Checkmate (TV series)

Checkmate
Genre	Detective/Mystery
Created by	Eric Ambler
Directed by	Frank Arrigo Jules Bricken Herschel Daugherty Walter Doniger Robert Florey William A. Graham Tom Gries Douglas Heyes James Wong Howe Robert Ellis Miller Alexander Singer Don Taylor Don Weis
Starring	Anthony George Sebastian Cabot Doug McClure
Theme music composer	John Williams
Composer(s)	Marty Paich Pete Rugolo Morton Stevens John Williams Stanley Wilson
Country of origin	United States
Language(s)	English
No. of seasons	2
No. of episodes	70
Production
Producer(s)	Richard Berg Herbert Coleman Joseph T. Naar
Editor(s)	Howard Epstein Lee Huntington Tony Martinelli
Cinematography	Joseph F. Biroc Dale Deverman Ray Flin Lionel Lindon Fred Mandl John L. Russell Bud Thackery John F. Warren
Running time	60 mins.
Production company(s)	JaMco Productions
Distributor	MCA Television
Broadcast
Original channel	CBS
Picture format	Black-and-white
Audio format	Monaural
Original run	September 17, 1960 – September 1, 1962

Checkmate is an American detective television series starring Anthony George, Sebastian Cabot, and Doug McClure. The show aired on CBS Television from 1960 to 1962 for a total of 70 episodes and was produced by Jack Benny's production company, "JaMco Productions" in co-operation with Revue Studios.

Synopsis

The series chronicled the adventures of a private detective agency set in San Francisco. Created by Eric Ambler, the program involves the cases of the detective agency CHECKMATE INC. Anthony George and Doug McClure run the agency which specializes in preventing crimes before they happen from George's (Corey's) stylish apartment, supposedly at 3330 Union St. Sebastian Cabot portrays a PhD college professor whom they employ as an adviser. Dr. Hyatt's dacshund Bismarck also appears occasionally. Ken Lynch is frequently seen as police dept. contact Lt. Thomas Brand. The atmospheric series ran for seventy episodes over two seasons and was an enormous critical favorite because of the intelligence of the scripts and the superb performances. Many exterior scenes were shot in San Francisco.

Gold Key Comics published a short-lived (2 issues) comic book based on the series in 1962. In 2007, several episodes from both seasons have been released on DVD.

Distribution

The series was also seen in Canada from 1961 on CTV during that network's initial season.^[1]

Cast

• Sebastian Cabot....Dr. Carl Hyatt
• Anthony George....Don Corey
• Doug McClure....Jed Sills
• Ken Lynch....Lt. Thomas Brand
• Jack Betts....Chris Devlin

Notable guest stars

• Anna Maria Alberghetti
• Dana Andrews
• Anne Baxter
• Jack Benny
• Charles Bickford
• Ellen Burstyn
• Richard Conte
• Russ Conway
• Joseph Cotten
• Francis De Sales
• Donna Douglas
• Buddy Ebsen
• Norman Fell
• Joan Fontaine
• Ron Foster
• Peter Helm
• Martin Landau
• Charles Laughton
• Julie London
• Peter Lorre
• Tina Louise
• Scott Marlowe
• Lee Marvin
• Tyler McVey
• Vera Miles
• Ricardo Montalbán
• Elizabeth Montgomery
• Mary Tyler Moore
• Margaret O'Brien
• Denver Pyle
• Jimmie Rodgers
• Mickey Rooney
• Janice Rule
• Barbara Rush
• John Williams (actor)
• Jane Wyman

DVD releases

Timeless Media Group has released two best-of collections on DVD in Region 1. Checkmate: The Best of Season 1^[2] was released on October 30, 2009 and Checkmate: The Best of Season 2 was released on March 25, 2008.^[3]

Timeless Media Group released Checkmate: The Complete Series on 14 DVDs on June 22, 2010 (Region 1).http://www.timelessvideo.com/dvds/checkmate14dvd.html

References

1. ^ Braithwaite, Dennis (2 October 1961). "Filmed Accolades Put Private TV Network on the Air". Globe and Mail. p. 4.. 
2. ^ http://www.timelessvideo.com/dvds/checkmate.html
3. ^ http://www.timelessvideo.com/dvds/checkmate2.html

External links

• Checkmate at the Internet Movie Database
• Checkmate at TV.com
• Checkmate episode guide
• A.V. Club article on Checkmate episode "The Paper Killer"