Simon & Simon

Simon & Simon is an American detective television series starring Gerald McRaney and Jameson Parker. The original 1978 pilot called Pirate's Key was set in Florida. When the show was picked up by CBS, the characters' home was changed from Florida to San Diego, California, where the show's storyline remained for the course of its eight-year run on CBS. The series was created by executive producer Philip DeGuere, who credited his inspirations as being a request from a CBS executive to create something like a modern "Butch and Sundance" and a spec pilot DeGuere had recently read about a... divorced husband and wife detective team that was written by Bob Shayne who DeGuere hired to write several of "Simon's" first two seasons' episodes. Shayne wrote off and on for the series during its run, and Shayne and DeGuere went on to create the spin-off CBS series "Whiz Kids." Simon & Simon was almost canceled in 1982 due to low ratings. However, at DeGuere and Shayne's request, CBS decided to give the series another chance by moving it to Thursday nights at 9 PM following Magnum, P.I. Simon & Simon became an instant hit in that slot, and continued to draw ratings for the next several seasons.
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