Lionel Whitney & E.L. Turner
A.K.A. Tenspeed & Brownshoe
Created by Stephen J. Cannell

Jeff Goldblum starred as the very naive, bored, terminally-square stockbroker LIONEL "BROWNSHOE" WHITNEY with fantasies of becoming a hardboiled private eye like his hero, Mark Savage. Ben Vereen was the hip, jive-talkin' fast walkin' black hustler E.L. (EARLY LEROY) "TENSPEED" TURNER who was more than happy to string Lionel along in hopes of a big score.

Somewhere along the line, though, the two become friends, and actually do open a detective agency, in Stephen J. Cannell's enertaining spoof of -- and affectionate hommage to -- the P.I. genre, Tenspeed and Brownshoe.

There were high hopes for this one, and it was Cannell's first series as a production company. But it lasted less than a full season. And that's too bad. It was a class act -- its clever dialogue and slightly loopy plots even earned it an Edgar Award nomination from the Mystery Writers of America in 1981.

Tenspeed did pop up seven years later, though, in another Cannell PI show, J.J. Starbuck.

TRIVIA

• The books about Lionel's fictional detective hero, Mark Savage, are written by series' creator Stephen J. Cannell and feature his mug on the back covers.

TELEVISION

• TENSPEED AND BROWNSHOE
  (1980, ABC)
  12 60-minute episodes
  Created by Stephen J. Cannell
  Writers: Stephen J. Cannell
  Directors: Stephen J. Cannell, Rod Holcomb, Harry Winer
  Music: Mike Post and Pete Carpenter
  Producers: Stephen J. Cannell, Alex Beaton, Chuck Bowman, Juanita Bartlett
  Starring Jeff Goldblum as Lionel "Brownshoe" Whitney
  and Ben Vereen as E.L. (Early LeRoy) "Tenspeed" Turner
  with Woody Eney as Larry Craig
  Also starring Jayne Meadows, Larry Manetti, Robert Alda, James Whitmore Jr.
  Guest stars: Stephen J. Cannell, Rene Auberjonois, Red West, Lewis Arquette
  

• "Tenspeed and Brown Shoe" (Part 1)
• "Tenspeed and Brown Shoe" (Part 2)
• "Robin Tucker's Roseland Roof and Ballroom Murders"
• "Savage Says: There's No Free Lunch"
• "Savage Says: What Are Friend's For?"
• "The Sixteen Byte Data Chip and the Brown-eyed Fox"
• "The Millionaire's Life"
• "Savage Says: The Most Dangerous Bird is the Jailbird"
• "It's Easier to Pass an Elephant Through the Eye of a Needle Than a Bad Check in Bel Air"
• "Loose Larry's List of Losers"
• "This One's Gonna Kill Ya"
• "Untitled"
• "The Treasure of Sierra Madre Street"
• "Diamonds Aren't Forever"

Report respectfully submitted by Kevin Burton Smith.