Banacek

This article is about a TV series. For the mentalist/entertainer, see Banachek. Banacek (one of the rotating NBC Mystery Movie series) is a short-lived, light-hearted detective TV series starring George Peppard on NBC from 1972 to 1974. It alternated in its timeslot with several other shows but was the only one to last beyond its first season. It was later rebroadcast on A&E; Network. The show had a mixture of humor combined with rather intricate... more

This article is about a TV series. For the mentalist/entertainer, see Banachek. Banacek (one of the rotating NBC Mystery Movie series) is a short-lived, light-hearted detective TV series starring George Peppard on NBC from 1972 to 1974. It alternated in its timeslot with several other shows but was the only one to last beyond its first season. It was later rebroadcast on A&E; Network. The show had a mixture of humor combined with rather intricate plots that never generated strong ratings. Despite this, the show was well received by critics and was picked up for a third season. However, before the third season could start production, Peppard quit the show in order to prevent his ex-wife Elizabeth Ashley from receiving a larger percentage of his earnings as part of their divorce settlement. Peppard played Thomas Banacek, a suave, Polish-American freelance investigator based in Boston, who solved seemingly impossible thefts (see locked room mystery). He then collected from the insurance... less