Captain Kirk in the Wild West! William Shatner starred as undercover agent, West Point graduate and master of disguise, Jeff Cable, in this ABC period crime drama set in the 1870s in an area of San Francisco known as the Barbary Coast.
Jeff worked for the governor of California, going undercover to root out the bad elements of the day with the help of Cash Conover (Doug McClure), owner of Cash Conover’s Golden Gate Casino.
Cash was wanted for murder in Louisiana (he killed the governor’s son in a duel over a poker game), but instead of turning him in, Jeff decided he would be more useful where he was and recruited Cash to help him.
Jeff lived in a secret luxury apartment in the casino (accessed via the fireplace in Cash’s office) and never left his cosy nest without a disguise.
Flame (Bobbi Jordan) was the casino croupier. Brandy (Francine York) and Rusty (Brooke Mills) were dance hall girls. Moose Moran (Richard Kiel, who would become best known for his work as the villainous ‘Jaws’ in the James Bond flicks The Spy Who Loved Meand Moonraker) was the bouncer; Sam (John Dennis and later Eddie Fontaine) was the bartender, and Thumbs (Dave Turner) the casino’s piano player.
The series (based on a TV Movie that had starred Dennis Cole in McClure’s role) debuted in September 1975. Series creator Douglas Heyes had cut his teeth on Maverick.
Barbary Coast struggled to gain a foothold opposite the #6 and #7 shows, Rhodaand Phyllis and was cancelled after just thirteen episodes in January 1976. Its timeslot was given over to another new hopeful, Mobile One.
Shatner didn’t score another regular series role until TJ Hooker (1982) after the first two Star Trek movies had given his star some much-needed lustre.
Jeff Cable
William Shatner
Cash Conover
Doug McClure
Moose Moran
Richard Kiel Flame
Bobbi Jordan
Thumbs
Dave Turner Brandy
Francine York Rusty
Brooke Mills Sam
John Dennis (1)
Eddie Fontaine (2)
