Talk:Peter Gunn

Locale

A recent change was made, saying that this show was not based in Los Angeles. Is there a cite for this? Does anyone have the script for the pilot (which would presumably say)? - Scooter 07:26, 26 Aug 2004 (UTC)

The revised information appears to have come from an uncited Editorial Review at the Amazon.com listing for the complete series DVD boxed set. Whether it shares authorship with the article section Peter Gunn--or one work is derivative of the other--the two are clearly related:

• Both works identically describe the protagonist Peter Gunn as a sophisticate with expensive tastes;
• Gunn's lifestyle is partly explained, His standard fee is $1,000.00. [Amazon] or Pete's standard fee is $1,000. [Wikipedia];
• A bar frequented by the protagonist is described as Mother's, a smoke-filled jazz club used by Gunn as his unofficial office [Amazon] or Mother's (a smoky wharfside jazz club) that he uses as his "office" [Wikipedia];
• Gunn's car is described as a Plymouth Fury Convertible, equipped with a mobile phone [Amazon] or a Plymouth Fury convertible with a car phone [Wikipedia];
• Finally, both describe the series as based in a nameless waterfront city.

If the locale is never explicitly identified, its similarities to Los Angeles go undisguised. Located a tank of gas away from the desert (where Gunn escapes a hired killer--instructed to murder him outside of city limits--in the Season 2 episode The Hunt), it is a port city sufficiently urbanised (in 1959) to support a jazz club, a detective detail, and organised crime.

That appears to be enough for some--TVRage refers to regular companion as Lieutentant Jacoby as his contact on the LAPD and does not hesitate to declare, The series was set in Los Angeles.

-- Patronanejo (talk) 22:10, 15 October 2013 (UTC)

I've been watching the DVD release and there are references to Divison and Post streets, both prominent in downtown San Francisco (it's obviously really shot on a set).

There appears to be a minor thoroughfare in Northeast Los Angeles called Division Street. While I see no evidence of a current Post Street, that doesn't preclude its recent existence.

-- Patronanejo (talk) 22:10, 15 October 2013 (UTC)

It should be noted that many people assume the theme song is from James Bond. I remember once, CNN anchor Tony Harris called it the "James Bond theme".

In Episode 1:10, "The Man With the Scar", Gunn says (in a voiceover) that Liz is taking him to a restaurant in Chinatown and there's an outdoor scene of a nighttime Chinatown. The presence of a Chinatown narrows down the choice of cities. In another episode, Gunn arranges to meet someone on the "RIVERfront" (not oceanfront or waterfront) and that scene is on the back porch of Mother's bar (where Gunn gets beaten up). Although the term might have been used loosely, it could also help to limit locales. AdderUser (talk) 11:18, 21 November 2012 (UTC)

In episode 1:21, "Scuba", Gunn is talking to the lady owner of the scuba supply store to find out where to hide stuff in the river. She brings him over to a wall map and says, roughly, 'There are only three places on the river where the current won't wash stuff away: here, here and here.' I wasn't able to zoom in and see the map in closeup but it looks more like Minnesota than northern California. Maybe someone else can zoom in and ID the map and city. AdderUser (talk) 06:11, 14 April 2014 (UTC)

Important Notice: Peter Gunn is set in a purely fictional city that may have the features and attributes of many real cities. JaneOlds (talk) 15:35, 14 April 2014 (UTC)

Altman Question

Does anybody know which episode(s) were directed by Robert Altman? I'm trying to finish his filmography off. Thanks. ThatGuamGuy 06:27, 7 December 2006 (UTC)sean

Theme Lyrics Info

DOES ANGIE DICKENSON HAVE ANY CONNECTION TO PETER GUN? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.19.14.12 (talk) 01:15, 12 December 2008 (UTC) I was introduced to the theme song by the Blues Brothers back in the '80s. But I was just listening to Verve Remixed 3 and it has a version of the Peter Gunn theme song with lyrics sung by Sarah Vaughan, remixed by Max Sedgley. I didn't know there were lyrics to the song. They're a lot like a Dear John letter. After a little more research I found her original version of the song on Sarah Vaughan Sings the Mancini Songbook, originally released in 1965, re-released on CD in 1998. I think this should be added to the Music section of this article.

Dhiroj 04:43, 31 October 2007 (UTC)

Music

It would be a lot better if a link to the actual music was included, as some people are searching the Peter Gunn music... Siddharth Trehan 04:43, 31 October 2007 (UTC) —Preceding unsigned comment added by Trehansiddharth (talk • contribs)

Added covering musician Gary Hoey, hidden track 12 on the "Bug Alley" album. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.249.81.38 (talk) 18:20, 9 February 2009 (UTC)

The "Music" section is becoming a haven for fancruft. I trimmed it slightly, but it could stand a good gutting. The purpose of the section is to sketch the influence the tune has had, not to list every obscure instance in which it was used. IMO, the ranging list of cover artists should be pared down to those who are well-known. As a guide, anyone who doesn't have an article in Wikipedia should go. Film uses make sense, but an extensive list of television shows in which a few bars are used should not be included. And let's face it, Spy Hunter is really the only name needed to represent the video game industry. If no one takes a crack at this, I'll do it myself, but expect a lot of casualties. 71.200.134.47 (talk) 18:10, 10 October 2010 (UTC)

