77 Sunset Strip (Stuart Bailey, Jeff Spencer, Rex Randolph and “Kookie”)

Created by Roy Huggins
(1914-2002)

“Kookie, Kookie, lend me your comb!”

Private eye STUART BAILEY was originally (and intentionally) quite a Chandleresque fellow, trudging through the mean streets of Los Angeles alone, carrying the weight of the world along with him in The Double Take, a quite satisfying 1946 P.I. novel by Roy Huggins. He even appeared in a pretty decent little film noir from 1948, I Love Trouble, starring Franchot Tone as Bailey, alongside Janet Blair and a well-rounded cast of crime flick vets, including Raymond Burr in a bit part.

But Huggins — and Warner Brothers — had bigger ambitions, and Stuart Bailey was sent back for a makeover.

He emerged with a fluency in foreign languages, a past as a government agent, a slick wardrobe, a slick office, and a partner, JEFF SPENCER, when Huggins adapted him for television’s 77 Sunset Strip, TV’s first hour-long private eye show and — simply put — one of the the most influential private eye television shows in history.

Spencer was also a former government agent, and a non-practising attorney. They worked out of swank digs at 77 Sunset Strip (right next door to Dino’s Restaurant) where French secretary Suzanne handled the phones. Hanging around for comic relief were racetrack tout Roscoe, and hair-combing, parking lot attendant and beatnik P.I. wanna-be KOOKIE. As played by Edd Byrnes, Kookie went from bit-part car hop to teenage sensation. So much for Huggin’s hopes for a straight P.I. series. Hardboiled drama was out and the gimmicks were in.

The audience lapped it up. Comb sales soared. Kookiemania descended upon the land.

And then the Warner Brothers hit factory started churning out copy cat versions of the show, all following the formula of two handsome male leads, a good-looking wanna-be, a pretty (but slightly ditzy) secretary, and a buffoon, with William Orr, Warner Brothers’ first television producer, at the controls. Hawaiian Eye, Bourbon Street Beat, and Surfside Six all appeared within the next year or so, and the formula was soon also grafted onto non-P.I. shows such as The Islanders (an adventure series about two charter pilots in the tropics) and The Roaring Twenties (a newspaper drama). And Warners wasn’t the only culprit — the syndicated show, The Brothers Brannagan (1960), featuring two handsome dudes as brother P.I.s, was at least as faitfhul a copy of the formula as anything Warners put out.

Alas, not all the clones survived. The first copy, and the least successful, Bourbon Street Beat, crashed and burned within a year. But New Orleans gumshoe Rex Randolph soon found new — albeit temporary– employment, joining the Sunset Strip crew for the 1960 season.

But you can only milk a formula so long, and soon only 77 Sunset Strip remained, but even its ratings were starting to slip. In its sixth and final season, everyone but Zimbalist was sent packing. Jack Webb was brought in as executive producer and William Conrad as a producer/director. Bailey became a solo P.I., and there was no mention made of Jeff, Suzanne, Kookie or Roscoe. Or—except for the show’s title—the address itself.  Bailey’s new office was purportedly still at the same old address (how else to explain the show’s title?), but it was actually filmed in the historic Bradbury Building in downtown Los Angeles, miles away. They continued to tinker with show, adding a secretary, a love interest, working in some humour, taking it away, changing the theme song and the opening credits at one point , but all to no avail—the show was canceled halfway through the season.

A sad end for a very influential show. Sure, it was incredibly cheesy at times, but it was also often quite entertaining. A true cult favourite. Back in 2001, there was even a rumour that a big-screen version, starring Harrison Ford, Leonardo DiCaprio and Bill Murray, would begin filming in Hawaii and Alaska soon, although the idea soon panned out.

AN INSIDE JOB?

• “I have a copy of a thirteen- page outline, “Girl on the Run” written by Roy Huggins, but there is no date on it. (In fact, Huggins has left some blank spaces for certain names of characters in the outline).”
  — a member of the crew back in the day

TRIVIA

• Some of you may be surprised to learn that one of the greatest authors of the pulp era, C. L. Moore, had a brief career writing for television.  Moore and her husband, Henry Kuttner, were living in Hollywood in the 1950s.  While continuing to write, both were studying clinical psychology with a goal of becoming practicing psychologists. Moore was also teaching a writing course at the University of Southern California, and in 1958 began writing teleplays for Warner Bros under her married name of Catherine Kuttner.  Between 1958 and 1962 she wrote scripts for 77 Sunset Strip, The Alaskans, Maverick and Sugarfoot.  Among the 77 Sunset Strip episodes she wrote were “The Antwerp Caper” (December 2, 1960) and “The Diplomatic Caper” (January 26, 1962).
  — Richard Aldrich

