Kirpianuscus I saw this serie for William Conrad performance. and, sure, for his dog. and the resemblace between them. in same measure, for the inspired architecture of each episode. and, sure, for the humor. because it remains more than a great crime serie. but one of the most energetic shows, and good example of the build of contrast in the portrait of lead characters.

S.R. Dipaling It shouldn't be much of a surprise that this show was (co?)produced by Fred Silverman,who also created and produced the highly successful "Matlock" on rival nets NBC and ABC. This inhabitant of the CBS midweek scheduling(usually Tuesdays if memory serves)seems like as much a sort of photo negative of the earlier offering starring Andy Griffith,where instead of a defense attorney fighting to exonerate a wrongly accused yet highly viable suspect,a sly,pro-active prosecuting attorney--in this case,portly J.L.McCabe(the late,great William Conrad)--battles to find who the real guilty culprit in in cases that seem cut-and-dried in another direction. To his aid are a handsome,seemingly 'Devil may care' private investigator(and ex-cop)named Jake Stiles(the handsome,now 'Where Are They Now?' material Joe Penny) and the loyal assistant attorney Derek Mitchell(Alan Campbell).While I cannot profess to be a loyal fan of the show,I watched it with some regularity through the first two seasons or so and was reasonably impressed with how the show(for its day)could deconstruct a "Now you see it,now you don't" type of murder mystery that was similar to the show about the crafty,blue suited Atlanta defense attorney. The combination of the veteran bluster of Mr. Conrad and the seemingly feckless charm of Mr.Penny was able to fill up an hour capably. Even though this show had a solid five year run(that was almost cut down after season one),it's pretty tough to find re-runs of this. If you can,and you feel like this kind of easy-to-digest,late eighties entertainment is your cup of tea,then check this out.

thebumswillalwayslose Hailing from the UK i am not that familiar with niche 80's US detective shows, so imagine my surprise whilst flicking through the various cable channels at 4am (dont ask) that i came across Jake and the Fatman.although other people might disagree i found myself hooked on this show which for an 80's programme (reaganite politics aside) is extremely groundbreaking in a cheesy sort of way. episodes that dealt with vigilante husbands punishing random muggers due to his wife being gang-raped (something he was made to watch)years previously to an avenging cops wife shooting her husband and his partner for the miscarriage he rather violently inflicted on her in the past.i am aware of the censorship issues that are in operation in network American TV so it is all the more refreshing and intelligent that such a programme could have dealt with these issues in (i am assuming) its prime-time slot.if you happen to read my rather general review on Jake and the Fatman and i have piqued your interest you would not be wasting your time if you were to give it a go, so search the stations on those cold dark nights and be entertained.

dnwalker Why was this series cancelled? With the exception of Hunter, it was probably the best detective show since William Conrad starred in Cannon. Conrad played the eccentric district attorney, J. L. McCabe, with his ever-present dog Max to the hilt, and Joe Penny played detective Jake Styles just as well. The interplay of McCabe's and Styles's personalities added much to the mix.