About this season
"Bourbon Street Beat" is a private detective series produced by Warner Brothers Television which aired on the ABC network from October 5, 1959, to July 4, 1960. It featured Richard Long as Rex Randolph, Andrew Duggan as Cal Calhoun, Van Williams as Kenny Madison, and Arlene Howell as Melody Lee Mercer, the secretary at the New Orleans detective agency in which they worked. The show is set in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA and revolves around the lives of Rex Randolph (Long) and Cal Calhoun (Duggan), who run a detective agency called Randolph and Calhoun — Special Services. The agency is based in the Absinthe House, a French Quarter nightclub on Bourbon Street.
Episodes (39)
1. The Taste of Ashes
Aired 5 October 1959 • 60 min
A New Orleans private eye searches for the killers of his partner and turns to a local police officer for help bringing the murderers to justice.
2. The Mourning Cloak
Aired 12 October 1959 • 60 min
Rex and Melody Lee go to the decrepit Cavanagh plantation to investigate ghostly appearances that are driving a woman insane.
3. Torch Song for Trumpet
Aired 19 October 1959 • 60 min
Cal takes on a murder case to prove a hot-tempered ex-con didn't beat his boss to death with a trumpet.
4. Woman in the River
Aired 26 October 1959 • 60 min
Rex and Cal investigate a disappearance in a wealthy New Orleans family.
5. Girl in Trouble
Aired 2 November 1959 • 60 min
Cal sets out to prove a friend is innocent of murder and investigates a gangland killing.
6. The Tiger Moth
Aired 9 November 1959 • 60 min
The investigators look into the apparent suicide of a jazz musician.
7. Secret of Hyacinth Bayou
Aired 16 November 1959 • 60 min
Cal becomes entangled in a blackmail/murder plot when he is savagely beaten and framed for murder by an old swamp-dweller hiding a secret.
8. Invitation to a Murder
Aired 23 November 1959 • 60 min
Rex is invited to witness a murder by an enigmatic killer who switches victims and leaves the detectives trying to sort out a houseful of straying wives, night club operators, newsmen, and other New Orleans characters, each with a motive for the murder.
9. Mrs. Viner Vanishes
Aired 30 November 1959 • 60 min
Hired to find a missing wife, Cal soon becomes caught up in a deadly game of hide-and-seek.
10. Light Touch of Terror
Aired 7 December 1959 • 60 min
Kenny is convinced that a notorius New Orleans killer, the Axeman, has returned when a similar killing occurs.
11. The Golden Beetle
Aired 14 December 1959 • 60 min
A missing man, a stolen talisman and some vanished letters are all connected as the detectives search for answers and find pirate treasure.
12. The Black Magnolia
Aired 21 December 1959 • 60 min
Cal uncovers a family's skeletons when he searches for a missing fortune and a secret killer.
13. Portrait of Lenore
Aired 28 December 1959 • 60 min
Rex searches for a stolen painting, becoming involved in a missing persons case and a murder.
14. Kill with Kindness
Aired 4 January 1960 • 60 min
Cal poses as a handyman at a mansion to discover who's trying to poison a humanitarian.
15. Inside Man
Aired 11 January 1960 • 60 min
Rex goes undercover in a prison gang and joins a prison break.
16. Find My Face
Aired 18 January 1960 • 60 min
Rex and Cal try to identify an accident victim, who refuses to accept his wife and doctor's assurances that he's a wealthy executive and instead claims to be someone else entirely.
17. Knock on Any Tombstone
Aired 25 January 1960 • 60 min
Rex tangles with voodoo when he searches for the person using the New Orleans religion against a client's father.
18. Key to the City
Aired 1 February 1960 • 60 min
Cal and Kenny search for killers aboard a riverboat bound for New Orleans.
19. The 10% Blues
Aired 8 February 1960 • 60 min
Cal and Rex go up against imported killers to find the elusive power behind a talent agency using gangster tactics to get clients.
20. Melody in Diamonds
Aired 15 February 1960 • 60 min
Melody is targeted by a con artist when she borrows a valuable necklace for Mardi Gras.
21. The House of Ledezan
Aired 22 February 1960 • 60 min
Rex is hired to prove an heiress innocent of her father's murder.
22. Target of Hate
Aired 7 March 1960 • 60 min
An assassin uses Rex and Cal's office to set up a political killing. Trapped, the detectives try to goad the killer into a confession that could turn his crony against him.
23. The Missing Queen
Aired 14 March 1960 • 60 min
Cal searches for a missing beauty contestant.
24. Neon Nightmare
Aired 21 March 1960 • 60 min
Cal is hired to break up a political gang with a stranglehold on a small town, but must end his partnership with Rex to avoid suspicion.
25. Wall of Silence
Aired 28 March 1960 • 60 min
Investigating a client's suspicious suicide leads Rex to a strange island under the sway of a mysterious blackmailer.
26. Twice Betrayed
Aired 4 April 1960 • 60 min
Set up by a crooked cop, Cal loses his investigator's license.
27. Swamp Fire
Aired 11 April 1960 • 60 min
Cal and Rex are hired by an oil company to find the truth behind eerie swamp fire images that are driving Cajun workmen to quit en masse.
28. If A Body
Aired 18 April 1960 • 60 min
Cal uncovers a diamond-smuggling ring—but his sleuthing threatens to send him to the bottom of the Mississippi.
29. Six Hours to Midnight
Aired 25 April 1960 • 60 min
Cal has six hours to uncover evidence that a condemned man is innocent of murder.
30. Last Exit
Aired 2 May 1960 • 60 min
Rex flies to the Caribbean to find a client's missing daughter and the man he believes killed his son.
31. Deadly Persuasion
Aired 9 May 1960 • 60 min
Cal is hired to help investigate a boys' reformatory and is taken hostage by three desperate youths during an uprising.
32. Suitable for Framing
Aired 16 May 1960 • 60 min
A beautiful woman hires Rex when she suspects her husband of trying to kill her, but when he goes to check out her mansion he finds himself at the wrong end of a murder investigation.
33. False Identity
Aired 23 May 1960 • 60 min
Cal is hired to find a missing husband and uncovers a strange murder plot.
34. Green Hell
Aired 30 May 1960 • 60 min
Rex gets caught between two power-mongering revolutionaries when a tropical nation hires him to recover vital information.
35. Ferry to Algiers
Aired 6 June 1960 • 60 min
Rex and Cal go off on a fishing trip, leaving Kenny Madison in charge of the office. Kenny's first assignment is to guard an elderly shopkeeper.
36. Wagon Show
Aired 13 June 1960 • 60 min
A circus owner hires Cal to recover an escaped chimp, but while he's searching for the beast he uncovers a tense love triangle that leads to murder.
37. Interrupted Wedding
Aired 20 June 1960 • 60 min
Rex helps a lovely young private eye investigate a bomb discovered at a society wedding and ends up in the clutches of a pair of siblings intent on avenging their parents' long-ago deaths at the hands of a trucking magnate.
38. Reunion
Aired 27 June 1960 • 60 min
Cal races to locate a runaway teen before quarreling crimelords can get to her.
39. Teresa
Aired 4 July 1960 • 60 min
Rex runs into gangsters and a hurricane while searching for a missing playboy at an island casino.