Classic Television - Prime Time

Longstreet

Original channel

ABC

Original run

September 16, 1971 – August 10, 1972

Starring

James Franciscus

Ann Doran

Peter Mark Richman

Longstreet is an American crime drama series that was broadcast on the ABC in the 1971-1972 season. A 90-minute pilot movie of the same name aired prior to the debut of the series as an ABC Movie of the Week.

The series starred James Franciscus as insurance investigator Mike Longstreet. After a bomb (hidden in a champagne bottle) kills his wife, Ingrid, and leaves him blind, the title character pursues and captures the killers. He then continues his career as an insurance investigator despite his blindness. Longstreet's seeing eye dog was a white German Shepherd called Pax. The series was set in New Orleans, but was actually filmed in Los Angeles. Coincidentally, exactly a decade earlier, Franciscus had appeared as insurance investigator Russ Andrews in a 13-week CBS series The Investigators, with James Philbrook as his principal co-star. Both series aired at the same time, Thursday 9 PM (Eastern).

Mystery novelist Baynard Kendrick was credited in each episode as the creator of the source material for the series, although his character, Captain Duncan Maclain, had little in common with Longstreet aside from their both being blind private detectives.

Bruce Lee appeared in four episodes as Li Tsung, an antiques dealer and Jeet Kune Do expert who becomes Longstreet's martial arts instructor. Wikiquote has quotations from Li Tsung's teachings.

Twenty-three episodes of the show were aired before it was canceled in 1972.