77 Sunset Strip
 77 Sunset Strip was the show that started the young,
cool private detective craze of the early Sixties. This Warner
Brothers series was so big that the studio had several clones of
the show drawing big ratings for the networks well into the
Sixties.
On 77 Sunset Strip, former OSS officer and languages
expert Stu Bailey and former undercover agent (and non-practicing
attorney) Jeff Spencer were the hip, swinging, martini-clutching
private eyes that worked out of their office located at 77 Sunset
Boulevard in Los Angeles.
Their brand-new sports cars shared a driveway with a swinging
nightspot called Dino's, a rat-pack
type hangout that was an important source of trouble (and chicks)
for the boys.
Other series regulars were Roscoe, the racetrack
informant that liked to hang out with the guys, and Suzanne as the
detective agency's sexy French receptionist.
Parking the cars at Dino's was Gerald Lloyd Kookson, II (aka
Kookie) who snapped his fingers in beatnik style all the way to
genuine teen idol status.
Hep talking Kookie wanted to help the
guys solve crimes, but rarely found time to do more than pose,
thrust his hips and comb his hair. Kookie had his own way of
talking: "That chick's the ginchiest", "A dark
Seven" (a bad week), "Let's peel from this gig",
and piling on some Z's" (sleeping).
Suddenly the nation's teens all wanted to be like Kookie, and
Byrnes and Connie Stevens had a huge hit song in 1958 with Kookie,
Kookie, Lend Me Your Comb (featured on the second episode).
Edd Byrnes walked off 77 Sunset Strip during the second
season demanding a bigger part on the show and more money. He was
replaced by Troy Donahue as a long-haired intellectual-type that
parked the cars for Dino's. Producers eventually gave in and
Donahue was sent packing.
 By the third season Kookie was back as a full partner in the
detective agency. Rex Randolph joined the agency for one season.
Replacing Kookie in the parking lot was J.R. Hale who also had his
own language - he spoke in abbreviations, man.
The show was created by Roy Huggins as a segment for a show
called Conflict.
Huggins later wrote such classic
television shows as The Rockford
Files, Alias Smith
and Jones, Maverick and The
Fugitive.
A radical change took place when the show
entered it's sixth season. The production was turned over to Jack
Webb (Dragnet) and William Conrad
(Cannon) who dumped all of the
regulars except Stu Bailey.
Stu left the glamorous surroundings of West Hollywood for a
career pursuing international spy cases. Gone were Dino's bar, the
jazzy beatnik music and the even the Sunset Strip itself. Abysmal
ratings followed.
The show was cancelled in February of 1964, with re-runs
featuring the original cast playing out the summer.
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