The CBS series ended on June 27, 1951. On September 11 of 1951 it resumed on ABC, ending on ABC on March 4, 1952. On March 13 it resumed again on DuMont, until the final broadcast on June 19, 1952.
A total of 15 episodes of this series survive at the UCLA Film and Television Archive, two of which are from the DuMont Television Network (which ceased broadcasting in 1956). A few more episodes survive at the Paley Center for Media.
Originally a radio show. However, the radio show was merely "The Adventures of Sam Spade" with a different name. Dashiell Hammett, the creator of Spade, was one of those whose reputations was damaged during the McCarthy hearings, and as such Spade was promptly done away with and replaced by Charlie Wild. (The name came from Wildroot Hair Oil's [the show's sponsor] catch phrase: "You're getting Wildroot Hair Oil, Charlie.") Literally nothing else changed, not even the identity of the secretary, Effie Perrine. No records of the radio show survive.
Sponsors included Wildroot; Chablis; and Mogen David Wine.