Barnaby Jones
Death Beat
TV Flash files “Death Beat” as the first listed hour of season 6 — Barnaby Jones (1973–1980) on CBS, season 6, episode 1, aired 1977-09-15, 60 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S06E01: listed hour 110 of 178 in the Barnaby Jones guide, first listed hour of season 6. It aired 1977-09-15 (60 min). The listed hour before it is “Run Away to Terror” (S05E24). Next is “The Mercenaries” (S06E02).
Catalog log
Broadcast listing — not a TV Flash recap.
Barnaby and JR investigates the death of a priest. All evidence leads to a television reporter and a news segment.
Viewer FAQ
Where does Death Beat sit in the Barnaby Jones guide?
S06E01 is listed hour 110 of 178 — first listed hour of season 6, season 6 episode 1.
When did Barnaby Jones S06E01 air?
Death Beat aired 1977-09-15 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…