Griff is an American crime drama starring Lorne Greene and Ben Murphy, which aired on ABC from September 29, 1973, to January 4, 1974.[1]
Lorne Greene portrayed Wade "Griff" Griffin, a former police officer who becomes a private detective.[1] Ben Murphy plays Greene's 31-year-old partner, S. Michael "Mike" Murdock. Vic Tayback portrays Captain Barney Marcus of the Los Angeles Police Department, Griff's continuing contact with the police. Patricia Stich appeared as Gracie Newcombe, the secretary for the two detectives.[2]
The two-hour pilot movie, titled Man on the Outside, did not air until June 25, 1975, almost a year and a half after the cancellation of the series. Ben Murphy does not appear in the pilot, which has a plot identical to the plot of the pilot for Barnaby Jones. Wade Griffin's son is murdered, and Griff goes after the man who killed him.
The Case of the Baltimore Girls is a TV movie compiled from two episodes, "The Last Ballad" (November 10, 1973) and "All the Lonely People" (October 13, 1973), and features Kim Hunter, Patricia Crowley, Lawrence Pressman, Dabney Coleman, William Windom, and Herbert Rudley.
Death Follows a Psycho is another TV movie compiled from two episodes, "Countdown to Terror" (November 17, 1973) & "Elephant in a Cage" (November 24, 1973).
The series was executive produced by Steven Bochco, David Victor, Peter S. Fischer and Robert F. O'Neill.[3]
Griff was filmed by Groverton Productions at Universal City Studios in Los Angeles. The series followed the ABC Suspense Movie at the 10 p.m. Eastern timeslot on Saturdays opposite CBS's The Carol Burnett Show and the NBC Saturday Night at the Movies.[4]