Peter Gunn
Pay Now, Kill Later
TV Flash files “Pay Now, Kill Later” as hour 28 of 114 in the TV Flash guide — Peter Gunn (1958–1961) on NBC/ABC, season 1, episode 28, aired 1959-04-06, 30 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S01E28: listed hour 28 of 114 in the Peter Gunn guide, hour 28 of 38 in season 1. It aired 1959-04-06 (30 min). The listed hour before it is “Breakout” (S01E27). Next is “Skin Deep” (S01E29).
Viewer FAQ
Where does Pay Now, Kill Later sit in the Peter Gunn guide?
S01E28 is listed hour 28 of 114 — hour 28 of 38 in season 1, season 1 episode 28.
When did Peter Gunn S01E28 air?
Pay Now, Kill Later aired 1959-04-06 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…