Banyon

This series, along with Quinn Martin's Manhunter, brought the viewers back to the Depression era. Manhunter focused mostly on chasing the bad guys you already met in the prologue, but Banyon gave us the poor, thinking detective, living by his wits and fists. Robert Forster was cool and the twists in the plots were great; the stories are even better than what Murder She Wrote had to offer. Banyon doesn't just fight; he investigates and solves the crimes, and solves it well. And those costumes! The 30's threads, not to mention the cars, the guns and the music! Short-lived as it may be, it's the best TV could offer back in the selfish 70's.