Men Against Evil (Unsold Pilot)

This unsold ABC pilot for a proposed twice-weekly, serialized drama about the lives and families of police officers eventually became The Felony Squad, which premiered in September 1966.

The introduction of ABC’s twice-weekly prime time soap opera Peyton Place in September 1964 led to a lot of industry chatter about the networks scrambling to get more serialized dramas on the air, perhaps even cutting existing hour-long shows in half. The incredible success of Peyton Place twice a week led ABC to expand it to three nights a week in June 1965. Yet only a handful of additional serials were added over the next few years.

In November 1965, only a few months into the 1965-1966 season, the networks were already hard at work developing their pilots for the 1966-1967 season. According to Broadcasting, there were roughly 30 pilots at each of the networks as well as another 30 from independent producers [1]. Three of ABC’s pilots were for half-hour drama serials to be broadcast twice a week:

  • “From Here to Eternity,” based on the 1951 James Jones novel; starring Darren McGavern and Sally Kellerman
  • “Men Against Evil,” chronicling the work and home lives of Los Angeles police officers; with Howard Duff, Ben Alexander and Jeanne Crain
  • “Them Monroes,” about five orphans whose parents are killed while attempting to move the family West; starring Michael Anderson, Jr.

The pilot for “Men Against Evil” was produced by Twentieth Century-Fox Television, which was also producing Peyton Place for ABC (as well as another twice-weekly series, Batman, to premiere in January 1966). Richard Murphy served as executive producer and writer with Gordon Douglas directing.

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Howard Duff starred in the pilot as Sam Stone, a veteran of the force who didn’t always go by the book. Jeanne Crain played his wife, Betty, who had a drinking problem caused by the stress of dealing with their daughter, who was involved with the son of either the chief of police or the mayor (sources vary on that detail) and may have been carrying his child.

Ben Alexander co-starred as Dan Briggs, a gruff desk sergeant whose son Jim (played by Wade Graham) was also a police officer. Rounding out the cast was Dennis Cole as a young policeman whose wife was raped by an ex-con exacting revenge on the man who sent him to prison.

As if that wasn’t enough drama, there were also hints of police corruption and bribery mixed with the investigation into a shooting that left an officer dead. If ABC wanted Peyton Place meets Dragnet, “Men Against Evil” fit the bill. Television Magazine described the series as focusing on “policemen and their tensed-up wives,” comparing it to ABC’s cancelled The Long, Hot Summer from the 1965-1966 season in terms of representing neurotics on television [2]. “It’s kind of ‘Dragnet’ or ‘Naked City,'” said Jeanne Crain, “with the accent on what happens to the policemen after they finish their daily routine” [3].

ABC released its fall schedule in March 1966 [4]. The network decided not to pick up “From Here to Eternity” for the 1966-1967 season. Its other two proposed serials were picked up but only as regular weekly rather than twice-weekly series. Men Against Evil was given the Monday 9-9:30PM, followed by the Monday installment of Peyton Place. It would compete with The Andy Griffith Show on CBS and the second half of The Road West on NBC. Them Monroes would air Wednesdays from 8-9PM.

But there were more changes in store for Men Against Evil. In April, The Hartford Courant reported that Jeanne Crain had been dropped from the series [5]. In fact, all of the wives had been dropped and the emphasis shifted away from the personal lives of the police officers. Instead, the series would be more of a straight cop drama focusing on catching bad guys.

Gone, too, was Wade Graham as Jim Briggs. Dennis Cole was shifted into that role, with Ben Alexander staying put as his father, and the show’s main cast cut down to just three. Duff’s Sergeant Sam Stone and Cole’s Detective Jim Briggs would be partners, two cops with very different styles. The timing of these changes could explain why no footage from the series was included in the 1966-1967 preview given to ABC affiliates at their March 26th meeting in Chicago, only a voiceover from Howard Duff.

Duff himself came close to getting cut from the series when new sponsor L&M Tobacco learned he had done voiceover work for Old Gold cigarettes [6]. But things were worked out between sponsor and network and Duff stayed. Happy to still have the job, he didn’t worry too much about all the changes behind-the-scenes. “I suppose,” he explained, “that the other version, which was kind of like Peyton Place with all those wives, looked good on paper. I really don’t know what happened to change their minds” [7].

Ben Alexander, on the other hand, was much happier with the reworked premise focusing on cops catching criminals. He called the original concept “a crock” and felt that viewers weren’t ready for that kind of show [8].

