Jake and the Fatman

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Jake and the Fatman
Jake and the Fatman Title Screen
Genre	Crime, Drama
Starring	William Conrad Joe Penny Alan Campbell Lu Leonard Olga Russell Jack Hogan George O'Hanlon Jr Melody Anderson
Country of origin	United States
No. of episodes	106
Production
Running time	60 Mins (Including Commercials)
Broadcast
Original channel	CBS
Original run	September 26, 1987 – September 12, 1992
Links
IMDb profile
TV.com summary

Jake and the Fatman is a television crime drama starring William Conrad as prosecutor Jason Lochinvar "Fatman" McCabe and Joe Penny as investigator Jake Styles. The series ran on CBS for five seasons from 1987 to 1992, but despite its 100-plus episodes has never been picked up for syndication in the US. Diagnosis: Murder is a spin-off of this series.

1 Origins
2 Cast
3 Episodes
4 Background
- 4.1 Characters
- 4.2 Setting
5 External links

[edit] Origins

Conrad guest starred as an aging prosecutor in a two-part episode of Matlock during its first season on NBC. Producer Dean Hargrove decided to use this character as a model for one of the main characters in a new show he was creating for CBS. Penny also guest starred in these episodes, but his character was not on the same side as Conrad's character in the storyline's legal case.

Following the departure of Hargrove, executive producers David Moessinger and Jeri Taylor were brought on to run the series. They also hired J. Michael Straczynski as story editor and, later, co-producer. Taylor and Moessinger ran the show for two years before finally leaving in a dispute over control over the show. Straczynski, in an act of loyalty, went with them.

[edit] Cast

William Conrad as District Attorney Jason Lochinvar "Fatman" McCabe
Joe Penny as Detective Jake Styles
Alan Campbell as Assistant District Attorney Derek Mitchell
Lu Leonard as Gertrude
Olga Russell as Elisabeth Berkeley-Smythe
Jack Hogan as Judge Smithwood
George O'Hanlon Jr as Sergeant Rafferty
Melody Anderson as Sergeant Neely Capshaw

[edit] Episodes

Main article: List of Jake and the Fatman Episodes

Jake and the Fatman had a total of five seasons and 106 episodes which were broadcast on CBS between 1987 and 1992.

[edit] Background

[edit] Characters

Jason "Fatman" McCabe is a Hawaii-born, tough former HPD officer turned Los Angeles district attorney. He is teamed with a handsome, happy-go-lucky special investigator named Jake Styles. They often clash due to their different styles and personalities. "Fatman" hardly travels anywhere without his consistent companion Max, his pet bulldog.

[edit] Setting

The show was set in Los Angeles during the first season. After the end of Magnum P.I., the show was moved to Hawaii. The second and third seasons and half of the fourth season were filmed in Honolulu. The show then returned to Los Angeles for the remainder of its run.