FROM THE PEANUT GALLERY

• “A fun show that generally played it straight but didn’t take itself too seriously.”
  — Ted Fitzgerald

TELEVISION

• CONFLICT
  (Anthology)
  Producer: Roy Huggins
  • “Anything For Money”
    (April 16, 1957)
    Pilot; shown as episode of anthology series CONFLICT
    Based on short story “Death and the Skylark” by Roy Huggins
    Starring Efrem Zimbalist Jr. as STU BAILEY
• GIRL ON THE RUN
  (October 10, 1958, ABC)
  Pilot; series started following week
  90 minutes
  Based on an unpublished story by Roy Huggins
  Screenplay by Marion Hargrove
  Producer: Roy Huggins
  Starring Efrem Zimbalist Jr. as STU BAILEY
• 77 SUNSET STRIP
  (1958-64, ABC)
  205 60-minute episodes
  Created by Roy Huggins
  Writers: Douglas Heyes, Howard Browne, Whitman Chambers, Marion Hargrove, Roy Huggins, Leonard Lee, Charles Sinclair, Roger Smith, John K. Butler
  Directors: William Conrad, Lawrence Dobkin, Robert Douglas, Douglas Heyes, Leslie H. Martinson, Irving J. Moore, Leo Penn, Richard Sarafian, George Waggner
  Producers: Roy Huggins, Howie Horowitz, Fenton Earnshaw, Harry Tatelman, Joel Rogosin, William Conrad
  Executive Producers: William T. Orr, Jack Webb
  A Warner Bros Production
  Theme by Jerry Livingston and Mack David
  Performed by Warren Barker
  Starring Efrem Zimbalist Jr. as STU BAILEY
  Roger Smith as JEFF SPENCER
  Edd Byrnes as GERALD “KOOKIE” KOOKSON III
  and Richard Long as REX RANDOLPH
  Also starring Louis Quinn, Jacqueline Beer, Robert Logan, Joan Staley, Byron Keith
  Guest Stars: Francis X. Bushman, Robert Conrad, Sammy Davis Jr., James Garner (as himself), Barton MacLane, Mary Tyler Moore, Tuesday Weld, Fay Wray, Adam West
  • Season One
  • “Lovely Lady, Pity Me” (October 17, 1958)
  • “A Nice Social Evening” (October 24, 1957)
  • “Casualty” (October 31, 1957)
  • “The Bouncing Chip” (November 7, 1958)
  • “Two and Two Make Six” (November 14, 1958)
  • “All Our Yesterdays” (November 21, 1958)
  • “The Well-Selected Frame” (November 28)
  • “The Iron Curtain Caper” (December 5, 1958)
  • “Vicious Circle” (December 12, 1958)
  • “One False Step” (December 19, 1958)
  • “The Court Martial of Johnny Murdo” (December 26, 1958)
  • “Hit and Run” (January 2, 1959)
  • “Not an Enemy in the World” (January 9, 1959)
  • “The Secret of Adam Cain” (January 16, 1959)
  • “The Girl Who Couldn’t Remember” (January 23, 1959)
  • “Dark Vengeance” (January 30, 1959)
  • “Conspiracy of Silence” (February 6, 1959)
  • “Eyewitness” (February 13, 1959)
  • “Lovely Alibi” (February 20, 1959)
  • “In Memoriam” (February 27, 1959)
  • “The Fifth Stair” (Marh 6, 1959)
  • “The Pasadena Caper” (march 13, 1959)
  • “The Hong Kong Caper” (March 20, 1959)
  • “A Check Will Do Nicely” (March 27, 1959)
  • “The Grandma Caper”” (April 3, 1959)
  • “Honey for the Bee” (April 10, 1959)
  • “Abra-cadaver” (April 17, 1959)
  • “A Bargain in Tombs” (April 24, 1959)
  • “The Widow Wouldn’t Weep” (May 1, 1959)
  • “Downbeat” (May 8, 1959)
  • “The Canine Caper” (May 15, 1959)
  • “Mr. Paradise” (May 22, 1959)
  • “Strange Girl in Town” (May 29, 1959)
  • Season Two
  • “The Kookie Caper” (October 9, 1959)
  • “Six Superior Skirts” (October 16, 1959)
  • “Clay Pigeon” (October 23, 1959)
  • “Thanks for Tomorrow” (October 30, 1959)
  • “Sing Something Simple” (November 6, 1959)
  • “The Treehouse Caper” (November 13, 1959)
  • “Out of the Past” (November 20, 1959)
  • “The Widow and the Web” (November 27, 1959)