The name of series was also changed several times. One of the sponsors reportedly didn’t like the word “evil” in the original title [9]. It was changed first to The Force, then The Heavy Squad and finally to The Felony Squad [10]. The series premiered on September 10th, 1966. It performed well enough to be renewed for the 1967-1968 season and again for the 1968-1969 season. It was moved to Fridays in September 1968 and was cancelled halfway through the season. The final episode, a crossover with Judd, for the Defense, aired on January 31st, 1969. A total of 73 episodes were produced.

The Felony Squad bares little resemblance to the original “Men Against Evil” pilot episode. Not only were significant cast changes made but the entire focus of the series was altered. With that in mind, it seems appropriate to consider “Men Against Evil” a completely separate, unsold pilot rather than simply an unaired pilot. There are simply too many differences between the pilot and the series.

At least two scripts were completed before the name of the series was changed and are part of the Film and Television Scripts Collection at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Library. The first (“Flame Out!” by Donald S. Sanford, dated June 9th, 1966) was produced and aired in October 1966 as an episode of The Felony Squad. The second (“Brass Buttons Tarnish,” by George Eckstein, dated June 27th, 1966) may have been retitled for use on The Felony Squad; he wrote two episodes that aired in September and December 1966, respectively. It is unknown whether either script originally included characters or situations from the original concept for the series.

UCLA’s Film & Television Archive has a copy of “Men Against Evil” in its collection.


Works Cited:
1 “Bumper crop of network pilots.” Broadcasting. 29 Nov. 1965: 27.
2 “The New Shows: Souped Up, Slicked Up, Colored Up.” Television Magazine. Jun. 1966: 37.
3 Thomas, Bob. “Star Runs Family of 7 Children.” Niagara Falls Gazette. Associated Press. 6 May 1966: 9.
4 “A.B.C. Picks 16 New Fall TV Shows.” New York Times. 22 Mar. 1966: 82.
5 Freeman, Alex. “TV Close-Up: ‘Animals’ Returning for 4-Week Tour.” Hartford Courant. 18 Apr. 1966: 8.
6 “Howard Duff: A Man of No Questions.” Free-Lance Star [Fredericksburg, VA]. Town & Country Supplement. 31 Dec. 1966: 12-A.
7 Ibid.
8 Gysel, Dean. “Alexander Is the Ideal Sidekick.” Knickerbocker News [Albany, NY]. Chicago Daily News Service. 13 Feb. 1967: 12A.
9 Adams, Val. “Friday’s Friend On the Felony Squad.” New York Times. 17 Jul. 1966: 85.
10 Lowry, Cynthia. “‘Felony Squad’ Gets Major Overhauling.” Kentucky New Era [Hopkinsville, KY]. Associated Press. 24 Aug. 1966: 9.

Originally Published August 26th, 2014
Last Updated May 18th, 2018


44 Replies to “Men Against Evil (Unsold Pilot)”

  1. Do the “Men Against Evil” closing credits remind anyone of the “Police Squad” series and/or “The Naked Gun” films? Those came immediately to mind…

  2. I Used To Watch This Series With My Mom And Late Dad As A Toddler 9 Months Old As Well As I Watched It In First Run On ABC At 9 PM Then At 7:30 PM On Friday Then In Reruns On CBS Affilliate KIRO-TV Channel 7 In Seattle Then On TV Land I Watch It Then On Youtube.

  3. The Closing Credits Reminds Me Of A Cross Between NYPD And Police Squad. As Well As The Naked Gun Movies.

  4. When ABC Today Aired Men Against Evil It Would Be Called Desperate Housewives Meets CSI Crime Scene Investigation. In Those Days It Was Peyton Place Meets Dragnet In The Pilot Men Against Evil.

  5. I figured that…I learned at this very site that NBC was talking up a DRAGNET revival as early as the fall of 1964.

  6. ABC Had Called Men Against Evil It Was Really Concieved As
    Peyton Place Meets 87th Precinct Meets Dan Raven Meets M Squad Meets Highway Patrol Meets Dragnet.

