Barnaby Jones
Master of Deception
TV Flash files “Master of Deception” as hour 151 of 178 in the TV Flash guide — Barnaby Jones (1973–1980) on CBS, season 7, episode 20, aired 1979-02-22, 60 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S07E20: listed hour 151 of 178 in the Barnaby Jones guide, hour 20 of 25 in season 7. It aired 1979-02-22 (60 min). The listed hour before it is “Fatal Overture” (S07E19). Next is “A Short Happy Life” (S07E21).
Catalog log
Broadcast listing — not a TV Flash recap.
Barnaby investigate the disappearance of a woman who helped develop a revolutionary new type of television set.
Viewer FAQ
Where does Master of Deception sit in the Barnaby Jones guide?
S07E20 is listed hour 151 of 178 — hour 20 of 25 in season 7, season 7 episode 20.
When did Barnaby Jones S07E20 air?
Master of Deception aired 1979-02-22 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…