1960 · 2 seasons · 69 ep · Crime · Drama · Mystery
Checkmate is an American detective television series starring Anthony George, Sebastian Cabot, and Doug McClure. The show aired on CBS Television from 1960 to 1962 for a total of 70 episodes and was produced by Jack Benny's production company, "JaMco Productions" in co-operation with Revue Studios. Guest stars included Charles Laughton, Peter Lorre, and Lee Marvin, among many other commensurately prominent performers.
Checkmate is an American detective television series created by Eric Ambler, featuring Anthony George, Sebastian Cabot, and Doug McClure. The show was broadcast by CBS Television from 1960 to 1962 for a total of 70 episodes. It was produced by Jack Benny's production company, "JaMco Productions" in co-operation with Revue Studios. Guest actors included Charles Laughton, Peter Lorre, Lee Marvin, Mickey Rooney and many other prominent performers.
Contents
Synopsis
The program chronicles the cases of a San Francisco detective agency named Checkmate, Inc. Don Corey and Jed Sills manage the agency, which specializes in preventing crimes before they happen, from Corey's stylish apartment supposedly at 3330 Union Street. Sebastian Cabot portrays Dr. Hyatt, a college professor whom they employ as an adviser. Dr. Hyatt's dachshund, Bismarck, occasionally appears. Ken Lynch plays frequently as a police contact person, Lt. Thomas Brand.
Cast
Anthony George as Don Corey.
Sebastian Cabot as Dr. Carl Hyatt.
Doug McClure as Jed Sills.
Ken Lynch as Lt. Thomas Brand.
Jack Betts as Chris Devlin.
Notable guest actors
Philip Abbott in "Trial by Midnight" (1962)
Anna Maria Alberghetti in "Runaway" (1960)
Julie Adams in "Face in the Window" (1960)
Dana Andrews in "Trial by Midnight" (1962)
Eve Arden in "Death by Design" (1961)
John Astin in
"The Yacht Club Gang" (1962),
"So Beats My Plastic Heart" (1962)
Anne Baxter in "Death Runs Wild" (1960)
Ralph Bellamy in "Portrait of a Man Running" (1961)
Jack Benny in "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Game" (1962)
Charles Bickford in "Target Tycoon"(1960)
Bill Bixby in "To the Best of My Recollection" (1961)
Scott Brady in "Voyage into Fear" (1961)
Lloyd Bridges in "The Two of Us" (1961)
Ellen Burstyn in "The Bold and the Tough" (1962)
Cyd Charisse in "Dance of Death" (1961)
Sid Caesar in "Kill the Sound" (1961)
James Coburn in "A Chant of Silence" (1962)
Richard Conte in
Production
Some exterior scenes were filmed in San Francisco.
Series star Anthony George left his recurring role as Federal Agent Cam Allison on The Untouchables (starring Robert Stack), to front this series.
Episodes
Broadcast
CBS aired the series on Saturday in the 8:30-9:30 PM time slot from its début on September 17, 1960, until June 24, 1961. The series finished at #21 among all series. It was then reprogrammed to Wednesday in the same time slot from October 4, 1961, to June 20, 1962, where it fell in the ratings opposite The Perry Como Show on NBC. CBS replaced it with The Beverly Hillbillies.
The series was also seen in Canada from 1961 on CTV during that network's initial season.
By 1963, it was re-run in syndication.
Home media
Timeless Media Group has released two "Best of..." collections on DVD in Region 1. Checkmate: The Best of Season 1 was released on October 30, 2009, and Checkmate: The Best of Season 2 was released on March 25, 2008. Timeless Media Group released Checkmate: The Complete Series on 14 DVDs on June 22, 2010 (Region 1).
Response
The series was a critical favorite. In 1961, John J. Lloyd won the show's sole Emmy nomination for Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction and Scenic Design. The icon for this series is swirling liquid shapes at the opening and closing of each episode with theme music by John Williams.
Comics
In 1962, Gold Key Comics published a two-issue comic book run based on the series.
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