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American television series (1973–1980)

Barnaby Jones is an American detective television series starring Buddy Ebsen as a formerly retired investigator and Lee Meriwether as his widowed daughter in law. They run a private detective firm in Los Angeles, California. The show was originally introduced as a midseason replacement on the CBS network and ran from 1973 to 1980. Halfway through the series' run, Mark Shera was added to the cast as a much younger cousin of Ebsen's character, who eventually joined the firm. Barnaby Jones was produced by QM Productions (with Woodruff Productions in the final two seasons). It had the second longest QM series run (seven and a half seasons), following the nine years of The F. B. I The series followed the characteristic Quinn Martin episode format with commercial breaks dividing each episode into four "acts," concluding with an epilogue. The opening credits were narrated by Hank Simms. Jerry Goldsmith composed the series' distinctive theme music. The first episode of the show, "Requiem for a Son", featured a crossover with another QM program, Cannon, with William Conrad guest starring as detective Frank Cannon. There was another crossover between the two programs in the 1975 two part episode "The Deadly Conspiracy".

After Barnaby Jones (Buddy Ebsen) had worked as a private eye for many years, he decided to retire and left the business to his son Hal. When Hal was murdered while working on a case, Barnaby came out of retirement to find the killer. After this case, his widowed daughter in law, Betty Jones (Lee Meriwether), went to work for him at the detective agency. Jones was unusual, ordering milk in restaurants and bars, counter to the stereotypical hard drinking detective. In 1976, the character of Jedediah Romano "J. R." Jones (Mark Shera), the son of Barnaby's cousin, joined the show. He had come from Chicago to try to solve the murder of his father, who was a retired police officer. After that case was closed, he stayed in Los Angeles to help Barnaby and Betty, while also attending law school. Initially a somewhat angry young man, J. R. soon became an easygoing, fun loving character. Besides the Joneses, the only other recurring character on the show was their police contact, Lt. John Biddle (John Carter). He was introduced in the latter half of the second season and appeared in most episodes thereafter, though often only briefly. As Ebsen aged and expressed an interest in slowing down a bit, Meriwether's and Shera's characters became more prominent, allowing Ebsen to reduce his role. During the last two seasons, episodes were divided evenly between the two actors, Meriwether and Shera each being the focus of half of the season's episodes with Ebsen's involvement limited to slightly more than episodic cameos. Ratings went up in the sixth and seventh seasons, after Shera's character was added, but they plummeted during Season 8. The show was canceled in 1980 due to declining ratings; Ebsen had also tired of playing the role. After the series' cancellation, reruns aired in syndication.

Season Time slot Rank Rating 1 (1972–73) Sunday at 9:30 – 10:30 pm (EST) 25 19.9 (Tied with The Little People and The ABC Wednesday Movie of the Week) 2 (1973–74) 17 21.4 (Tied with Good Times) 3 (1974–75) Tuesday at 10:00 – 11:00 pm (EST) 33 19.6 4 (1975–76) Friday at 10:00 – 11:00 pm (EST)(September 19 – November 28, 1975)Thursday at 10:00 – 11:00 pm (EST)(December 4, 1975 – March 18, 1976) 59 5 (1976–77) Thursday at 10:00 – 11:00 pm (EST) 49 18.5 6 (1977–78) 22 20.6 7 (1978–79) 24 20.5 8 (1979–80) Thursday at 10:00 – 11:00 pm (EST)(September 20 – November 29, 1979)Thursday at 9:00 – 10:00 pm (EST)(December 20, 1979 – April 3, 1980) Not in the Top 30

During the mid 1990s, Meriwether and Shera expressed interest in a Barnaby Jones reunion television movie, but could not talk Ebsen into joining the project. However, in 1993, Ebsen reprised the role of Barnaby Jones in the film The Beverly Hillbillies, adapted from Ebsen's television series of the same name (Jim Varney played Jed Clampett, the role that Ebsen had played on the television series, in the film). It was Ebsen's final theatrical appearance.

From 1978 to 1983, Barnaby Jones began broadcasting in off net syndication. Beginning September 3, 2019, MeTV began broadcasting Barnaby Jones reruns.