Ace Crawford
Created by Ron Clark and Tim Conway

Down these mean streets a man must stumble, bumble and fumble. And that man is... ACE CRAWFORD, PRIVATE EYE.

Not the first, and certainly not the last time television offered a parody of the traditional private eye, poking gentle fun at the genre's conventions. But at least this time it was intentional. Sometimes it's hard to tell.

Anyway, Tim Conway played Ace in a short-lived series back in '83. Ace was your typical hardboiled dick, scrupulously honest, complete with trenchcoat and fedora. Ace seemed to have it all -- adoring women, a faithful sidekick who idolized him and a beautiful girlfriend madly in love with him. And a reputation for being one of the best P.I.s in town. Ace lacked only one thing -- a clue.

You see, Ace was a total incompetent, a bungler and stumblebum leaving disaster in his wake. He was completely inept, and owed all his success to pure dumb luck and unbelievable coincidences. And nobody seemed to notice. Nobody except for his long-suffering foil, Police Lieutenant Fanning.

Like any TV P.I. worth his salt, Ace had a hangout, somewhere he and his sometime-partner, the intellectually compatible Toomey, a full-time CPA, could wet their whistles and discuss their cases at the end of a
long day. For ace, that place was "The Shanty," a waterside nightclub run by a midget called Inch (played by veteran actor Billy Barty). Ace's sweethart, Luana, worked as a singer there with her blind accompanist Mello (jazz great Bill Henderson).

Alas, the series only lasted thirteen episodes. Not that the show was that bad, but after the success of Get Smart and the Pink Panther movies, the idea of a bumbling crimefighter who always landed on his feet was no longer as unique as it must have seemed on the drawing board. Chalk up yet another failure for Conway, an accomplished comedian who can't seem to get a hit on his own.

TELEVISION

• ACE CRAWFORD, PRIVATE EYE
  (1983, CBS)
  13 30 minute episodes
  Creators: Ron Clark and Tim Conway
  Writers: Mickey Rose
  Producer: Ron Clark
  A Conway Enterprises Production for Viacom
  Original Music by Hughie Cannon and Peter Matz (theme)
  Starring Tim Conway as ACE CRAWFORD
  Also starring Joe Regalbuto, Shera Danese, Billy Barty, Bill Henderson, Dick Christie

Report respectfully submitted by Kevin Burton Smith.