Tenspeed and Brown Shoe

Did You Know?

• The full-length pilot is included on the German and French DVD releases but not on the Region 1 release.
• CBS held ownership of the pilot and refused to agree to its use on the Region 1 DVD.

Plot

The one-hour program centered on two private detectives operating their own agency in Los Angeles. E. L. "Tenspeed" Turner, a hustler, worked as a detective to meet parole requirements. Lionel "Brownshoe" Whitney, an accountant with a desire to be a 1940s-style private investigator, partnered with him. A running joke involved Brownshoe reading hard-boiled crime novels by an in-universe author, Stephen J. Cannell. Despite his naivety, Brownshoe was sharper than he appeared and held a black belt in karate.

Production

This series marked the first independent production from Stephen J. Cannell Productions. It is the only Cannell series not to feature the famed Cannell logo on episodes, instead displaying "A Stephen J. Cannell Production" in the credits; the logo debuted in 1981 with The Greatest American Hero. The show shared similarities with later series Simon & Simon and Moonlighting. Cannell later reused the concept of a law-abiding crime-solver rehabilitating an ex-criminal for Hardcastle and McCormick.