#banyon

Series Pilot

Banyon - NBC - March 15, 1971

Detective

Running Time: 100 minutes

Written by Ed Adamson

Produced by Ed Adamson

Directed by Robert Day

Stars:

Robert Forster as Miles C. Banyon

Darren McGavin as Lt. Pete Cordova

Anjanette Comer as Diane Jennings

Herb Edelman as Harry Sprague

Hermione Gingold as Peggy Revere

José Ferrer as Lee Jennings

Leslie Parrish as Ruth Sprague

Ray Danton as Victor Pappas

Deirdre Daniels as Irene Portolla

John Lawrence as Willie Douglas

Ted Hartley as Sonny Arnheim

Carla Borelli as Joan Malloy

Stanley Adams as Eddie Dolan

Anne Randall as Linda Hayden

Joe Ruskin as Carl Horner

Jeff Morris as Billy Harris

Ned Glass as Lou Moran

Jason Wingreen as Dr. Greenbaum

John Craig as Doorman

Florence Lake as Elderly Witness

Cathleen Cordell as Mrs. Fontaine

Robert Shields as Mechanical Man

Alvin Childress as Mr. Clayton

Character Actress

Joan Blondell (born Rose Joan Bluestein; August 30, 1906 – December 25, 1979) Actress who performed in film and television for half a century.

Blondell guest-starred in various television programs, including three 1963 episodes as the character Aunt Win in the CBS sitcom The Real McCoys, starring Walter Brennan and Richard Crenna.

Also in 1963, Blondell was cast as the widowed Lucy Tutaine in the episode, "The Train and Lucy Tutaine", on the syndicated anthology series, Death Valley Days, hosted by Stanley Andrews. In the story line, Lucy sues a railroad company, against great odds, for causing the death of her cow. Noah Beery Jr., was cast as Abel.

In 1964, she appeared in the episode "What's in the Box?" of The Twilight Zone. She guest-starred in the episode "You're All Right, Ivy" on Jack Palance's circus drama, The Greatest Show on Earth, which aired on ABC in the 1963–64 television season. Her co-stars in the segment were Joe E. Brown and Buster Keaton. In 1965, she was in the running to replace Vivian Vance as Lucille Ball's sidekick on the hit CBS television comedy series The Lucy Show. Unfortunately, after filming her second guest appearance as Joan Brenner (Lucy's new friend from California), Blondell walked off the set right after the episode had completed filming when Ball humiliated her by harshly criticizing her performance in front of the studio audience and technicians.

Blondell continued working on television. In 1968, she guest-starred on the CBS sitcom Family Affair, starring Brian Keith. She replaced Bea Benaderet, who was ill, for one episode on the CBS series Petticoat Junction. In that installment, Blondell played FloraBelle Campbell, a lady visitor to Hooterville, who had once dated Uncle Joe (Edgar Buchanan) and Sam Drucker (Frank Cady). That same year, Blondell co-starred in all 52 episodes of the ABC Western series Here Come the Brides, set in the Pacific Northwest of the 19th century. Her co-stars included singer Bobby Sherman and actor-singer David Soul. Blondell received two consecutive Emmy nominations for outstanding continued performance by an actress in a dramatic series for her role as Lottie Hatfield.

Robert Wallace Forster Jr. (July 13, 1941 – October 11, 2019) actor who had prominent roles in television series such as Banyon (1971–1973), Nakia (1974), Heroes (2007–2008), and Twin Peaks (2017). From 2012 to 2018, he had a recurring role as Bud Baxter, the father of Tim Allen's character, Mike Baxter, on the sitcom Last Man Standing, who opens a cannabis dispensary in Colorado with some help from his son.