Series Description

The Bourbon Street Beat TV show was a 60 minute detective drama series on ABC about a mellow former cop who hires a young, "hip" partner from a wealthy family to assist him in the operation of his detective agency that's located in the French Quarter of New Orleans, Louisiana.

Bourbon Street Beat Cast

Andrew Duggan .... Cal Calhoun
Richard Long .... Rex Randolph
Van Williams .... Kenny Madison
Arlene Howell .... Melody Lee Mercer
Eddie Cole .... "The Baron"
Nita Talbot .... Lusti Weather
Kelton Garwood .... Beauregard O'Hanlon

Theme Song

Title: "Bourbon Street Beat"

By: "Jerry Livingston & Mack David"

Bourbon Street beat, Bourbon Street beat
There is a throb and a wail and a sob in the beat
on Bourbon Street

Bourbon Street beat, Bourbon Street beat
The heart throb you find
When your feet leave behind the scenes. In New Orleans

This is your theme
The music for a man who keeps a dream
A faded dream that's now a part of the scene

This is the blues
Bourbon Street beat, Bourbon Street beat
Yesterday sorrow and hope for tomorrow all week
To the beat on Bourbon Street.

Bourbon Street Beat Trivia:

Bourbon Street Beat inspired a "spin-off" series titled, "Surfside 6" when character, "Kenny Madison" joins two other "hip" detectives as both a roomate in a houseboat docked in Miami, Florida and as a partner in chasing criminals. Another character, "Rex Randolph" also moved to another series titled, "77 Sunset Strip". That is not considered a "spinoff" however, because "77 Sunset Strip" was already on the air when Richard Long (as Rex) joined the cast. Bourbon Street Beat is one of three series that are often referred to as "77 Sunset Strip Clones". The other two were "Hawaiian Eye" and "Surfside 6". All four series were produced by Warner Bros Studios for ABC and featured characters that were "cool cats"! Roy Huggins was the creative genius behind them all and later would also create one of the greatest suspense series of all time, "The Fugitive"! Each one got a "swingin'" theme song written by "Mack David" and "Jerry Livingstone". Each was set in an exciting setting, "77 Sunset Strip" in "Los Angeles", "Bourbon Street Beat" in "New Orleans", "Hawaiian Eye" in "Honolulu", and "Surfside Six" in "Miami Beach". They all had one pretty girl as a main character and used short bursts of comedy to break up the dramatic tension. Since all four series were filmed in Los Angeles and never on location, the characters often guest-starred on each others shows too! Even though these were some of the best detective series of all times, you won't see them on cable TV since they were all filmed in black & white which turns off most younger audiences.

Sometime around the early 1960s, Andrew Duggan had to have a growth removed from his vocal cords. While it didn't affect his acting career, it did cause his voice to acquire a "harsher" tonal quality. On the bright side, it was just the type of voice that casting directors wanted for animated voiceovers and for TV commercials and Andrew got many of those roles!

Bourbon Street Beat managed to entice some big stars to make guest appearances including Richard Chamberlain ("Dr. Kildare"/"Shogun Miniseries"/"Thornbirds Miniseries"), James Coburn, Mary Tyler Moore ("Dick Van Dyke Show"/"Lou Grant"/"Mary Tyler Moore Show"), and Adam West ("Batman"/"The Detectives"). Arlene Howell was a former Miss Louisiana and Miss USA (1958)! She even made it all the way to third runner-up in the Miss Universe pagent! After Bourbon Street Beat ended, she only appeared twice more on television in episodes of, "Alcoa Premiere" and "Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.".

You might better remember Richard Long as "Jarrod Barkley" on "The Big Valley" or as "Professor Harold Everett" on the comedy, "Nanny and the Professor". Richard got a contract with Universal Studios right out of High School! He played numerous teenage roles, most notably as one of the sons in the "Ma and Pa Kettle" series of films! He then starred in several "B" movies before going on to his highly successful TV career!