Switch (TV series)

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Switch was an American action-adventure, tongue-in-cheek and detective series that was broadcast on the CBS network for three seasons between September 9, 1975 and August 20, 1978, bumping the long-running Hawaii Five-O detective series to Friday nights. It was inspired by the 1973 movie The Sting. It was created by Glen A. Larson. Donald P. Bellisario was one of the writers.

The series features a former con man, Det. Pete Ryan (played by Golden Globe-nominated actor Robert Wagner of It Takes a Thief and Hart to Hart) who was once sent to jail by a former police officer, Frank MacBride (played by Academy Award-winning and Emmy-nominated actor Eddie Albert of Green Acres). After Ryan's release, the two open up their own detective agency in Los Angeles that specializes in "out-conning the cons" by using the same sorts of double-crosses and deceptions used by con men in order to capture criminals. Assisting them is another former con man, restaurant owner Malcolm Argos (Charlie Callas), and Maggie Philbin (Sharon Gless), Pete and Frank's receptionist.

During the show's run the series became more serious in tone and more of a traditional crime drama.^{[citation needed]} William Bryant joined the cast as Lt. Shilton. In the final season, Pete moves into an apartment above Malcolm's bar and Mindi Miller and James Hong joined the cast.

Numerous familiar and unfamiliar actors who guest-starred on the show went on to become successful actors: Richard Masur, Jaclyn Smith, Cheryl Ladd, Dionne Warwick, William Schallert, Beverly Garland, Morgan Fairchild, Margot Kidder, Julie Sommars, Richard Mulligan, Howard Hesseman, Linda Gray, Jack Colvin, Penny Peyser, Gordon Jump, Lorenzo Lamas, among many others. Future The Young and The Restless stars, Eric Braeden and Jess Walton also future Dynasty stars, John Forsythe and Joan Collins also guest starred in the show. Veteran radio disc jockey Casey Kasem made a guest appearance, and Natalie Wood, who's Wagner's real-life second wife also made a cameo appearance.

The modestly successful show was put on hiatus in early 1978, being replaced by The Incredible Hulk; it came back during the summer to air its final 10 episodes before ultimately being cancelled that August.

Contents 1 Main cast 2 See also 3 Trivia 4 External links

[edit] Main cast

• Robert Wagner - Det. Pete T. Ryan - Frank's ex-con man
• Eddie Albert - Frank MacBride - A retired police officer
• Charlie Callas - Malcolm Argos - Frank's ex-con man who worked at the restaurant recruited by Pete & Frank
• Sharon Gless - Maggie Philbin - Pete's & Frank's classy receptionist
• William Bryant - Lt. Shilton - Pete's & Frank's partner (seasons 2-3)
• James Hong - Wang - Malcolm's cook (season 3)
• Mindi Miller - Revel - Waitress who work at Malcolm's restaurant (season 3)
• Anne Archer - Laurie - played one of the semi-regular cast of grifters who helped Frank and Pete with their sting operations. Although only seen in a handful of Season One episodes, she and her bikini stayed in the title sequences for all of Season One and at least part of Season Two.

[edit] See also

• McCoy, a similarly-themed TV series that also debuted in 1975.

[edit] Trivia

• Originally, Switch started out as an adventure series, it did pretty well in the ratings at the end of the first year. Midway throughout the second season, the show turned into a crime drama, playing second-only to shows like: Kojak, Hawaii Five-O, Police Woman, The Streets of San Francisco, The Rockford Files, among many others.

• Both Eddie Albert & Robert Wagner became friends in real-life, long before they starred together on this series. He would later co-star with Robert Wagner in the film, The Concorde: Airport '79, after the series was cancelled.

• The series pilot for CBS aired on March 21, 1975, as a 90-minute made-for-television movie.

• On one episode, Wagner's real-life former wife Natalie Wood played a woman in a bathtub. In real-life, she drowned near her yacht in 1981.

• Both Cheryl Ladd & Jaclyn Smith got their start on guest-starring Switch, before finding fame on Charlie's Angels.

• After the show's cancellation, Robert Wagner went on to star in the successful series, Hart to Hart.

• Wagner would later guest-star on Gless's The Trials of Rosie O'Neill in the 1990s.

• Before Donald Bellisario began his own production company created top-notched shows such as: Airwolf, JAG, among many others. He served as one of the writers on Switch, while also writing some episodes for Kojak. Coincidentally, both shows aired on CBS.

• This show marks the debut of actress Sharon Gless.

[edit] External links

• Switch at the Internet Movie Database