History Series / BurkesLaw

* DomesticAbuser: One of the victims in "Who Killed Everybody?"

[[caption-width-right:266:From right to left: [[TheSnarkKnight Sergeant Hart]], [[NewMeat Detective Tilson]], and [[GentlemanDetective Captain Burke]].]]

* SpiritualSuccessor: To Gene Barry's previous star vehicle, ''Bat Masterson'', which was also about a wealthy, urbane, and snarky lawman, except set in [[TheWestern the Wild West]] rather than present day Los Angeles.

* GirlOfTheWeek: Burke had a new girlfriend in every episode, who would usually only appear at the beginning and then at the very end before disappearing off into the ether. [[spoiler: In "Who Killed The Card?" it's Tim, for once, who gets the girl.]]

* BigFancyHouse

* {{Camp}}

* TakeMeOutAtTheBallgame: In "Who Killed the Man on the White Horse?", a cowboy star falls off his horse at a rodeo, dead of a broken neck -- sustained ''before'' he went out into the arena.

* FakingTheDead: [[spoiler: "Who Killed Purity Mather?" is more like "Who Did Purity Mather Kill And Make People Believe It Was Her Who Bought It?"]]

* TheUnreveal: The source of Burke's wealth. In one episode, an IRS agent presses him to explain how he can afford his lavish lifestyle. He snarks that he's an avid coupon clipper.

Although quite popular in its first two seasons, the show fell victim to ExecutiveMeddling just prior to its third. Network executives at ABC, hoping to cash in on the super-spy craze touched off by by the Franchise/JamesBond films and ''Series/TheManFromUNCLE'', demanded a GenreShift. Over the heated objections of Barry and producer AaronSpelling, the show was retitled ''Amos Burke, Secret Agent'', the entire main cast was fired except for Barry, and Burke became a jetsetting spy on the payroll of the federal government. The sweeping changes went over like a lead balloon with audiences and the show was canceled 17 episodes into the season.

* GirlOfTheWeek: Burke had a new girlfriend in every episode, who would usually only appear at the beginning and then at the very end before disappearing off into the ether.

* IdiosyncraticEpisodeNaming: For the first two seasons, each episode was entitled "Who Killed [Weekly Victim's Name/Occuption]?" When the show underwent its GenreShift in Season 3, this was dropped, too.

* FakingTheDead: [[spoiler: Purity Mather in "Who Killed Purity Mather?" Not only is she not dead, she's responsible for the murder at the beginning.]]

* FakingTheDead: [[spoiler: Purity Mather in "Who Killed Purity Mather?" Not only is she not dead, she's the killer.]]

* NotSofakePropWeapon: Used in "Who Killed the Starlet?". A woman is the bath while listening to some music, when a killer sneaks in and drops her boombox into the bathtub, killing her. It turns out that the killer and lady are merely actors on a movie set, and they're filming a murder scene. Then it turns out the boombox had been plugged into a live outlet by an unknown party, and the actress in the bathtub really ''is'' dead.

[[caption-width-right:266:From right to left [[TheSnarkKnight Sergeant Hart]], [[NewMeat Detective Tilson]], and [[GentlemanDetective Captain Burke]].]]

->''It's Burke's Law!''

A LighterAndSofter, slightly {{Camp}}y DetectiveDrama that ran for three seasons from 1963 to 1965 (sort of; see below) on ABC, ''Burke's Law'' followed the adventures of Amos Burke (Gene Barry), a snarky and debonaire LAPD captain who also happened to be a multimillionaire. Accompanied by his sidekicks, the youthful rookie Detective Tim Tilson (Gary Conway) and the world-weary veteran Sergeant Les Hart (Regis Toomey), Burke would ride between crime scenes in a Rolls Royce limo driven by his faithful chauffeur Henry (Leon Lontoc) and investigate lurid murders among the Hollywood glitterati with his trademark wit and style.