Crazy Like a Fox (TV series)

Overview

The lead roles in this series were Jack Warden as Harry Fox, a private detective with a carefree attitude who relied on his cleverness, and John Rubinstein as his son Harrison, a nervous lawyer who often got reluctantly pulled into his father's schemes. Each episode opened with a phone call between their offices: Harrison answered, Harry asked for help, Harrison reminded him he was a lawyer and not a detective, and Harry insisted he just needed a ride, asking what could go wrong.

Penny Peyser portrayed Harrison’s wife, while Della Reese appeared regularly as a hospital nurse who had a teasing but friendly rivalry with Harry, frequently helping him with his cases by sharing information. The show premiered on Sundays at 9 pm Eastern, becoming a hit in its first season with a 19.9 rating and a tenth-place finish. Its second season started strong, but CBS then revived its Sunday Night Movie, pushing both this show and the following program, Trapper John, M.D., into different time slots.

This schedule shuffling caused a steep ratings decline, and the series was canceled after the second season, which ended up ranked 44th with a 15.0 rating. Later, reruns aired in syndication and on the CBN Cable Network. A reunion television movie, Still Crazy Like a Fox, came out on CBS in 1987, featuring Graham Chapman from Monty Python in one of his final performances. Jack Warden earned two Primetime Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series for his work.

As of 2020, the show was airing on the UK channel GREAT! TV. In 2023, for the first time in over three decades, American audiences could see reruns again, as MeTV+ added the series to its schedule, broadcasting it five days a week at 7 pm Eastern.