Dan August

 ( 1970 American Television Series Debuts ) 

Dan August is an American drama series that aired on ABC from September 23, 1970, to April 8, 1971. Burt Reynolds played the title character. Reruns of the series aired in prime time on CBS from May to October 1973 and from April to June 1975.

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Premise Police lieutenant Dan August investigates homicide cases in his (fictional) hometown of Santa Luisa, California. The town is supposedly based on Santa Barbara, California, but was filmed in Oxnard in Ventura County.

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Cast

• Burt Reynolds as Police Lieutenant Dan August
• Norman Fell as Sergeant Charles Wilentz, August's partner
• Richard Anderson as Police Chief Untermeyer
• Ned Romero as Sergeant Joe Rivera
• Ena Hartman as Katie Grant

Barney Phillips had a recurring role as Mike Golden, the medical examiner. John Lasell also had a recurring role as Benjamin Wedlock.

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Guest stars Guest stars including Diana Muldaur in the pilot episode "Murder by Proxy"; Martin Sheen in "Dead Witness to a Killing"; Dabney Coleman in "The King Is Dead"; Larry Hagman in "The Law"; John Ritter in "Quadrangle of Death"; and Harrison Ford, Billy Dee Williams, Mickey Rooney, David Soul, and Gary Busey in "The Manufactured Man". Ahna Capri played Linda Perry in "Death Chain" and "Prognosis: Homicide".

Other guest actors who appeared on the show include Michael Ontkean, Joan Hackett, Vera Miles, Annette O'Toole, Gary Collins, Ricardo Montalbán, Ford Rainey, Carolyn Jones, Fritz Weaver, John Marley, Janice Rule, Alexandra Hay, Norman Alden, Joan Van Ark, Bradford Dillman, Geraldine Brooks, Donna Mills, Victor French, Richard Basehart, Sherry Lansing, Monte Markham, Jan-Michael Vincent, Stephen Collins, Laurence Luckinbill, Lee Meriwether, Sal Mineo, Anna Navarro, Richard O'Brien, Fernando Lamas, Ellen Corby, Susan Oliver, John Beck, Michael Pataki, Diana Hyland, and Simon Scott.

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Episodes

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Production Reynolds later recalled "I swore I'd never play a cop on TV because you can't make jokes or have a broad. You wind up loving your car a lot. I was halfway out the door when Quinn said the magic words – $15,000 a week."Burt Prelutsky: Two Centerfolds. Los Angeles Times December 24, 1972, p. K14.

The series was based on Quinn Martin's 1970 TV movie House on Greenapple Road, starring Janet Leigh, which was based on Harold R. Daniels' 1966 mystery novel of the same name. It was directed by Robert Day from a script by George Eckstein. Christopher George played Dan August, with Keenan Wynn as Sergeant Wilentz and Barry Sullivan as Chief Untermeyer. Ned Romero was the only actor in the film who reprised his role in the series.Marill, Alvin H. Movies Made for Television: The Telefeature and the Mini-Series 1964-1986. Page 190.

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Reception and legacy While the series' ratings weren't high enough to be renewed for a second season, Dan August became a fan favorite in repeats, particularly after Reynolds' popularity surged in the mid-1970s with his escalating movie career. CBS re-broadcast the series both on The CBS Late Movie and in prime time reruns, during the summer of 1973 and 1975, to larger audiences.Brooks, Tim and Marsh, Earle. The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network TV Shows 1946-Present (4th edition). New York, Ballantine Books, 1988. pp. 181-182.

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Television films An ABC television movie titled Dan August: Once Is Never Enough was broadcast on January 4, 1980. The film consisted of footage from episode 15, "Death Chain" and episode 25, "Prognosis: Homicide," cut together to television film length. ABC and Quinn Martin productions were looking to capitalize on the popularity of Burt Reynolds, who was one of Hollywood's biggest stars at that time.

Four further Dan August ABC TV films were produced, all of which were edited from earlier episodes into film-length narratives. The episodes starring Diana Muldaur and Dabney Coleman, ("Murder by Proxy" and "The King Is Dead") were edited into the second film Dan August: The Jealousy Factor, which was broadcast on February 4, 1980 and was followed by three more compilations, of selected episodes Dan August: The Trouble with Women ("Epitaph for a Swinger" and "The Titan"), broadcast on June 1, 1980; Dan August: The Lady Killers ("When the Shouting Dies" and "The Worst Crime") and Dan August: Murder, My Friend ("Trackdown" and "Bullet for a Hero"), were both broadcast in November, 1980.

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Home media On December 7, 2018, Visual Entertainment released the complete series on DVD in Region 1. The set includes "House on Greenapple Road" with Christopher George as August.

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External links

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