BARNABY JONES: SINS OF THY FATHER (TV)
Summary
One in this detective drama series about the cases of the elderly and astute private investigator Barnaby Jones. Danny Reeves, son of corporate investment mogul Coleman Reeves, disguises himself to steal a suitcase of money from Fred Bender, a man working for Coleman, and in the process kills Sam, who flew an aircraft to meet Fred and deliver the money. His death is ruled an accident stemming from an emergency landing, but Sam’s widow Sara goes to Barnaby, convinced that there was foul play at work. She notes that he was missing the money he was promised, supposedly as payment for several flights he took down to the Bahamas. Coleman is furious about the intercepted shipment and tries to straighten things out, including with Danny’s brothers. Danny visits him and acts surprised when he tells him about the matter. Unbeknownst to his father, Danny is attracted to Joanna, his father’s secretary and Vince’s girlfriend. Barnaby and J.R. speak to a mechanic, Nat Lewis, about the supposed emergency landing, but Nat simply believes that Sam tried and failed to repair the aircraft himself. Nat’s various explanations for the trouble the aircraft could have been experiencing are refuted by J.R., and after Nat leaves they find several expended emergency flares near the landing site which and correctly hypothesize that someone on the ground lit the flares to mark the site for Sam. Nat informs Vince of his meeting with Barnaby and J.R. Barnaby reports to Sara that Sam was likely smuggling something illegally from the Bahamas into the United States. J.R. discovers that Nat was once a pilot whose license was revoked in conjunction with a prison sentence he served for smuggling. Sara reports that Sam went out for a drink with Nat just before he went to the Bahamas. The Reeves family gets into an argument, convinced that one of them served as an informant to the man who intercepted the money. They plan to take in another shipment of money, using an abandoned farmhouse as a rendezvous point. However, Coleman is actually setting a trap, hoping to catch whoever intercepted the money the first time. Barnaby and J.R. stake out a bar observing Nat, who is there with Vince. They notice Vince and Barnaby recognizes him as Coleman’s son, noting that there are rumors that Reeves family is involved in a massive money laundering scheme for a gambling operation. Vince and Nat meet with Jim Cabe, a prospective pilot for their operation, who takes Jim outside the bar, saying that there has been “a change in plans.” J.R. follows them out. Danny attempts to capture another shipment of money from Fred and Jim, but is chased down by both Vince and Fred. They corner him and Fred tries to shoot him, but misses and accidentally hits Vince instead. This allows Danny to make his getaway successfully. Vince’s body is found by the police and Barnaby speaks to Lt. Biddle about it. Barnaby suspects that Fred may have been involved, as he served as Vince’s bodyguard, but he has seemingly disappeared. Barnaby is determined to find him and solve the mystery surrounding Vince’s murder. Coleman is heartbroken at the news of Vince’s death, and Danny seizes upon the opportunity to try to supplant Vince in his father’s organization. Joanna is also devastated, and Danny tries to endear himself to her, which does not go unnoticed by Coleman. Barnaby and J.R. find Jim and question him about Vince, but he claims not to know him. Jim tries to flee, but J.R. manages to chase him down. Jim admits that he was hired by Vince to fly up to the abandoned property and hand a suitcase to Fred, and talks about Danny’s interference and the subsequent chase. He is not fully aware of what the purpose of the job was, and Barnaby arranges for him to receive police protection. Danny has Joanna over at his apartment for a date and admits his attraction towards her. Fred calls Danny, telling him that he is aware that Danny was the one who stole the money, and blames Danny for Vince’s death. He tries to blackmail Danny for $100,000 in exchange for him leaving town. Danny reluctantly agrees and they set up a meeting. The next day, Barnaby visits the Reeves home and confronts Coleman and Danny. He inquires about Vince’s death and notes similarities between it and Sam’s death. Barnaby correctly deduces that the second shipment was a trap to catch the mysterious assailant, but Coleman denies this. Barnaby leaves, and Coleman admits to Danny that he is concerned that Barnaby is getting too close to the truth. Fred calls Danny and orders him to meet in an old bottling plant. Coleman’s bodyguard spies on Fred the whole time. Danny arrives and Fred orders him to hand over the money. However, Danny tricks Fred and holds him at gunpoint. Coleman emerges from hiding and gets Danny to put down his gun; it is implied that he captured Fred and tortured him to reveal his plan. Coleman demands to know why Danny perpetrated his scheme, and Danny says that all he wanted was Coleman’s respect for being able to get along without his help, intending to give the money back to him once he had made his point. Coleman concedes that he may not have given Danny his due, and Danny offers to prove himself by killing Barnaby for him. An informant gives Barnaby information about Fred’s whereabouts, but he is secretly being paid off by Danny to lure Barnaby into a trap. Barnaby enters the old bottling plant and is held up by Danny. Barnaby creates a diversion and snatches Danny’s gun before he can shoot him, but Coleman and his men arrive to try to finish him off. However, J.R. secretly came along and he helps Barnaby fight off Danny and Coleman and later turns them over to the police. Commercials deleted.
Details
- NETWORK: CBS
- DATE: October 21, 1976 10:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 0:42:55
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: B:64215
- GENRE: Drama, police/private detective
- SUBJECT HEADING: Drama, police/private detective
- SERIES RUN: CBS - TV series, 1973-1980
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Quinn Martin … Executive Producer
- Russell Stoneham … Supervising Producer
- Philip Saltzman … Producer
- Robert Sherman … Associate Producer
- Walter Grauman … Director
- Edward Hume … Developed by
- Gerald Sanford … Writer
- John Parker … Music by
- Jerry Goldsmith … Theme Music by
- Buddy Ebsen … Cast, Barnaby Jones
- Lee Meriwether … Cast, Betty Jones
- Mark Shera … Cast, Jedediah "J.R." Jones
- Patrick O'Neal … Cast, Coleman Reeves
- Daniel J. Travanti … Cast, Fred Bender
- Mark Goddard … Cast, Vince Reeves
- Gerald McRaney … Cast, Jim Cabe
- James Woods … Cast, Danny Reeves
- Loni Anderson … Cast, Joanna Morgan
- John Carter … Cast, Lt. Biddle
- Robert Doyle … Cast, Nat Lewis
- Laura Wallace … Cast, Sara Fields
- Tony Cristino … Cast, Alex Dayton
- Sam Edwards … Cast, Jules
- Janus Blyth … Cast, Barmaid
- Don Carrara … Cast, Joe Cooper
- Peter Ford … Cast, Sam Fields