Lanigan's Rabbi
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Lanigan's Rabbi was a short-lived American detective drama television series that aired on NBC during the first half of 1977.
Based upon a series of novels by Harry Kemelman, the series starred Art Carney as Police Chief Paul Lanigan, who fights crime in a small California town with the help of his best friend, Rabbi David Small (Bruce Solomon), who (much like Ellery Queen) solves crimes for a hobby. Co-starring in the series was Janis Paige and Janet Margolin as Mrs. Lanigan and Mrs. Small, respectively. Another regular on the series was Carney's daughter, Barbara Carney.
After a successful pilot film aired in 1976, Lanigan's Rabbi was produced as a series of 90-minute telefilms beginning in January 1977. The series was broadcast on a rotating schedule under the umbrella title NBC Sunday Mystery Movie. Other series involved in the scheme were Columbo, McCloud, and McMillan (formerly McMillan and Wife). Lanigan's Rabbi was the last series added to the Mystery Movie format (it replaced Quincy, M.E. at mid-season when that series was spun-off into a weekly program); in the spring, NBC cancelled all four series and discontinued the Mystery Movie format. As a result, only a few Lanigan's Rabbi episodes were broadcast.