GO for it, fellow editors. "Be bold." I've tagged the section for the large amount of un-cited, potentially original research the Music section contains, particularly the first two paragraphs. Anything that can't be referenced, particularly the claims of Mancini lifting from other music, should be removed. -- David Spalding (☎ ✉ ✍) 01:11, 12 June 2011 (UTC)

The "Music" section tagged for review is not only original research, but is factually incorrect — in particular, the bit about "exclusion of the major third," which is just … wrong. The major third occurs twice in each repetition of the ostinato: F F G F Ab(bend)A F Bb A, with the A being the major third. I'm just deleting the whole paragraph; if somebody finds a citable (and correct) secondary source, the analysis can go back in. !melquiades (talk) 19:16, 9 September 2012 (UTC)

I'm removing the reference to "Down the road apiece", which has a conventional boogie-woogie bass line and chord progression, whereas the Peter Gunn bass line stays on the same chord throughout. Mancini was familiar with the earlier song, and he acknowledges its influence on "Baby Elephant Walk" from 'Hatari!' (Did they mention the music?, p. 109). Zwart (talk) 13:56, 4 January 2015 (UTC)

How Many Episodes?

Three times 38 is 114 and the article mentions 114, but the upcoming DVD info says 115. AMCKen (talk) 06:42, 3 August 2012 (UTC)

Original source was wrong - it's 114. I changed the listing and updated the cite to the actual press release. — WylieCoyote (talk) 03:58, 10 August 2012 (UTC)

Episode List

There was one originally, although badly formatted (read: un-Wikified). I am currently working on a similar one for List of The Rifleman episodes, which was also horribly created. When I have the time, I will do one for Peter Gunn as well. An entire episode list does not belong in a main article. — WylieCoyote (talk) 04:01, 10 August 2012 (UTC)

Made a start, but summaries need to be added. 64.40.54.37 (talk) 07:11, 1 January 2013 (UTC)

I agree with WylieCoyote; The List of episodes should be a separate page. Also, should each episode have a cast list? I've added a cast section to the main article, It seems messy and unneccessary to have it in the episodes without a synopsis. — Msmarmalade (talk) 08:07, 23 June 2014 (UTC)

I've moved the episode list to List of Peter Gunn episodes and removed the cast lists within the episode summaries. I am working on a 'minor characters' cast list now. —Msmarmalade (talk) 04:17, 24 June 2014 (UTC)

Tags

The tags are not very helpful. It would be better to describe in detail what needs to be fixed. As far as references go, this article already has references including inline citations, so I have removed that from the Multiple issues tag. If something specific needs to be fixed, use a {{fact}} tag instead. 64.40.54.37 (talk) 07:22, 1 January 2013 (UTC)

Minor characters/actors

Ok, so there were a lot of minor characters in Peter Gunn. And a surprising amount of the actors do have wiki articles. What I'm wondering, is if there is any point putting them in the Peter Gunn article (or the episode list)? I was going to make a list but there are far too many (upwards of 200). And I certainly can't identify which ones are noteworthy.

Here's a link to a previous version of the article with the cast list shown in the episodes.

Anyway, other than this, I'm done editing these two articles :). cbf anymore tbh ;D. — Msmarmalade (talk) 05:19, 24 June 2014 (UTC)

Origens

Just a question here. I was always under the impression that the novel "Peter Gunn, Murder to a Jazz Beat" by Henry Kane from 1960 was the origins of the Peter Gunn Character. Is this not the case of was this over looked? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 201.198.70.174 (talk) 09:45, 16 September 2017 (UTC)

Peter Gunn by Henry Kane

Peter Gunn, Murder to a Jazz Beat, was published and copyrighted in 1960.

The television show ran from 1958 – 1961.

Blake Edwards developed Peter Gunn from an earlier fictional detective that he had created. Richard Diamond, Private Detective starred Dick Powell, and aired as a radio series from 1949 to 1953. David Janssen later starred in the television adaptation from 1957 to 1960. It was this character's success which prompted his creator to revisit the concept as Peter Gunn. Edwards had earlier written and directed a Mike Hammer television pilot for Brian Keith.

JaneOlds (talk) 13:17, 16 September 2017 (UTC)

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Casting

When the series was still on the air I read somewhere that Stevens was cast only after Cary Grant couldn't be had. Is this apocryphal? Seems unrealistic to approach a star of Grant's caliber given the difference in pay between film and tv, which I think was vast at the time. On the other hand it's believable that the character could have been written with Grant in mind. Don G Taylor (talk) 02:49, 11 August 2018 (UTC)

Sounds like somebody is confusing the 1943 film Mr. Lucky, which starred Cary Grant, with Blake Edwards' other TV show from the late fifties and then confusing it with Peter Gunn. 2602:30A:C0A1:1530:54AD:92AD:232E:966C (talk) 03:17, 11 August 2018 (UTC)

"...the first televised detective program whose character was created for television"

I'm sure the cited source makes this claim, but it doesn't seem correct. Just looking at the Wikipedia articles for other 1950s television crime series, the detective characters in Man Against Crime, The Files of Jeffrey Jones, I'm the Law, Front Page Detective, Meet McGraw, The Telltale Clue, Rocky King Detective, M Squad, Markham, and Mysteries of Chinatown appear to have been created for television. I wouldn't be surprised if at least some of the programs above were based on existing material from other media not reflected in the articles, but the odds that this is the case for all of them seem improbably high. 206.77.150.85 (talk) 17:40, 15 September 2023 (UTC)