Peter Gunn
The Leaper
TV Flash files “The Leaper” as a desk essential hour — Peter Gunn (1958–1961) on NBC/ABC, season 1, episode 15, aired 1958-12-29, 30 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S01E15: listed hour 15 of 114 in the Peter Gunn guide, hour 15 of 38 in season 1. It aired 1958-12-29 (30 min). The listed hour before it is “Sisters Of The Friendless” (S01E14). Next is “The Fuse” (S01E16).
Essential hour: “The Leaper”. The Leaper — mid-first-season titled hour, walking bass line still the real starring credit on a sleek PI aesthetic.
Catalog log
Broadcast listing — not a TV Flash recap.
An older man stands on a high ledge of a downtown building: he asks someone trying to coax him not to jump "What time is it ?" On a rooftop across the street, a sniper in a TV repairman's uniform, opens his repair case, extracts a rifle with a silencer, and shoots the leaper off the ledge. The leaper was performer Lester the Human Fly, so his widow hires Peter Gunn to find out who killed her husband - and why.
Viewer FAQ
Where does The Leaper sit in the Peter Gunn guide?
S01E15 is listed hour 15 of 114 — hour 15 of 38 in season 1, season 1 episode 15.
When did Peter Gunn S01E15 air?
The Leaper aired 1958-12-29 and is listed at 30 minutes.
Where should I start?
Start with Stevens, Albright's nightclub, and Mancini's theme. The cool is the premise; a couple of cases teach the beat.
In the series
Why this series still plays
Peter Gunn is a cool-jazz private eye, a blonde nightclub, and a Henry Mancini score that outlived the plots. Blake Edwards made crime sound modern. Watch it in 2026 for the walking bass line and the sleek PI aesthetic — style-forward detective television that still looks like a cocktail-napkin sketch of noir.
The bass line enters before the detective does. Peter Gunn (NBC then ABC, 1958–1961), created by Blake Edwards, is a sleek private eye on a jazz-soaked city beat: Craig Stevens in the title, Lola Albright as girlfriend-singer Edie Hart, Herschel Bernardi as police contact Lt. Jacoby, and a Henry Mancini theme that became a major instrumental hit. Style-forward detective television. The walking bass invented a whole aesthetic. One hundred fourteen half-hours in which vibe is not decoration. Vibe is structure.…
Filed against
- Craig Stevens as Peter Gunn
Craig Stevens made Peter Gunn a cool-jazz private eye — blonde nightclub, walking bass, a Henry Mancini score that outlived the plots. Blake Edwards taught 1950s crime to sound modern. TV Flash files him as style-forward detective…
- Lola Albright as Edie Hart
Lola Albright sang the night shift as Edie Hart on Peter Gunn — blonde nightclub weather for a cool-jazz private eye, Blake Edwards crime, and a Henry Mancini score that outlived the plots. Style-forward detective television. TV Flash…
- Herschel Bernardi as Lt. Jacoby
Herschel Bernardi's Lt. Jacoby kept Peter Gunn on the official side of the bass line — cool-jazz private eye, a blonde nightclub, Henry Mancini score that outlived the plots, Blake Edwards making crime sound modern. TV Flash files him as…