  7. NBC Planned To Revive Dragnet In September Of 1963 For Mark VII Limited And Revue After He Would Have Resigned From Warner Bros In 1963 CBS Planned To Do Selena Mead Produced By Jack Webb For Mark VII Limited And Universal TV Starring Polly Bergen. It Would Be On Monday At 9:30 PM

  8. CBS Would Have Aired Selena Mead On Monday At 9:30 PM Produced By Jack Webb Co-Financed By Mark VII Limited And Universal TV Would Have Used A Universal Crew On Selena Mead. Would Selena Mead Be In Black & White Or Maybe In Color Color Coordinator Robert Brower Color By Pathe,Editorial Dept Head David J.O’Connell,Music Supervision Stanley Wilson,Costume Supervisor Vincent Dee,Makeup Jack Barron,Hair Stylist Larry Germain This Picture Made Under The Jurresdiction Of IATSE-IA Affilliated With AFL-CIO,ATFP,NAB Seal Of Good Practice Code Affilliate Copyright (C) MCMLXV By Selena Mead Productions All Rights Reserved,Produced By JACK WEBB,MARK VII LIMITED Filmed At The Studios Of UNIVERSAL CITY,MCA TM MCA TV EXCLUSIVE DISTRIBUTOR,

  9. COPYRIGHT (C) 1966
    TWENTIETH CENTURY-FOX TELEVISION,INC
    ALL RIGHTS RESERVED,
    This Picture Made Under The Jurresdiction Of IATSE-IA Affilliated With AFL-CIO,
    RCA Sound Recording,
    National Association Of Broadcasters SEAL OF GOOD PRACTICE Television Code,
    Executive Producers
    RICHARD MURPHY
    And
    WALTER GRAUMAN,
    WILLIAM SELF
    In Charge Of Production,
    Filmed At The Hollywood Studios Of
    TWENTIETH CENTURY-FOX TELEVISION,INC.

  10. COLOR BY DE LUXE
    Copyright (C) 1966
    Twentieth Century-Fox Television,Inc
    All Rights Reserved,
    This Picture Made Under The Jurisdiction Of IATSE-IA Affilliated With AFL-CIO,
    National Association Of Broadcasters SEAL OF GOOD PRACTICE Television Code,
    RCA Sound Recording,
    AMPTP.
    Executive Producer
    RICHARD MURPHY,
    WILLIAM SELF
    In Charge Of Production
    Filmed At The Hollywood Studios Of
    TWENTIETH CENTURY-FOX TELEVISION,INC.

  11. Make Up Supervision……………………………….BEN NYE,
    Hair Stylist Supervision………..MARGARET DONOVAN,
    COLOR BY DELUXE,
    Copyright (C) 1966,
    Twentieth Century-Fox Television,Inc.
    All Rights Reserved,
    This Picture Made Under The Jurisdiction Of IATSE-IA Affilliated With AFL-CIO,
    RCA Sound Recording,
    National Association Of Broadcasters TELEVISION CODE Seal Of Good Practice,
    AMPTP,
    Executive Producer
    RICHARD MURPHY,
    WILLIAM SELF
    In Charge Of Production,
    Filmed At The Hollywood Studios Of
    TWENTIETH CENTURY-FOX TELEVISION,INC.

    1. I’m still waiting for a M.O.D. D.V.D.-R. release of “The Felony Squad” which should contain the “Men Against Evil” pilot along with the crossover episode of “Judd For The Defense” concluded where the final episode. Yet, despite that Disney owns 20th Century-Fox, they’re not interested in releasing it or even consider running on their Disney + streaming service (along with other of 20th Century-Fox’s classic series), because they don’t want a police series to hamper their family friendly image., because I consider it a series worthy of rediscovery. C’mon, Disney!

  12. COLOR BY DE LUXE,
    Copyright (C) 1966
    Twentieth Century-Fox Television,Inc.
    All Rights Reserved,
    This Picture Made Under The Jurisdiction Of IATSE-IA Affilliated With AFL-CIO,
    RCA Sound Recording,
    National Association Of Broadcasters TELEVISION CODE Seal Of Good Practice,
    AMPTP,
    Executive Producer
    RICHARD MURPHY,
    WILLIAM SELF
    In Charge Of Production,
    Filmed At The Hollywood Studios Of
    TWENTIETH CENTURY-FOX TELEVISION,INC.

  13. The Felony Squad Will Be On DVD In Its Fully Restored And Newly Digitally Remastered Versions You Know.

  14. Dear T.V. Obscurities:
    Is there any chance that you have a print catalog? I really need one (because I do not have a computer at home: I am hopefully going to be on line next fall.)
    If you can spare one, could you please send me one at the following address:
    marisa frasure
    3502 donnelly street
    flint, michigan, 48504
    Also….If you have any t.v. commercial compilations from the 50’s to the 60’s that you can give me some price estimates on, I’d be really grateful!
    -m.

