User Reviews

During the course of "Barnaby Jones", Gary Lockwood starred six times as a villain. In most of these shows, Lockwood played seriously deranged characters though in his final appearance, "Man on Fire", he's downright normal compared to these other appearances.

Barnaby is involved with an arson investigation and he's paired up with Jim Parks (Lockwood), a friend he's trusted and worked with for several years. However, Barnaby is surprised when Parks considers the case an accident while the evidence shows it was arson. Barnaby chalks this up to a simple mistake. But when another 'mistake' happens, J. R., surprisingly, nails the case and he thinks Parks is dirty...but Barnaby just can't bring himself to believe this is true.

This is a very good episode, even if Lockwood's villain is downright normal compared to his other very vivid portrayals! An interesting plot...and well worth seeing.

Very good start to the eighth and final season of the series, and on a sentimental note with frequent guest star Gary Lockwood, proverbial bad guy, up to his old tricks. I remember this episode when it first came out, especially for Lockwood. Knew it would be exciting.

This is one of those "I'll give you the benefit" stories... Barnaby teams with an old friend, Jim Parks (Lockwood) an arson investigator whose latest conclusion to a fire is a mistake. It was no accident. Barnaby gives him the benefit of the doubt, but slowly and surely begins to realize that somethings up. The story, written by Jack V. Fogarty, is similar to the early season episodes that had Barnaby REALLY suspicious, even of people he knew. That's what made the show so much fun. Fogarty later went on to write for TJ HOOKER.

Lockwood is complimented by Burr DeBenning, also tops at playing villains. He had a distinct look. Michael Strong guest stars and Ellen Geer, the daughter of actor Will Geer. Geer will always be remembered for her role in HAROLD AND MAUDE.

For all us car buffs, Barnaby drives a brand new 1979 2 door Ford LTD, a beautiful car in its day. He always drove the LTD series throughout the series run, but this car is sporty. Of course, producer Quinn Martin was a fronter for Ford in all his series, notably CANNON and his Lincoln and the FBI that featured a ton of Mustangs and Thunderbirds, driven by Efrem Zimbalist. Those were the days.

SEASON 8 EPISODE 1 remastered CBS/Paramount dvd box set. 6 dvd set. Released 2018. Note Lee Meriwether appears with Buddy Ebsen on the cover this time!