Created by Nancy Fichman, Katie Ford & Jennifer Hoppe-House If you want to mine the vein of modern day gonzo noir, as popularized by St. Leonard, Carl Hiaasen and others, you have to go big. And if you’re gonna go big, you should go really BIG. High Desert (Apple TV) doesn’t even try. Purportedly set in … Continue reading Peggy Newman (High Desert)
Tag: SoCal
Wil Hardesty
Created by Richard Barre It’s not all fun, fun, fun... Presenting the surfer dude as angst-ridden P.I., SoCal's WIL HARDESTY made an auspicious debut in 1995's The Innocents, scooping up a Shamus for Best First Novel, and praise from folks like Michael Collins, Stephen Greenleaf, James Crumley and Ross Thomas. Wil's a Vietnam vet still … Continue reading Wil Hardesty
Harvey Mapes
Created by Lee Goldberg Just what the world needs now: an over-educated and under-employed slacker twenty-something security guard with private eye wet dreams. HARVEY MAPES works for Bel Vista Estates, one of those ubitquious SoCal gated communities, working the night shift and not exactly setting the world on fire. Though having a stapler that works … Continue reading Harvey Mapes
Roger & Suzanne Bowman
Created by Jerold Last A globe-trotting married couple who find trouble wherever they go? If you were expecting Frances Crane’s Pat and Jean Abbott, you’d be wrong. This is a more modern itineration. Plus dogs! Former patent attorney and police officer ROGER BOWMAN and UCLA biochemist SUZANNE FOSTER are boyfriend/girlfriend visiting Montevideo, Uruguay, when we first … Continue reading Roger & Suzanne Bowman
Harry Ross (Twilight)
Created by Robert Benton and Richard Russo Looking for sparkly vampires? Keep going... Retired, and just plain tired, Hollywood gumshoe HARRY ROSS takes odd jobs (and once, a bullet, trying to rescue their jailbait daughter) for his old pal and dying movie star, Jack Ames, and his one-time sexpot actress wife, Catherine. He bides his time, … Continue reading Harry Ross (Twilight)
Doc Holiday
Created by Kirk Alex You’ve heard the expression “too on the nose”? Like, when some writer thinks he’s being clever, offering a simple hint or allusion to something, a shout-out meant to be subtle or disguised, but in fact is about as subtle as a sledgehammer to the face? This series may qualify. Naming your … Continue reading Doc Holiday
Matt Singer & Jamal Wade
Created by Jack Polo "Sleuthin' ain't pretty." -- Matt warns a potential client Trouble may be their business, but it doesn't pay well enough for SoCal private detectives MATT SINGER and JAMAL WADE, so they come up with what they hope will be a slam dunk side hustle: real estate. But flogging McMansions in the … Continue reading Matt Singer & Jamal Wade
Pedro Gomez & Dennis “Hardball” Bakelenekoff (Grand Slam)
Created by Bill L. Norton In this extremely short-lived action/adventure series, comic Paul Rodriguez and John "Dukes of Hazzard" Schneider starred as PEDRO GOMEZ and DENNIS "HARDBALL" BAKELENEKOFF, bounty hunters for competing firms who eventually team up to nail a ruthless South American drug dealer, and end up going into business together, despite the fact they … Continue reading Pedro Gomez & Dennis “Hardball” Bakelenekoff (Grand Slam)
Floyd Jackson
Created by James Hadley Chase Pseudonym of Rene Brabazon Raymond Other pseudonyms include Raymond Marshall, Ambrose Grant & James L. Dougherty (1906-1985) “Women are funny animals. You never know where you are with them – they don’t often know where they are with themselves.” -- Floyd gets wise Got pulp? In his one known appearance, … Continue reading Floyd Jackson
Gus Slavin (Loophole)
Created by Dwight V. Babcock and George Bricker This time out, he's GUS SLAVIN, an LA-based investigator for a bonding service, who's putting the screws on war hero turned nice guy bank teller Mike Donovan (Barry Sullivan, the star of the show, playing the classic noir bonehead/doofus to perfection). Gus is convinced Donovan had something … Continue reading Gus Slavin (Loophole)