J.J. Starbuck
Created by Stephen J. Cannell (1941-2010)

Did someone say Texas? Just in case anyone missed the point, TV's cornpone-spouting J.J. (JEROME JEREMIAH) STARBUCK wears ten-gallon hats, cowboy boots and fancy western shirts, drives a flashy limo with steer horns on the hood and a horn that plays "The Eyes of Texas," and spouts a steady stream of folksy homilies. Good thing he's loaded or someone might point out what a dang annoying fool he is.

As it is, bored Texas millionaire Starbuck wanders around the country, helping out "good folks" in trouble, and more than often doing a little detecting. About halfway through its first season E.L. "Tenspeed" Turner, a fast-talking black con artist refugee from an earlier Cannell show, Tenspeed and Brownshoe, popped up to lend ol' J.J. a hand.

But it didn't work. The show was scrapped after one season.

THE EVIDENCE

• "You look happier than a termite in a sawmill."
• "If you want something done, find the busiest person to do it."

TELEVISION

• J.J. STARBUCK
  (1987-1988, NBC)
  Writers: Stephen J. Cannell, Babs Greyhosky, Randall Wallace
  Directors: Corey Allen, Larry Shaw, Kim Manners, Bob Bralver, James Whitmore Jr.
  Executive Producer: Stephen J. Cannell
  Theme song: "Gone Again"
  Performed by Ronnie Milsap
  Starring Dale Robertson as J.J. STARBUCK
  with Ben Vereen as E.L. "TENSPEED" TURNER
  Also starring Jimmy Dean as Charlie Bullets
  and Shawn Weatherly as Jill Starbuck
  Guest stars: David Huddleston, Bill Bixby, Patty Duke, Robert Conrad, Richard Mulligan, Stuart Whitman, Telly Savalas,

• "Pilot" (September 26, 1987)
• "A Killing in the Market" (September 29, 1987)
• "Murder In E Minor" (October 20, 1987)
• "The Blimpy Who Yelled Blue" (October 27, 1987)
• "First You've Got To Go To The Picnic" (November 3, 1987)
• "Incident At Sam September" (November 10, 1987)
• "Gold From The Rainbow" (December 5, 1987)
• "Graveyard Shift" (December 15, 1987)
• "The 6% Solution" (December 26, 1987)
• "The Circle Broken" (January 16, 1988)
• "Murder By Design" (January 23, 1988)
• "Cactus Jack's Last Call" (February 13, 1988)
• "A Song From The Sequel" (February 20, 1988)
• "Permanent Hiatus" (February 27,1988)
• "Rag Doll" (April 19, 1988)
• "The Rise And Fall Of Joe Piermont" (June 28, 1988)
• "That Old Black Magic" (unaired)
• "Everyone's A Critic" (unaired)