The Misadventures of Sheriff Lobo

"The Misadventures of Sheriff Lobo" was an hour long action-adventure comedic series that ran on NBC from 1979 to 1981. For its second season the show was renamed "Lobo". The program aired Tuesday nights, at 8 p.m. Eastern time.

The lead character, Sheriff Elroy P. Lobo, played by Claude Akins, was a spin-off character from another television series, "B.J. and the Bear".

In fictitious Orly County, Georgia, Sheriff Lobo is the lead enforcer of the law, as well as one of its leading offenders. The corrupt, but now reformed, sheriff is assisted in his schemes by Deputy Perkins (Mills Watson) whose buffoonery often upsets and exacerbates the situation. An honest but naive new deputy, Birdwell 'Birdie' Hawkins (Brian Kerwin), is unaware of Lobo's schemes. Other characters in the show were Rose Lobo Perkins (Cydney Crampton), Margaret Ellen (Janet Lynn Curtis) and Sarah Cumberland (Leann Hunley).

Like many TV con artists, including Phil Silvers' Sgt. Ernie Bilko, Lobo was a small-time wheeler-dealer, always looking to make a quick buck. But when serious crime threatened Orly County and its people, Lobo would do his job capably and uphold the law. Unlike Sheriff Roscoe P. Coltrane from "The Dukes of Hazzard", Lobo was portrayed as an intelligent man and an able police officer.

The series premise was overhauled completely as the second season began in 1980. The governor of Georgia, visiting Orly County, reassigns Lobo and the deputies to his crime fighting task force, Special Crimes Action Team (SCAT) in Atlanta, reporting to Chief J.C. Carson (Nicolas Coster). Lobo is forced to contend with his new coworkers, Sgt. Jones and Detectives Peaches (Amy Botwinick) and Brandy (Tara Buckman). The new format also included Nell Carter as Sgt. Hildy Jones. In a July 1980 interview with "The New York Times", NBC president Fred Silverman said research showed the show performing well in rural areas, but not as well in urban areas. For that reason, it was decided to move the show from rural Orly County to urban Atlanta. But the series was less successful with the new format, and it was cancelled after the end of its second season.

The theme song for the show's first season was sung by Frankie Laine. During the second season, the theme song was a version of "Georgia on My Mind".

The series was syndicated in the early 1980s, often airing in a rotating format with "The Dukes of Hazzard" and its own parent series, "B.J. and the Bear".

In popular culture

This show is mentioned several times on the animated TV series "The Simpsons", including the episodes "Rosebud", "Lisa's Sax" and "Marge in Chains".

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