Barnaby Jones
The Day of the Viper
TV Flash files “The Day of the Viper” as hour 17 of 178 in the TV Flash guide — Barnaby Jones (1973–1980) on CBS, season 2, episode 4, aired 1973-10-07, 60 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S02E04: listed hour 17 of 178 in the Barnaby Jones guide, hour 4 of 24 in season 2. It aired 1973-10-07 (60 min). The listed hour before it is “Echo of a Murder” (S02E03). Next is “Trial Run for Death” (S02E05).
Catalog log
Broadcast listing — not a TV Flash recap.
A former student of Barnaby's asks him to investigate the death of her father, who died due to a deadly snake bite.
Viewer FAQ
Where does The Day of the Viper sit in the Barnaby Jones guide?
S02E04 is listed hour 17 of 178 — hour 4 of 24 in season 2, season 2 episode 4.
When did Barnaby Jones S02E04 air?
The Day of the Viper aired 1973-10-07 and is listed at 60 minutes.
Do I need The Beverly Hillbillies first?
No. Ebsen's Clampett fame is the career footnote. This is a Quinn Martin PI hour with a home lab, not a rural-comedy reunion.
In the series
Why this series still plays
Buddy Ebsen clocks out of Jed Clampett overalls and into a PI trench with a home lab. An older lead in a youth-drunk decade, solving murders with patience instead of karate. Second-act star power: gray hair owning a Quinn Martin hour without pretending to be thirty.
Requiem for a Son names the origin as grief: a retired private investigator returns to the game after his son's murder, and Buddy Ebsen clocks out of Jed Clampett overalls into a Quinn Martin trench with a home lab. CBS's Barnaby Jones (1973–1980), from Edward Hume, ran eight seasons, 178 episodes of steady crime. Lee Meriwether's Betty Jones, Mark Shera's J.R., and John Carter's Lt. Biddle filled the office. Ebsen was in his sixties as a leading man — rare in a youth-obsessed decade — and often crossed over with…
Filed against
- Buddy Ebsen as Barnaby Jones
Buddy Ebsen’s Jed Clampett struck oil and moved The Beverly Hillbillies into a ratings weapon — 1960s catalog rube-versus-elites, then Barnaby Jones clocking out of overalls into a PI trench with a home lab. TV Flash files him as the…
- Lee Meriwether as Betty Jones
Lee Meriwether's Betty Jones kept Barnaby Jones in the lab and the living room — Buddy Ebsen clocking out of overalls into a PI trench, an older lead in a youth-drunk decade, murders solved with patience instead of karate. TV Flash files…
- Mark Shera as J.R. Jones
Mark Shera’s J.R. Jones partnered Buddy Ebsen’s second-act PI trench on Barnaby Jones — home lab, patience instead of karate — then hit S.W.A.T.’s helmet-and-van gloss. An older-lead Quinn Martin hour; disco-era tactical acronym…
- John Carter as Lt. John Biddle
John Carter’s Lt. John Biddle backed Barnaby Jones as Quinn Martin hour muscle — Buddy Ebsen clocking out of Jed Clampett overalls into a PI trench with a home lab. An older lead in a youth-drunk decade, murders solved with patience…