A Ransom in Diamonds
- Episode aired Jan 12, 1978
- 1h
IMDb RATING
7.5/10
73
YOUR RATING
This episode was likely a "backdoor" pilot for a new series that shelved before production.This episode was likely a "backdoor" pilot for a new series that shelved before production.This episode was likely a "backdoor" pilot for a new series that shelved before production.
Sharon Thomas Cain
- Barbara
- (as Sharon Thomas)
Douglas Hume
- Doorman
- (as Doug Hume)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThis episode was a back-door pilot for a spin-off series that was never picked up. They would try another back door pilot (The Killin' Cousin (1980)) in the last ever Barnaby Jones episode.
- GoofsThere are two problems with the ransom drop-off at the bridge. J.R. positions himself on the far side of the bridge in order to keep surveillance of the pick-up. When Stanley drives up to the bridge he throws the package out of the passenger side window where it lands in the bottom, with the bridge between the package and J.R.'s position. When the kidnapper drives up to retrieve the package, he goes past where the package was dropped off, goes under the bridge, and collects the package which is now suddenly on the wrong side of the bridge. (If Stanley had driven toward the bridge from the other direction this problem wouldn't have occurred.)
What's more, when the kidnapper gets the package, the camera's POV (which should be the same as J.R.'s) is now in a radically different position, as if he had moved from his original location. Then the camera shows J.R. still in the same place he had been from the beginning. It's hard to understand how this sequence got so messed up.
Featured review
The show that might have been . . .
In this episode, Barnaby and J.R. investigate a jewel theft and find that it's linked to a kidnapping. They also find themselves working with two feisty newcomers to the sleuthing business, lawyer Alexander Street (Felton Perry) and investigator Stanley Donaldson (Sam Weisman). These two young men, who met while fighting in Vietnam, make a few rookie mistakes in the course of the story, generating some laughs, but they learn fast and their banter is fun. Given the prominence of these characters in the plot, and the detailed history that's revealed about them, it's clear that this episode was a backdoor pilot, a test run for a proposed TV series that never got made. Perhaps the concept of wisecracking buddies solving crimes and reminiscing about Vietnam was just slightly ahead of its time, or maybe the network bosses were slow to realize its potential. But Street and Donaldson were the forerunners of "Magnum" and related hits in the 1980s.
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