Switch (TV program)

From The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network TV Shows

  • First telecast: Sept. 9, 1975
  • Last telecast: Sept. 3, 1978
    •

Cast:

  • Pete Ryan....Robert Wagner
  • Frank McBride....Eddie Albert
  • Malcolm Argos....Charlie Callas
  • Maggie......Sharon Gless
  • Revel....Mindi Miller
  • Lt. Griffin (1975-1976)....Ken Swofford
  • Lt. Modeer (1976-1977)...Richard X. Slattery
  • Wang (1977-1978).....James Hong

It was an unusual partnership. Pete was a former con man and Frank was a retired bunco cop. Together they had formed a private detective agency that specialized in pulling "switches" on the other con men still operatnig on the wrong side of the law. They would concoct elaborate schemes that would, hopefully, result in the swindlers swindling themselves. Based in Los Angeles, the two of them traveled far and wide on assorted cases. Malcolm, a small-time thief and con man who had gone straight and opened a restaurant was recruited by Pete and Frank to help them on cases, and Maggie was the firms's combination secretary-receptionist and all-around girl Friday.

By the middle of its second season, Switch had become a somewhat more traditional detective series, with less of the elaborate con games, and in the fall of 1977 Pete moved into a new apartment above Malcolm's bouzouki bar, where Revel was the hostess and Wang the new cook.

1976 TV Guide Listing

7.30: Switch.Death by Resurrection. Pete and Mac take what seems to be a routine case where Pete goes to New York City to conduct a confidential investigation but instead is beaten up, arrested, and then returns to Los Angeles only to be kidnapped.Guest Stars Sharon Gless, Charlie Callas. (1 hr)

From Total Television: A Comprehensive Guide to Programming From 1948 to 1980

An hour-long adventure series about an ex-cop and an ex-con who teamed up as private investigators; their speciality, like that of The Rogues, was fleecing the fleecers and out-conning the con artists. The show starred Eddie Albert as Frank MacBride, the ex-cop and Robert Wagner as Peterson T. (Pete) Ryan, the ex-con. Also featured were Sharon Gless as their receptionist and assistant, Maggie; Charlie Callas as Malcolm Argos, an occasional helper; William Bryant (1976-1978) as Lieutenant Shilton; and James Hong (1977-1978) as Wang, Malcolm's cook. Glen A. Larson was the executive producer during the first season; Matthew Rapf during the second, and Jon Epstein during the third, for Glen Larson Productions in association with Universal Television.

Switch, the movie

YEAR: 1975.

LENGTH: 72 or 78 minutes, depending upon the source.

CAST: Sharon Gless, Robert Wagner, Eddie Albert, Charles Durning, Charlie Callas, Jacqueline Smith.

Wagner and Albert team up as private eyes in this pilot, playing the old con game to catch their mark. (From Movies on TV & Videocassette, 1992-1993).

Working as a team, Pete and Frank devote themselves to conning other confidence artists and returning ill-gotten gains to the rightful owners. It is therefore necessary for Pete to teach Frank how to be a crook, and for Frank to teach Pete how to be honest.

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