  15. Jack Webb Was Fired From Warner Bros On Friday December 7,1962 A Week Later Was Replaced On December 14,1962 By William Conrad,In The Closing Credits It Had This Picture Made Under The Jurisdiction Of IATSE-IA Affilliated With AFL-CIO,RCA Sound Recording,National Association Of Broadcasters TELEVISION CODE Seal Of Good Practice,AMPTP,In Men Against Evil Closing Credits.

  16. Jack Webb Was Fired As Executive At Warner Bros Television On Friday December 7,1962 By Jack Warner For Failure To Develop TV Production Of Then His Non Dragnet Projects, After Three And A Half Years With The Studio He Was Executive At The Warner Bros Television Division,Since September 24,1959,After Three And A Half Years,After Three And A Half Years After 77 Sunset Strip,Hawaiian Eye,Cheyenne,The Dakotas,The Gallant Men,Room For One More,William T.Orr Left Studio In 1960 And Then Became An Independent Producer,He Formed WTO Productions In 1960,
    Jack Webb Was Replaced On Thursday December 13,1962 By William Conrad,Then Jack Webb Turned Down Unemployment,Then Went To Work At Revue Universal’s TV Arm Owned By MCA,Hired By Revue Executive Jennings Lang,He Had Developed And Co-Created As Well As Executive Producer Of Bob Hope Presents The Chrysler Theatre,Jack Webb’s First Series In Color,In 1963-64,William Conrad Taken Over As Executive At The Warner Bros Television Division,He Saved 77 Sunset Strip For 63-64 Season,He Taken Over As Executive Producer Of GE True First Episode Executive Producer William Conrad March 8,1963,In The Closing Credits Of Men Against Evil Pilot,Did It Have This Picture Made Under The Jurisdiction Of IATSE-IA Affilliated With AFL-CIO,RCA Sound Recording,National Association Of Broadcasters TELEVISION CODE Seal Of Good Practice,AMPTP,In Closing Credits As Well As One Legend Of Jesse James TV Episode,Three Peyton Place Episodes,Blue Light Episode Traitors Blood,The Long Hot Summer Episode,One Nancy Drew TV Series Episode Starring Faye Dunaway,Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea Episode Dead Men’s Doubloons,And An Unaired Time Tunnel Pilot Redezvious With Yesterday,Jan And Dean 1966 TV Pilot,And An Unaired Monroes TV Pilot,And An Unaired Tammy Grimes Show TV Pilot Then.An Unaired Green Hornet TV Pilot,And An Unaired Paul Lynde Pilot All In 1966,

  17. Men Against Evil Closing Credits,Is A Cross Between The 1960’s NYPD And Police Squad,Danny Thomas,And Sheldon Leonard’s Company,Marterto-Frances Productions,Merged With The Newly Formed Louis F.Edelman Productions In 1954,Asorbed Into Marterto-Frances-Edelman Productions,
    Became T.L.&.E. Productions In 1962.Then Louis F.Edelman Left Danny And Sheldon Instead Of Them,Danny And Sheldon Developed I Spy,Danny Thomas,And Sheldon Leonard Hired Aaron Spelling,They Had Formed Thomas-Leonard-Spelling Productions In 1965.First Series The Double Life Of Henry Phyfe Premiered On ABC In Color On December 27,1965,They Had Then Struct Gold With The Mod Squad In September 1968.Jack Webb Taken Over Bill Orr’s Job In 1960,At The Warner Bros Television Division,

  18. This Series Should Come To DVD,William T.Orr Left Warner Bros Television Division In 1960 To Join Paul Monash Who Left Desilu,As Well As Walter Grauman In Forming MOG Productions,William T.Orr’s First TV Series As Independent Producer With His Partners Paul Monash And Walter Grauman,At MGM Television,Then MOG Productions Left MGM Television In 1962 And Joined 20th Century-Fox Television,In 1962,They Struck Gold With Peyton Place In 1964,Followed By The Legend Of Jesse James The First Western,Ever In Color,Then Blue Light,The Felony Squad,Judd For The Defense,Lancer,Bracken’s World,Then They Had Turned To Movies Like Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid,Slaughterhouse Five,The Friends Of Eddie Coyle,The Front Page,In 1960 Jack Webb Replaced William T.Orr Then Jack Webb Replaced By William Conrad,While William Conrad Was At Warner Bros Television Division,He Produced,Directed And Executive Produced Theatrical Movies At Warner Bros Studios,

  19. Men Against Evil Originally Concieved Today As A Cops And Robbers Version Of Desperate Housewives Meets CSI,Back Then Was Peyton Place Meets Dragnet,.