  • “Secret Island” (December 4, 1959)
  • “Texas Doll” (December 11, 1959)
  • “Vacation with Pay” (December 18, 1959)
  • “The Juke-Box Caper” (December 25, 1959)
  • “Created He Them” (January 1, 1960)
  • “Collector’s Item” (January 8, 1960)
  • “Switchburg” (January 15, 1960)
  • “The One that Got Away” (January 22, 1960)
  • “Ten Cents a Death” (January 29, 1960)
  • “Who Killed Cock Robin?” (February 5, 1959)
  • “Condor’s Lair” (February 12, 1960)
  • “The Starlet” (February 26, 1960)
  • “Safari” (March 4, 1960)
  • “Blackout” (March 11, 1960)
  • “Return to San Dede; Part One: The Desert Story” (March 18, 1960)
  • “Return to San Dede; Part Two: Capital City” (March 25, 1960)
  • “Publicity Brat” (April 1, 1960)
  • “The Fix (April 8, 1960)
  • “Legend of Crystal Dart” (April 15, 1960)
  • “Stranger than Fiction” (April 22, 1960)
  • “Genesis of Treason” (April 29, 1960)
  • “Fraternity of Fear” (May 6, 1960)
  • “Spark of Freedom” (May 13, 1960)
  • “Perfect Setup” (May 20, 1960)
  • “Sierra” (May 27, 1960)
  • “The Silent Caper” (AKA “Much Ado About Nothing”; June 3, 1960)
  • “Family Skeleton” (June 10, 1960)
  • “Only Zeroes Count” (June 17, 1960)
  • Season Three
  • “The Attic” (September 16, 1960)
  • “The Fanatics” (September 23, 1960)
  • “The President’s Daughter” (September 30, 1960)
  • “The Office Caper” (October 7, 1960)
  • “The Wide-Screen Caper” (October 14, 1960)
  • “The Negotiable Blonde” (October 21, 1960)
  • “The Laurel Canyon Caper” (October 28, 1960)
  • “Double Trouble” (November 4, 1960)
  • “Trouble in the Middle East” (November 11, 1960)
  • “The Duncan Shrine” (November 18, 1960)
  • “The Double Death of Benny Markham” (November 25, 1960)
  • “The Antwerp Caper” (December 2, 1960)
  • “The Affairs of Adam Gallante” (December 9, 1960)
  • “The Valley Caper” (December 16, 1960)
  • “The Dresden Caper” (December 23, 1960)
  • “The Rice Estate” (December 30, 1960)
  • “The Hamlet Caper” (January 6, 1961)
  • “The Man in the Mirror” (January 13, 1961)
  • “The College Caper” (January 20, 1961)
  • “The Positive Negative” (January 27, 1961)
  • “The Corsican Caper” (February 3, 1961)
  • “Once Upon a Caper” (February 10, 1961)
  • “Strange Bedfellows” (February 17, 1961)
  • “Face in the Window” (February 24, 1961)
  • “Tiger by the Tail” (March 3, 1961)
  • “The Space Caper” (March 10, 1961)
  • “Open and Close in One” (March 17, 1961)
  • “The Legend of Leckonby” (March 24, 1961)
  • “Old Card Sharps Never Die” (March 31, 1961)
  • “Vamp Till Ready” (April 7, 1961)
  • “Common Denominator” (April 14, 1961)
  • “The Six Out of Eight Caper” (April 21, 1961)
  • “The Celluloid Cowboy ” (April 28, 1961)
  • “The Eyes of Love” (May 5, 1961)
  • “Designing Eye” (May 12, 1961)
  • “Caper in E Flat” (May 19, 1961)
  • “The Hot Tamale Caper; Part One” (May 26, 1961)
  • “The Hot Tamale Caper; Part Two” (June 2, 1961)
  • “Mr. Goldilocks” (June 30, 1961)
  • Season Four
  • “The Rival Eye Caper” (September 22, 1961)
  • “The Desert Spa Caper” (September 29, 1961)
  • “The Man in the Crowd” (October 6, 1961)
  • “The Inverness Caper” (October 13, 1961)
  • “The Lady has the Answers” (October 20, 1961)
  • “The Unremembered” (October 27, 1961)
  • “Big Boy Blue” (November 3, 1961)
  • “The Cold Cash Caper” (November 10, 1961)
  • “The Missing Daddy Caper” (November 17, 1961)
  • “The Turning Point” (November 24, 1961)
  • “The Deadly Solo” (December 1, 1961)
  • “Reserved for Mr. Bailey” (December 8, 1961)
