959)
32. The Family Affair (5/4/1959)
33. Lady Wind, Bells Fan (5/11/1959)
34. Bullet for a Badge (5/18/1959)
35. Kill from Nowhere (5/25/1959)
36. Vendetta (6/1/1959)
37. The Coffin (6/8/1959)
38. The Portrait (6/15/1959)

39. Protection (9/21/1959)
40. Crisscross (9/28/1959)
41. Edge of the Knife (10/5/1959)
42. The Comic (10/12/1959)
43. Death Is a Red Rose (10/19/1959)
44. The Young Assassins (10/26/1959)
45. The Feathered Doll (11/2/1959)
46. Kidnap (11/16/1959)
47. The Rifle (11/23/1959)
48. The Game (11/30/1959)
49. The Price Is Murder (12/7/1959)
50. The Briefcase (12/14/1959)
51. Terror on the Campus (12/21/1959)
52. The Wolfe Case (12/28/1959)
53. Hot Money (1/4/1960)
54. Spell of Murder (1/11/1960)
55. The Grudge (1/18/1960)
56. Fill the Cup (1/25/1960)
57. See No Evil (2/1/1960)
58. Sentenced (2/8/1960)
59. The Hunt (2/15/1960)
60. Hollywood Calling (2/29/1960)
61. Sing a Song of Murder (3/7/1960)
62. The Long, Long Ride (3/14/1960)
63. The Deadly Proposition (3/21/1960)
64. The Murder Clause (3/28/1960)
65. The Dummy (4/4/1960)
66. Slight Touch of Homicide (4/11/1960)
67. Wings of an Angel (4/18/1960)
68. Death Watch (4/25/1960)
69. Witness in the Window (5/2/1960)
70. The Best Laid Plans (5/9/1960)
71. Send a Thief (5/16/1960)
72. Semi-Private Eye (5/23/1960)
73. Letter of the Law (5/30/1960)
74. The Crossbow (6/6/1960)
75. The Heiress (6/13/1960)
76. Baby Shoes (6/27/1960)

77. The Passenger (10/3/1960)
78. Mask of Murder (10/10/1960)
79. The Maitre D' (10/17/1960)
80. The Candidate (10/24/1960)
81. The Judgment (10/31/1960)
82. The Death Frame (11/7/1960)
83. Death Across the Board (11/14/1960)
84. Tramp Steamer (11/21/1960)
85. The Long Green Kill (11//1960)
86. Take Five for Murder (12/5/1960)
87. Big Dream, Deadly Dream (12/12/1960)
88. Sepi (12/19/1960)
89. A Tender Touch (12/26/1960)
90. Royal Roust (1/2/1961)
91. Bullet in Escrow (1/9/1961)
92. Jacoby's Vacation (1/16/1961)
93. Blind Item (1/23/1961)
94. Death Is a Sore Loser (1/30/1961)
95. I Know It's Murder (2/13/1961)
96. A Kill and a Half (2/20/1961)
97. Than a Serpent's Tooth (2/27/1961)
98. The Deep End (3/6/1961)
99. Portrait in Leather (3/13/1961)
100. Come Dance with Me and Die (3/20/1961)
101. Cry Love, Cry Murder (3/27/1961)
102. A Penny Saved (4/3/1961)
103. Short Motive (4/10/1961)
104. The Murder Bond (4/24/1961)
105. The Most Deadly Angel (5/1/1961)
106. Till Death Do Us Part (5/8/1961)
107. Last Resort (5/15/1961)
108. A Matter of Policy (5/22/1961)
109. A Bullet for the Boy (5/29/1961)
110. Death Is a Four Letter Word (6/5/1961)
111. Deadly Intrusion (6/12/1961)
112. Voodoo (6/19/1961)
113. Down the Drain (6/26/1961)
114. Murder on the Line (9/18/1961)