  20. I Go After Developmentally Disabled Criminals.Men Against Evil A Cross Between Dragnet And Peyton Place.

  21. Originally Intended As Then A Cops And Robbers Version Of Peyton Place.ABC Wanted Peyton Place Meets Dragnet Meets Naked City Meets M Squad. Men Against Evil Fit The Bill.Became A Serious Cop Drama As The Felony Squad,Stone And Briggs Would Be Partners.

  22. Jack Webb Was Fired From Warner Bros Television On December 13,1962,And Day Later Went To Revue For Job Interview,By Jennings Lang,William Conrad Had Replaced Jack Webb,William Conrad Is Jack Webb’s Friend,William Conrad Became Executive Producer Saved 77 Sunset Strip For Four Months,William Conrad Was Executive Producer At Warner Bros Television Of Such Shows Like Giant Step,The Jimmy Dean Show,Temple Houston,No Time For Sergeants,Wendy And Me,F Troop,Hank,Mister Roberts,The Double Life Of Henry Phyfe,T.H.E. Cat,Dundee And The Culhane,William Conrad Went On To Produce,Direct As Well As Become Executive Producer Of Big Screen Theatrical Movies For The Studio.William Conrad Friend Of Jack Webb’s Taken Over Warner Bros Television Division,December 14,1962,William Conrad’s First Day Taken Over From Jack Webb December 14,1962,At Warner Bros Television Division,

  23. Jack Webb Worked At Warner Bros Television From September 12,1960 Until He Was Fired December 13,1962,He Was Replaced By William Conrad,Jack Webb Went Over To Revue Later Universal Television In 1962.William Conrad Taken Over Warner Bros Television,He Saved 77 Sunset Strip After Jack Webb Ruined It For Four Months 77 Sunset Strip Was Replaced By 12 O’Clock High.ABC Had Replaced In The Fall. Of 1964,William Conrad Cancelled 77 Sunset Strip,As Well As 77 Sunset Strip.William Conrad Aired Only No Time For Sergeants As Well As Wendy And Me. While William Conrad Helmed Warner Bros,He Produced And Directed Theatrical Movies,And Promoted To Executive Producer Of Warner Bros Feature Division.

  24. Sam Stone And Jim Briggs Had Became Partners On The TV Series,It Had Dropped The Peyton Place Elements And Made It A Serious Police Drama,Paul Monash,William T. Orr And Walter Grauman Were Brought In As Executive Producers Of The Felony Squad On ABC. Dennis Cole Became A Household
    Name,Because Of The Series He Did. Would Have Been Peyton Place Meets Dragnet Or Maybe Desperate Housewives Meets Kojak.

    1. “The Felony Squad” was sort of a Quinn Martin series because its executive producer (and occasional director) was Walter Grauman and its producer was Phillip Saltzman who both worked on “The Fugitive” and “The F.B.I.”.

  25. Howard Duff,Ben Alexander,Dennis Cole,Paul Monash,William T.Orr,Walter Grauman,Richard Murphy,Pete Rugolo,Robert Mintz,William Self,Samuel E.Beetley,Rest In Peace.

  26. In The Men Against Evil Pilot,
    COLOR BY DE LUXE,
    COPYRIGHT (C) 1966
    TWENTIETH CENTURY-FOX TELEVISION,INC.
    ALL RIGHTS RESERVED,
    This Picture Made Under The Jurisdiction Of IATSE-IA Affilliated With AFL-CIO,
    RCA Sound Recording,
    National Association Of Broadcasters TELEVISION CODE Seal Of Good Practice,
    AMPTP,
    Executive Producer
    RICHARD MURPHY,
    WILLIAM SELF,
    In Charge Of Production,
    Filmed At The Hollywood Studios Of
    TWENTIETH CENTURY-FOX,TELEVISION INC.

  27. The Wives Were Dropped In Men Against Evil Became The Felony Squad As An Excellent Police Drama On Catching Bad Guys.

  28. In Men Against Evil It Had This Picture Made Under The Jurisdiction Of IATSE-IA Affilliated With AFL-CIO,RCA Sound Recording,National Association Of Broadcasters TELEVISION CODE Seal Of Good Practice,AMPTP,Executive Producer RICHARD MURPHY,WILLIAM SELF In Charge Of Production Filmed At The Hollywood Studios Of TWENTIETH CENTURY-FOX TELEVISION,INC,ABC Wanted Peyton Place Meets Dragnet,Today It’s Desperate Housewives Meets CSI.Or Peyton Place Meets Naked City.

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