Credit oddities in TV shows

Cartoonist Doug Wildey created all the cast members of Jonny Quest, except Bandit the dog.

The recent passing of writer Edward Hume spurred a discussion on social media about how American television series sometimes avoided either “created by” or “adapted by” credits. What follows are some examples.

Maverick (1957-62): The Western show was created by Roy Huggins (1914-2002). Bret Maverick (James Garner) and his brother Bart (Jack Kelly) were gamblers in the 19th century who thought first before acting. Warner Bros., with Jack L. Warner still in charge, didn’t want to give “created by” credits. Huggins eventually was credited in a 1994 theatrical movie that said the film was based on a TV series created by Roy Huggins.

77 Sunset Strip (1958-64): In real life, Roy Huggins created the series but was never credited. It was made at Warner Bros., where Jack L. Warner resisted giving out creator credits. An expanded version of the pilot was edited into a movie shown in the Caribbean. On this basis, Warner justified denying Huggins the creator credit. Soon after, Huggins had enough and left Warners.

The Adventures of Jonny Quest (1964-65): The prime-time cartoon was an early spy craze entry. Jonny was like any other boy, except his father (Dr. Benton Quest) was America’s leading scientist and his tutor/bodyguard (Roger T. “Race” Bannon) had a license to kill. Almost all of the series was created by cartoonist Doug Wildey (1922-94). The one exception was Bandit, an obvious cartoon dog interacting with realistically drawn people. During the series, Wildey was sometimes credited as “supervising art director,” other times with “based on an idea created by Doug Wildey.”

I Spy (1965-68): The pilot for the show was written by Morton Fine and David Friedkin, who also were the show’s producers. But they never got a “created by” credit. It wasn’t until a 1994 TV movie, I Spy Returns, that Fine and Friedkin got a “based on characters created by” credit. It was a little late. Both men were dead by that time.

Cannon, The Streets of San Francisco, and Barnaby Jones: Edward Hume scripted the pilots for all three 1970s Quinn Martin series. He received a “developed for television” credit for all three. Cannon, the adventures of a heavy detective (William Conrad), apparently was an original work. Yet, for the pilot, Hume got a “teleplay by” credit rather than “written by.” The Streets of San Francisco was based on a novel. Barnaby Jones was another original work. The pilot cited Hume with the script and Quinn Martin lieutenant Adrian Samish with the plot. But only Hume was credited for the series.

The FBI (1965-74): Quinn Martin’s longest-running show was a joint venture with Warner Bros. There was no creator credit. I suspect that Charles Larson, producer for the first four seasons, created the show based on the fourth episode, “Slow March Up a Steep Hill.” It has the feel of a pilot, with exposition dialogue. Larson’s credit for that episode was “written and produced by.”