As others have pointed out, this show was the coolest of the cool. West coast jazz at the time provided a chilled out counterpoint to the hard bop dominating the east. Cool jazz, femme fatals and smoother than a baby's bottom private investigators made this show tick. Not to mention the cars, which nowadays are to die for. Kookie, of course, was the rock 'n' roll rebel who brought a whole new vocabulary into our lives.
One thing that doesn't get enough credit is the camerawork. Most of the classic black and white film noir movies made after WWII featured a 1.37 aspect ratio... not far off the 1.33 on TV. This series played like a best of everything that made those movies what they were. The use of shadow, lighting, scene framing and talent close-ups was nothing short of brilliant. The show simply looked great. Don't bother with the disastrously stripped-down sixth season, it simply doesn't compare. The rest, though, helped defined what quality television was all about.
One thing that doesn't get enough credit is the camerawork. Most of the classic black and white film noir movies made after WWII featured a 1.37 aspect ratio... not far off the 1.33 on TV. This series played like a best of everything that made those movies what they were. The use of shadow, lighting, scene framing and talent close-ups was nothing short of brilliant. The show simply looked great. Don't bother with the disastrously stripped-down sixth season, it simply doesn't compare. The rest, though, helped defined what quality television was all about.