McCoy is an American comedy-drama series that starred Tony Curtis and aired on NBC-TV during the 1975–1976 season.

Synopsis

The series stars Tony Curtis as a con man who, along with a team of friends, "out-cons" bad guys in order to steal back their ill-gotten gains and return the loot to its rightful owners. The schemes were elaborate and laced with satirical humor. The series bears resemblances to the then-recent film The Sting, as well as to the contemporary series Switch and the British literary character Simon Templar.[original research?] Co-starring with Curtis was Roscoe Lee Browne as a nightclub comedian.

Episodes

No.TitleDirected byWritten byOriginal release date
1"The Big Ripoff"Dean HargoveDean Hargrove,
Roland Kibbee
March 11, 1975 (1975-03-11)
Series pilot: McCoy schemes to retrieve the ransom money that was paid for an oil tycoon's wife.
2"Bless the Big Fish"Nicholas ColasantoPhilip ChapinOctober 5, 1975 (1975-10-05)
A crafty financial adviser cheats Papa Leone out of $450,000, and Leone tries to commit suicide as a result; McCoy intervenes with a plan to recover the money.
3"Double Take"Richard QuineDean Hargrove,
Roland Kibbee,
Howard Leeds
November 30, 1975 (1975-11-30)
4"In Again Out Again"Stan DragotiUnknownJanuary 4, 1976 (1976-01-04)
J. Carter Sloan takes advantage of dying Bob Mayfield by forcing him to make a $200,000 life insurance contract, which affects Bob's sister's interests.
5"New Dollar Day"Nicholas ColasantoUnknownJanuary 25, 1976 (1976-01-25)

Production and reception

The series was produced in the format of two-hour telefilms, that were broadcast as part of the NBC Sunday Mystery Movie as one of several rotating series that would air once a month. Other series involved in the Universal Television franchise package were Columbo, McCloud, and McMillan & Wife. However, McCoy failed to garner the same ratings as its fellow programs and was cancelled after an initial 90-minute pilot TV movie ("The Big Ripoff") and four two-hour episodes were broadcast. A novelization of the pilot, written by Linda Stewart as "Sam Stewart", titled for the series, was published by Dell in 1976, and reprinted as McCoy: The Big Rip-Off, under W.H. Allen's Star imprint in the United Kingdom.


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