H is for the series cancelled to make room for CHARLIE'S ANGELS



Harry O re-runs flit in and out of my consciousness.

I cannot remember any whole episode --

only an impression of a sad-eyed loner and two scenes.

One:

A lovely lady is laying beside him in bed and asks, "If I leave you, would it crush you?"

He says in his gravel voice, "It would hurt, and I would survive."

"Damn you!" she snaps, hitting him with a pillow. "You would, wouldn't you?"


Two:

Harry has solved the murder of his best friend, Manny.

He is sitting at the bar they often frequented. He asks for a bottle of their best whiskey.

He tears a page from his notebook, writes MANNY on it,

and tapes it on the bottle, handing it back to the bartender.

"When somebody walks in here, looking like he's been beat by life, give him a shot of this -- but only one."

The bartender asks, "And when it runs out?"

Harry sighs, "It runs out ... just like life."

He gets up, walks from the bar, opens the door, and walks into the night.

***
Ratings for the series were initially fair and got a boost after the series was retooled in January 1975.

Harry O was picked up for a second season and continued to gain viewership and critical acclaim;

however, then-ABC president Fred Silverman

decided to take the network in a different direction and canceled the series in favor of Charlie's Angels.

David Janssen vowed never to do another series.

***

Samuel McCord owes a debt to another H TV show:

HAVE GUN WILL TRAVEL

A haunted, educated gunfighter, looking at life with a unique perspective sparked Samuel McCord into being.

The first season's Christmas episode, "The Hanging Cross," is unique.

Instead of drawing the revolver, Paladin unbuckles the belt and removes the whole rig,

 holding it out to the camera as he talks.

The camera tilts upward,

revealing Richard Boone speaking to the camera, then hanging his belt, holster, and pistol on a wall peg

and walking away as the theme begins and the title graphics appear.