# Identify the TV show with little data, please! \[Resolved\] **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 24, 2016, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-the-tv-show-with-little-data-please-resolved/744127 "2016-01-24T23:01:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2016, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-the-tv-show-with-little-data-please-resolved/744127/1 "2016-01-24T23:01:38Z")
Okay, this one is really dumb, and I apologize in advance. The other day, I was looking through the IMDB of Geoffrey Lewis. He was in the movie “Thunderbolt and Lightfoot.” The name of that show reminded me of a show my father loved that was on sometime in the late 70s/early-mid 80s. It might have been about crime. I can’t remember anything else. My father talked about this show for years, which was incredibly unusual. He rarely watched anything but sports, news, and the Muppet Show. ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2016, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-the-tv-show-with-little-data-please-resolved/744127/2 "2016-01-24T23:21:53Z")
_Dempsey & Makepeace_? Not sure if it was shown in the States, assuming you’re an American. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2016, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-the-tv-show-with-little-data-please-resolved/744127/3 "2016-01-24T23:23:24Z")
_Tenspeed and Brown Shoe_?: > **[Tenspeed and Brown Shoe](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tenspeed_and_Brown_Shoe)** > > Tenspeed and Brown Shoe is an American detective/comedy series originally broadcast by the ABC network between January and June 1980. The series was created by executive producer Stephen J. Cannell and a joint production of Stephen J. Cannell Productions in association with Paramount Television. Most of the show's creative staff (Cannell, Juanita Bartlett, Gordon T. Dawson) were veterans of the private detective series The Rockford Files, which concluded its run about two weeks before Tenspeed a... ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2016, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-the-tv-show-with-little-data-please-resolved/744127/4 "2016-01-24T23:24:21Z")
> [@BlankSlate](#): > > _Dempsey & Makepeace_? Not sure if it was shown in the States, assuming you’re an American. Thanks for the guess. I don’t think that was it, but I appreciate the effort. Actually, I’ve realized I can scroll through all of the TV shows in the US season by season. I think that makes more sense than anyone on here wasting time. Sorry for not thinking of this sooner! I r dum. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2016, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-the-tv-show-with-little-data-please-resolved/744127/5 "2016-01-24T23:26:00Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > _Tenspeed and Brown Shoe_?: > > [Tenspeed and Brown Shoe - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tenspeed_and_Brown_Shoe) Hot damn. You got it. Thank you! Did you just cruise through the TV listings (which I should have thought of first)? ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2016, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-the-tv-show-with-little-data-please-resolved/744127/6 "2016-01-24T23:28:53Z")
No, the name just bubbled to the surface of my mind for some reason. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2016, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-the-tv-show-with-little-data-please-resolved/744127/7 "2016-01-24T23:29:47Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > No, the name just bubbled to the surface of my mind for some reason. It should have bubbled to mine! Thank you! ---
**Author:** ![the\_diego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7bcc69/32.png) [@the\_diego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_diego)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2016, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-the-tv-show-with-little-data-please-resolved/744127/8 "2016-01-24T23:31:10Z")
Bohemian Rhapsody? ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2016, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-the-tv-show-with-little-data-please-resolved/744127/9 "2016-01-25T01:26:11Z")
Easy come, easy go. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2016, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-the-tv-show-with-little-data-please-resolved/744127/10 "2016-01-25T01:44:29Z")
Duran Duran’s “Rio”? ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2016, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-the-tv-show-with-little-data-please-resolved/744127/11 "2016-01-25T01:54:39Z")
Holy cow I thought WW was just referencing some joke show from some other comedy show. What a weird name for a serious detective show! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2016, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-the-tv-show-with-little-data-please-resolved/744127/12 "2016-01-25T02:10:29Z")
Without looking, wasn’t that Jeff Goldblum? ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2016, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-the-tv-show-with-little-data-please-resolved/744127/13 "2016-01-25T02:58:46Z")
Jeff Goldblum and Ben Vereen, IIRC. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2016, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-the-tv-show-with-little-data-please-resolved/744127/14 "2016-01-25T03:09:46Z")
One interesting thing about the show was that eight years after it was cancelled, the character of Tenspeed (played by Ben Vereen) was suddenly inserted into the show _J. J. Starbuck_ in the middle of the season, but neither show made it beyond their first season. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2016, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-the-tv-show-with-little-data-please-resolved/744127/15 "2016-01-25T04:15:15Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > _Tenspeed and Brown Shoe_?: > > [Tenspeed and Brown Shoe - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tenspeed_and_Brown_Shoe) First one I thought of, also. I was pissed when they cancelled it, as it was pretty good. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2016, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-the-tv-show-with-little-data-please-resolved/744127/16 "2016-01-25T04:29:08Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > First one I thought of, also. I was pissed when they cancelled it, as it was pretty good. Ditto, to both. ---
**Author:** ![smithsb](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smithsb/32/12107_2.png) [@smithsb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smithsb)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2016, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-the-tv-show-with-little-data-please-resolved/744127/17 "2016-01-25T04:50:08Z")
22 minutes - off our game. Wendell could have been in the crapper though accounting for the delay.