Trivia / Harry O

• Dawson Casting: Averted in the episode "Ballinger's Choice", where teenage Michelle March is played by then-16 Lisa Gerritsen (Phyllis Lindstorm's daughter Bess from The Mary Tyler Moore Show).
• Executive Meddling: First, when ABC and Warner Bros. decided to move the series from San Diego to Los Angeles towards the end of the first season. Second, when Fred Silverman became the head of ABC and cut a swath through the lineup, canceling a number of shows, even shows in the Top 20, as Harry O was at the time.
• Fake Nationality: The very Hispanic Henry Darrow (real name Henry Delgado) as Lt. Manny Quinlan.
• He Also Did: John Rubinstein, who guest-starred in the episodes "The Confetti People" and "Hostage", inherited the musical talent of his father, conductor Artur Rubinstein. John composed the music for the "Hostage" episode, as well as the series Family, on which he was a regular.
• Playing Against Type:
  • Anthony Zerbe. The majority of the roles he played prior to playing Lt. Trench were villainous roles, though he did play a wisecracking Southern sheriff in his first appearance on Mannix.
  • Robert Reed, Mike Brady himself, as a cold-blooded assassin in "Accounts Balanced".
  • James Olson, who often played a villain, played Police Captain Pete Jaklin in "Material Witness".
• What Could Have Been: Telly Savalas was considered for the role of Harry Orwell.
• You Look Familiar: A number of instances. To wit...
  • Carol Rossen in the episodes "Mortal Sin" and "One For the Road".
  • Joanna Pettet in the episodes "Forty Reasons to Kill (Parts 1 and 2)" and "Group Terror".
  • John Rubinstein in the episodes "The Confetti People" and "Hostage".
  • Kathy Lloyd in the first pilot film (Such Dust As Dreams Are Made On), "Silent Kill" and "Elegy For a Cop". Most of her scenes in "Elegy For a Cop" were recycled from the first pilot film.
  • Les Lannom played a student in the first pilot film and Harold Blaney in the premiere episode "Gertrude" before becoming a recurring character as Lester Hodges.
  • Sal Mineo in the first pilot film and "Elegy For a Cop". As with Kathy Lloyd, most of Mineo's scenes were recycled from the first pilot film.

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