The Partners (1971)

In a 2004 interview Don Adams described his 1971 creation The Partners as having been Lethal Weapon before there was Lethal Weapon. The series centered on the exploits of a pair of bumbling police detectives, Lennie Crooke and George Robinson - one white, one black. Don Adams himself played Crooke, while Oscar nominee Rupert Crosse was cast as Robinson. Other regular characters were their volatile boss Captain Andrews, played by John Doucette, and his punctilious assistant (and Lennie's nemesis) Sgt Higgenbottom, played by Dick Van Patten. The recurring role of compulsive confessor Freddie Butler was played by Don Adams's cousin Robert Karvelas. Adams had intended to use the show as a vehicle for exploring serious social issues but the studio and network insisted on a safer approach thereby condemning it to being dismissed as a copy of Get Smart, the 1965-70 series in which Adams had portrayed Maxwell Smart, a bumbing secret agent. The Partners was cancelled after only 20 episodes had been produced having been soundly beaten in the ratings by the biting All In The Family, suggesting that Adams's original vision had been the correct one. - tv.com Show Summary