Help me identify old TV programs.

June 22, 2005 4:51 AM

TVFilter: I'm trying to identify two TV shows. Both are from the early 90s (IIRC). The first features a teen who secretly works for a spy agency. The second is a gritty film-noir-style detective show that takes place in the 40s-50s.

I don't remember much about either show, sadly, so there's not much more to offer. I recall the first show's teen protagonist had a really cute girl interested in him, and there was a lot of hijinks where she'd "almost" discover his identity. In one episode, she sees him kissing a guy (I think), gets upset, and he later finally tells her his job (I'm probably screwing up some details).

The second show was very "pulp" feeling, featured a 50s James Dean type character who was a rookie detective (I think). What I remember most about the show was that it had a really exagerated the film-noir style, took place in either the 40s or 50s (I think the 50s), and possibly in L.A.

These two shows have been teasing my memories for the past decade, and seeing as how you lot are good at answering these kinds of questions, I thought I'd give AskMe a try.

posted by Civil_Disobedient to media & arts (4 comments total)

1) The New Adventures of Beans Baxter. (I remember that show because Wendy O. Williams played one of the villains.)

2) Crime Story. Started in Chicago, with Dennis Farina's character tracing his investigation to Las Vegas.
posted by Smart Dalek at 5:30 AM on June 22, 2005

Oh my friggin' wow. Nice job!
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 6:29 AM on June 22, 2005

Crime Story was friggin' great, and the two seasons are now available on DVD. Unfortunately, I have read that much of the great classic jazz used to score the show is not clearable for home video (or for the price they were willing to pay) and has been replaced with generic (and thus cheap) music from other sources. I haven't rented 'em so I don't know if they replaced "Knights in White Satin" during the amazing finale ( I think) of the first season.
posted by mzurer at 7:40 AM on June 22, 2005

True, mzurer. One of the earliest changes involved the closing song in the "Ground Zero" episode,
which was "Bad Boy" by the Jive Bombers. The piece was swapped out when the episode aired in syndication.
posted by Smart Dalek at 8:23 AM on June 22, 2005