  • “The Navy Caper” (December 15, 1961)
  • “Bullets for Santa” (December 22, 1961)
  • “The Chrome Coffin” (December 29, 1961)
  • “The Down Under Caper” (January 5, 1962)
  • “Mr. Bailey’s Honeymoon” (January 12, 1962)
  • “Penthouse on Skid Row” (January 19, 1962)
  • “The Diplomatic Caper” (January 26, 1962)
  • “The Bridal Trial Caper” (February 2, 1962)
  • “The Brass Ring Caper” (February 9, 1962)
  • “The Bel Air Hermit” (February 16, 1962)
  • “The Parallel Caper” (February 23, 1962)
  • “Twice Dead” (March 2, 1962)
  • “Jennifer” (March 9, 1962)
  • “The Baker Street Caper” (March 16, 1962)
  • “The Long Shot Caper” (March 23, 1962)
  • “Violence for Your Furs” (March 30, 1962)
  • The Pet Shop Caper” (April 6, 1962)
  • “The Steerer” (April 13, 1962)
  • “Ghost of a Memory” (April 20, 1962)
  • “The Disappearance” (April 27, 1962)
  • “The Lovely American” (May 4, 1962)
  • “The Gemmologist Caper” (May 11, 1962)
  • “Flight from Escondido” (May 18, 1962)
  • “Dress Rehearsal” (May 25, 1962)
  • “Framework for a Badge” (June 1, 1962)
  • “Pattern for a Bomb” (June 8, 1962)
  • “Upbeat” (June 15, 1962)
  • “Nightmare” (June 22, 1962)
  • “The Gang’s All Here” (June 29, 1962)
  • Season Five
  • “The Reluctant Spy” (October 12, 1962)
  • “Leap, My Lovely” (October 19, 1962)
  • “Terror in a Small Town” (October 26, 1962)
  • “The Raiders” (November 2, 1962)
  • “The Floating Man” (November 9, 1962)
  • “The Catspaw Caper” (Novenber 16, 1962)
  • “Wolf! Cried the Blonde” (November 23, 1962)
  • “The Dark Wood” (November 30, 1962)
  • “Shadow on Your Shoulder” (December 7, 1962)
  • “Adventure in San Dede” (December 14, 1962)
  • “The Odds on Odette December 21, 1962)
  • “The Snow Job Caper” (December 28, 1962)
  • “Falling Stars” (January 4, 1963)
  • “The Tarnished Idol” (January 11, 1963)
  • “Scream Softly, Dear” (January 18, 1963)
  • “Terror in Silence” (January 25, 1963)
  • “Crashout” (February 1, 1963)
  • “The Night was Six Years LOng” (February 8, 1963)
  • “Six Feet Under” (February 15, 1963)
  • “Escape to Freedom” (February 22, 1963)
  • “Dial “S” for Spencer” (March 1, 1963)
  • “Nine to Five” (March 8, 1963)
  • “Stranger from the Sea” (March 15, 1963)
  • “The Man Who Wasn’t There” (March 22, 1963)
  • “Flight 307” (March 29, 1963)
  • “Target Island” (April 5, 1963)
  • “Reunion at Balboa” (April 12, 1963)
  • “Walk Among Tigers” (April 19, 1963)
  • “The Left Field Caper” (April 26, 1963)
  • “The Heartbeat Caper” (May 3, 1963)
  • “To Catch a Mink” (May 10, 1963)
  • “Lady inthe Sun” (May 17, 1963)
  • “Our Man in Switzerland” (May 24, 1963)
  • “The Checkmate Caper” (June 7, 1963)
  • “Never to Have Loved” (June 14, 1963)
  • Season Six
  • “5, Part One” (September 20, !963)
  • “5, Part Two” (September 27, 1963)
  • “5, Part Three” (October 4, 1963)
  • “5, Part Four” (October 11, 1963)
  • “5, Part Five” (October 18, 1963)
  • “White Lie” (October 25, 1963)
  • “88 Bars” (November 1, 1963)
  • “Don’t Wait for Me” (November 8, 1963)
  • “By His Own Verdict” (November 15, 1963)
  • “Deposit with Caution” (November 29, 1963)
  • “The Toy Jungle” (December 6, 1963)
  • “The Fumble” (December 13, 1963)
  • “Bonus Baby” (December 20, 1963)
  • “Paper Chase” (December 27, 1963)
  • “Lover’s Lane” (January 3, 1964)
  • “Alimony League” (January 10, 1964)
  • “Not Such a Simple Knot” (January 17, 1964)
  • “The Target” (January 24, 1964)
  • “Dead as in “Dude” (January 31, 1964)
  • “Queen of the Cats” (February 7, 1964)

