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SURFSIDE 6: LOVE SONG FOR A DEADLY REDHEAD (TV)

Summary

One in this series of dramas about three young private detectives who work out of a houseboat moored in a Miami Beach marina.

The singer Dooley Baker has received a death threat and Jeff Spencer of Spencer & Bailey has flown in from Los Angeles to take the case. He visits his friends at Surfside 6 to catch up before taking the case. Soon he goes missing; after speaking with Kookie about it, Dave, Sandy, and Ken try to track him down. Along the way they run into Daphne accompanying Larry Dermott, a public relations man and photographer. They notice Larry’s black eye and Daphne says he got into an argument with Dooley. Daphne also reports that she saw Jeff leaving with a young redheaded woman.

She discovers the woman is named Carol McKee and Ken and Sandy visit her home. They find her husband, Don McKee, dead in his living room. Jeff stumbles in holding his gun before he collapses. He is taken away for medical treatment and the police are called in. An eyewitness account says that Carol had left the house with some friends before the time of the murder. Ken goes to stay with Jeff. Kookie discovers that Don is an ex-con and Carol was in a relationship with Jeff before she got married.

Dooley visits Dave just as Sandy leaves to question Carol. He explains to Dave about the death-threat he received, believing it was from Larry due to their dispute. Dave called in a private investigator because Larry is on parole and he didn’t want the police to send him to jail. He asks Dave not to mention Larry’s name in all the proceedings and Dave agrees.

Carol is interrogated along with her friend Clark Tinsley. She maintains she invited Jeff over after she happened across him at the hotel. She believed her husband was away and wanted to have a few drinks with Jeff. She says he fell asleep on the bed and she left to go on her boat with some friends. Her husband was noted for jealousy and a bad temper. The police’s tests indicate that the bullets in Don’s body match those from Jeff’s gun.

Sandy visits Ken and Jeff in the hospital; Jeff is beginning to wonder if actually did kill Don. Meanwhile, Dave visits Cha Cha in the Boom Boom Room. She lets it slip that Dooley’s argument with Larry started when he took a picture of Dooley without his wig on. Carol visits Jeff in the hospital, saying she regrets letting him go. Dave visits a bar where Larry often frequents and tries to get information from the bartender about him but is knocked out and ejected from the bar.

Ken and Sandy snoop around the McKee’s yacht at night, finding a safe filled with weapons. They are attacked by a pair of men; one escapes with something from the safe while the other is knocked out. Daphne snoops around Larry’s apartment, finding a gun and a photograph. She leaves with the photograph but accidentally drops her handkerchief in his room. Clark tries to bribe Ken and Sandy for information about the McKee case. Sandy suspects he was the other man on the boat and Ken goes to see Daphne.

Dave visits Larry in his apartment. Larry believes it was Dave who searched the room earlier and the two of them fight. Larry is briefly knocked out and Dave washes his hands; while down Larry notices Daphne’s handkerchief and then sneaks out. Dave realizes where he’s headed and calls Sandy to warn him.

Daphne is at her apartment waiting for Dave when Dooley shows up and tries to kidnap her, knocking Ken out when he arrives. He holds Daphne hostage in the parking lot when Sandy arrives. Larry pulls up and distracts Dooley long enough for Sandy to knock him out. Later it is explained that Dooley wanted to be with Carol and Carol wanted to collect on Don’s life insurance, so Dooley sent himself a fake death-threat and they orchestrated the whole scheme. Kookie arrives to take Jeff back to Los Angeles, but they are stopped by a particularly enticing distraction. Includes commercials.

Details

  • NETWORK: ABC
  • DATE: April 30, 1962 9:00 PM
  • RUNNING TIME: 0:58:40
  • COLOR/B&W: B&W
  • CATALOG ID: B:10601
  • GENRE: Drama, police/private detective
  • SUBJECT HEADING: Drama, police/private detective
  • SERIES RUN: ABC - TV series, 1960-1962
  • COMMERCIALS:
    • TV – Commercials – Colgate toothpaste
    • TV – Commercials – Dash dog food
    • TV – Commercials – Dial soap
    • TV – Commercials – Gillette shaving razors
    • TV – Commercials – Lustre-Cream shampoo
    • TV – Commercials – Pepsi soft drinks
    • TV – Commercials – Viceroy cigarettes
    • TV – Promos – “The New Breed”

CREDITS

  • William T. Orr … Executive Producer
  • Joel Rogosin … Producer
  • Howie Horwitz … Supervising Producer
  • Dirk Benedict … Director
  • Dean Riesner … Writer
  • Mack David … Theme Music by
  • Jerry Livingston … Theme Music by
  • Troy Donahue … Cast, Sandy Winfield II
  • Van Williams … Cast, Ken Madison
  • Lee Patterson … Cast, Dave Thorne
  • Diane McBain … Cast, Daphne Dutton
  • Margarita Sierra … Cast, Cha Cha O'Brien
  • Roger Smith … Cast, Jeff Spencer
  • Edward Byrnes … Cast, Kookie
  • Bobby Troup … Cast, Dooley Baker
  • Shary Marshall … Cast, Carol McKee
  • John Kellogg … Cast, Larry Dermott
  • Richard Crane … Cast, Lt. Gene Plehn
  • Tom Cound … Cast, Clarke Tinsley
  • Grace Lee Whitney … Cast, Bernice
  • Clegg Hoyt … Cast, Ozzie Rupert