Oscar “Duke” Ramsey (The Duke)

Created by Stephen J. Cannell

The Duke was yet another Stephen J. Cannell-produced P.I. show that flopped.

In the pilot, Up Against the Odds (April 5, 1979), we meet 38-year old Chicago prizefighter OSCAR “DUKE” RAMSEY (played by Robert “The Wild, Wild West, Hawaiian Eye” Conrad), who decides–with some help from his long-time manager Benny–that the prizes he’s fighting for just ain’t worth it no more (plus, in his last bout, he had his ass handed to him by an opponent half his age).

So they talk about the future, and consider opening a bar or something together. But before that can happen, Benny is murdered, and Duke swings into action, intent on–what else?–solving the murder. By the time the pilot wrapped up and the series began a few weeks later, Duke had found himself a whole new occupation: private eye and bar owner. Hovering around were slick, baby-faced bookie Joe Cadiilac (played by Larry Manetti), jet setter Dedra Smith who has a sweet spot for Duke and Sgt. O’Brien, his sometimes-pal on the force.

With connections on both sides of the law and a popular actor, Robert Conrad, playing the lead, it seemed like a natural.

It wasn’t. The show headed straight to Palookaville, only lasting four episodes.

TRIVIA

• Adding a little verisimilitude (well, certainly more than Riptide, anyway) to the proceedings, Robert Conrad was actually a professional fighter when he was younger.
• Red West, who played Sgt. O’Brien, was a former bodyguard of Elvis Presley’s. He’d previously acted as stuntman in most of the Wild,Wild West bar fights, and played a mechanic in Conrad’s Black Sheep.
• Larry Manetti went on to co-star in Magnum P.I., which lasted several more rounds than The Duke.

TELEVISION

• THE DUKE 
  (aka “Up Against the Odds”)
  (April 5, 1979, NBC)
  2 hour made-for-television movie/pilot
  A Stephen J. Cannell Production for Universal Television
  Created by Stephen J. Cannell
  Writers: Stephen J. Cannell
  Directed by Robert Conrad, Lawrence Doheny, Dana Elcar, Tony Lo Bianco
  Producers: Alex Beaton, Don Carlos Dunaway
  Executive Producer: Stephen J. Cannell
  Music: Mike Post and Pete Carpenter
  Starring Robert Conrad as OSCAR “THE DUKE” RAMSEY
  With Larry Manetti as Joe Cadillac
  Red West as Sgt. Mick O’Brien
  Patricia Conwell as Dedra Smith
  and Percy Rodrigues as Benny
• THE DUKE
  (1979, NBC)
  4 60-minute episodes
  A Stephen J. Cannell Production for Universal Television
  Writers: Stephen J, Cannell
  Directors: Robert Conrad, Lawrence Doheny, Dana Elcar, Tony Lo Bianco
  Producers: Alex Beaton, Don Carlos Dunaway
  Executive Producer: Stephen J. Cannell
  Music: Mike Post and Pete Carpenter
  Starring Robert Conrad as OSCAR “THE DUKE” RAMSEY
  Larry Manetti as Joe Cadillac
  Red West as Sgt. Mick O’Brien
  and Patricia Conwell as Dedra Smith
  • “Blues For The Duke” (April 18, 1979)
  • “The Two Hundred Underwacker Street Bridge” (April 20, 1979)
  • “Long And Thin, Lorna Lynn” (April 27, 1979)
  • “Nothing ‘Cept Noise” (May 18, 1979)

Respectfully submitted by Kevin Burton Smith.