COMIC BOOKS

• 77 SUNSET STRIP
  (1960-62, Dell Four-Color series)
  6 issues, photo cover
  Writers: Eric Friewald (who also wrote for the show)
  Artists: Alex Toth, Russ Manning.
  • (Dell Four-Color Series #1066, 1960)
  • (Dell Four-Color Series #1106)
  • (Dell Four-Color Series #1159)
  • (Dell Four-Color Series #1211)
  • (Dell Four-Color Series #1263)
  • (Dell Four-Color Series #1291)
• 77 SUNSET STRIP
  (1962, Dell)
  1 issue, photo cover
  Writers: Eric Friewald (who also wrote for the show)
  Artists: Russ Manning
  • (Dell #01-742-209, 1962)
• 77 SUNSET STRIP
  (1962-63, Gold Key)
  Two issues, photo covers
  Writers: Eric Friewald (who also wrote for the show)
  Artists: Alex Toth, Russ Manning
  • (Issue #1)
  • (Issue #2)

KA-CHING!

Anyone doubting the popularity of 77 Sunset Strip or “Kookiemania” has only to check out the attempts to cash in. Besides the comic books, there were games, paperback tie-ins, toys, soundtrack albums and even a Kookie Christmas single back in the day. And model cars, CDs and the like are still being manufactured for the lucrative nostalgia market. Which is why it’s so surprising that Warner Bros. stubbornly refused to release the show on DVD or Blu-Ray. And now that the video market is dying, and fans who remember the show fondly not far behind, it’s unlikely

• 77 SUNSET STRIP (1959) | Buy this book
  This tie-in paperback collects all three Stuart Bailey short stories,all of which pre-date the TV show, and present a very different Bailey. Great cover, though…
• 77 SUNSET STRIP “PRIVATE EYE” GAME OF MYSTERY & SUSPENSE
  (1960, Lowell)
  2-4 players
  This one called itself a “Private Eye Game of Mystery and Suspense” and featured the show’s three stars, Efrem Zimbalist Jr., Edward Byrnes, and Roger Smith, prominently on the box art. A hipper spin on Clue, players served as detectives, and the object was to solve the murder of a man in a motel as designated on the game board. IThe game came with four plastic detective pieces, one die, one clue pad, one note pad, a set of fifteen clue figures, and a set of twenty-seven time, weapon and motive cards. Clues in the shape of small die-cut figures were scattered face down throughout the various rooms of the motel.
• THE KOOKIE RECORD ALBUM | Buy this CD
  (1959, Warner Bros.)
  Soundtrack album
  “Performed” by Edd Byrnes
  The ultimate 77 tie-in, this 1959 LP (Reissued on CD in 2001) boasted a cool dozen cuts, all featuriing Kookie’s, uh, unique vocal stylings. Get your groove on to such instant classics as”Hot Rod Rock,” “Kookie’s Mad Pad,” “The Kookie Cha Cha Cha” and, of course, the immortal Kookie/Connie Stevens duet “Kookie, Kookie (Lend Me Your Comb).” Like, absolutely the ginchiest!
  Actually, the real star here is Don Ralke, who not only scored the incidental music for the television show, but was also one of the prime movers of the Space Age Bachelor Pad/Ultra Lounge movement . His touch is evident on every track, resulting in — as the All Music Guide puts it, “a fun ride and recommended for enthusiasts reminiscent for a slice of pop culture’s past.” And Efrem Zimbalist Jr. wrote the liner notes. Like, go wild, daddy-o.
• KOOKIE’S KOOKIEMOBILE MODEL KIT
  (“Revell”)
  Kookie, the out-of-left-field teen idol went from bit-part car hop to teenage sensation, and took his customized Model A/Model T hot rod hybrid with him. For years there were rumours that Revell had released a model kit, although confirmation notiously hard to find. The empty box pictured above was faked. According to a dealer selling one of the empty boxes several years ago, “The box is 9″x 4.5″x 3″ and has printing on all sides except the bottom. It is shrink wrapped and MINT. It says ‘Made by Revell’.. but I am pretty sure they did not make it, allthough THEY SHOULD HAVE!!!” But even if the box was bogus, there must have been about a zillion scratch-built version of what some have called “the most famous hot rod of all time.”

Respectfully submitted by Kevin Burton Smith. Thanks to Dick Martin for some of the info on this page.