I was aware of this show when it first aired but, since I was a baby boomer, it wasn't on my allowed watch list, being an "adult TV series" in the late 50's. Finally got interested in it while listening to Mancini's music album of the same name. To say that this show was ahead of its time and a forerunner of future series is to do it a disservice. Peter Gunn was groundbreaking in the use of jazz to create the proper mood of the action on screen, and in the way it slyly spanked the censors through witty writing and heavy emotional and physical situations. It brings back memories of the old Mae West and W.C. Fields comedies in the way they battered the blue-pencils of censorship while looking oh so innocent on screen. I recall one scene where Pete is convincing a landlady to let him into the room of someone he is investigating. She asks him, "So, are you a cop?" Pete replies, "Not exactly." She says, "Oh, a private dick then?" And Pete says, "Just private." If that doesn't tickle your fancy to go watch this series from start to finish, you are missing out on one of the great treats that life has to offer. God Bless You, Blake Edwards.
Review of Peter Gunn
