As the Western genre began to decline, the main beneficiary was the private eye genre. Warner Bros. Already spawned a hit with "77 Sunset Strip" which premiered in 1958. That success led to Warner Bros. Taking that template, putting together a similar ensemble cast, and setting the new shows in places like Miami, Hawaii, and New Orleans...much like recent shows like CSI and NCIS did with their respective franchises.
In 1959, two new series premiered, with a theme of law enforcement taking action against Depression-era gangsters. NBC's little-known "The Lawless Years", which lasted for a season and a half, was based on the memoirs of New York police detective Barney Ruditsky. Over on ABC, the memoirs of Eliot Ness became "The Untouchables".
So Warner Bros. Took the setting of these two gangster shows and applied their formula of two or three male leads and a singer, with the result being "The Roaring 20s". Unlike WB's other private-eye shows which had one character for comic relief, popular trends from the era provided a break from the crimefighting. (A 1961 ABC show from 20th Century Fox, "Margie", was a sitcom about an adolescent girl in the 20s.)
But I give that history to set up the review. The strength of "The Roaring 20s" was jointly in the writing and the characters, but also in its ability to capture the fun spirit of that era to avoid the noirish feel of "The Untouchables". We will probably not see it on DVD due to the weekly musical numbers provided by Dorothy Provine, another strength of the show.
In 1959, two new series premiered, with a theme of law enforcement taking action against Depression-era gangsters. NBC's little-known "The Lawless Years", which lasted for a season and a half, was based on the memoirs of New York police detective Barney Ruditsky. Over on ABC, the memoirs of Eliot Ness became "The Untouchables".
So Warner Bros. Took the setting of these two gangster shows and applied their formula of two or three male leads and a singer, with the result being "The Roaring 20s". Unlike WB's other private-eye shows which had one character for comic relief, popular trends from the era provided a break from the crimefighting. (A 1961 ABC show from 20th Century Fox, "Margie", was a sitcom about an adolescent girl in the 20s.)
But I give that history to set up the review. The strength of "The Roaring 20s" was jointly in the writing and the characters, but also in its ability to capture the fun spirit of that era to avoid the noirish feel of "The Untouchables". We will probably not see it on DVD due to the weekly musical numbers provided by Dorothy Provine, another strength of the show.