| Ace Crawford, Private Eye | |
|---|---|
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| Genre |
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| Created by | Ron Clark & Tim Conway |
| Directed by |
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| Starring |
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| Theme music composer |
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| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 5 |
| Production | |
| Camera setup | Multi-camera |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Production companies |
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| Original release | |
| Network | CBS |
| Release | March 15 (1983-03-15) – April 12, 1983 (1983-04-12) |
Ace Crawford, Private Eye is an American sitcom that aired on CBS from March 15 to April 12, 1983. The series parodied the "hard-boiled detective" genre.
Tim Conway stars as a trench-coated private investigator who always solves the case and catches the bad guy, despite his constant bumbling. The show was broadcast on Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET. Only five episodes were aired.
In each half-hour episode, Crawford would be hired for, or otherwise find himself involved in, a case in which criminals were taking advantage of innocent citizens. He would then approach the case using Conway's trademark comedy style; in one episode he was disguised as a feeble old man, in another he was using a children's toy microphone as a "wire." In spite of the slapstick results of his actions, Crawford would always emerge triumphant.
Every episode ended the same way: Crawford would leave The Shanty at night and walk along the wharf, vanishing into the fog... and then audibly fall into the water.
Each episode was on film (as opposed to videotape), and had a laugh track.
| Season | Episodes | Originally aired | Nielsen Rank | Nielsen Rating | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First aired | Last aired | |||||
| 1 | 5 | March 15, 1983 (1983-03-15) | April 12, 1983 (1983-04-12) | 75[1] | N/A | |
| Nº | Title | Directed by: | Written by: | Air date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Murder at Restful Hills" | Michael Preece | Ron Friedman | March 15, 1983 (1983-03-15) | |
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Ace investigates the claim of Luana's grandmother that deaths at a nursing home weren't the result of natural causes.
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| 2 | "Bull Bates" | Charles S. Dubin | Ron Clark, Tim Conway | March 22, 1983 (1983-03-22) | |
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Deedee, the girlfriend of gangster Bull Bates, gives to Ace a book detailing everyone that Bates has rubbed out.
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| 3 | "Inch in a Pinch" | Michael Preece | Arnie Kogen | March 29, 1983 (1983-03-29) | |
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Ace sets a trap for a merciless mobster when his bartender friend Inch is beaten up by thugs.
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| 4 | "The Microchip Caper" | Michael Preece | Rudy De Luca | April 5, 1983 (1983-04-05) | |
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Ace finds himself in the middle of a multi-million dollar con when he is hired to test a computer company's plant security.
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| 5 | "The Gentleman Bandit" | Michael Preece | Mickey Rose | April 12, 1983 (1983-04-12) | |
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Ace goes undercover as a secretary to nab a thief who is preying on a magazine's female employees.
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In 1989, a VHS videocassette was released containing the first three episodes. In August 2020, Shout! Factory TV acquired complete streaming rights.[2]
