Jake and the Fatman



Jake and the Fatman is a television crime drama starring William Conrad as prosecutor J. L. (Jason Lochinvar) "Fatman" McCabe and Joe Penny as investigator Jake Styles.

The series ran on CBS for five seasons from September 26, 1987 to May 6, 1992. Diagnosis: Murder was a spin-off of this series.

Origins
Conrad guest starred as an aging prosecutor in a two-part episode of Matlock during its first season on NBC. Executive producers Fred Silverman and Dean Hargrove decided to use this character as a model for one of the main characters in a new show they were creating for CBS. Penny also guest starred in these episodes, but his character was not on the same side as Conrad's character in the storyline's legal case.

Following the departure of Hargrove, executive producers David Moessinger and Jeri Taylor were brought on to run the series with Silverman. They also hired J. Michael Straczynski as story editor and, later, co-producer. Taylor and Moessinger ran the show for two years before finally leaving in a dispute over control over the show.

Cast

 * William Conrad as District Attorney J. L. "Fatman" McCabe
 * Joe Penny as Detective Jake Styles
 * Alan Campbell as Assistant District Attorney Derek Mitchell

Recurring guest stars

 * Lu Leonard as Gertrude
 * Olga Russell as Elisabeth Berkeley-Smythe
 * Jack Hogan as Judge Smithwood
 * George O'Hanlon Jr as Sergeant Rafferty
 * Melody Anderson as Sergeant Neely Capshaw

Guest stars on the series included Alex Cord, Robert Culp, Scott Marlowe, Leigh McCloskey, Ed Nelson, Leo Penn, Stephen Quadros, Robert Reed, Mitch Ryan, and David Soul.

Episodes
Jake and the Fatman had a total of five seasons and 106 episodes that were broadcast on CBS between 1987 and 1992.

Characters
J. L. "Fatman" McCabe is a Hawaii-born, tough former HPD officer turned Los Angeles district attorney. He is teamed with a handsome, happy-go-lucky special investigator named Jake Styles. They often clash due to their different styles and personalities. "Fatman" hardly travels anywhere without Max, his pet bulldog.

Setting
The show was set in Los Angeles during the first season. After the end of Magnum, P.I., the show was moved to Hawaii. The second and third seasons and half of the fourth season were filmed in Honolulu. The show then returned to Los Angeles for the remainder of its run.

Controversy
Joe Penny lost a large amount of weight after the show moved to Hawaii, which led to many rumors about his health, including the possibility that he had AIDS. In actuality, he had suffered from a gastrointestinal virus and was having difficulty regaining the weight he lost. When the show moved back to Los Angeles, it was also suspected that it was on Penny's urging. This was also not true, as the move was CBS's decision.

DVD releases
CBS DVD (distributed by Paramount) released the first two seasons of Jake and the Fatman on DVD in Region 1 between 2008/2009. As of June 2015, these releases have been discontinued and are out of print.