M Squad

M Squad is an American crime drama television series that ran from 1957 to 1960 on NBC. It was produced by Lee Marvin's Latimer Productions and Revue Studios. Its main sponsor was the Pall Mall cigarette brand; Lee Marvin, the program's star, appeared in its commercials during many episodes.[1][2] Alternate sponsors were General Electric (GE), Hazel Bishop and Bulova watches.

M Squad
Lee Marvin as Lt. Frank Ballinger, from NBC's M-Squad in 1959.
GenreCrime drama
StarringLee Marvin
Paul Newlan
Composer(s)Main theme by
Count Basie
Stanley Wilson
Incidental music and arrangements by
Sonny Burke
Pete Carpenter
Benny Carter
John T. Williams
Orchestra conducted by
Stanley Wilson
Country of originUnited States
Original language(s)English
No. of seasons3
No. of episodes117 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)John Larkin
Richard Lewis
Producer(s)Robert Bassler
Maxwell Shane
Editor(s)Lee Huntington
John B. Moss
Stanley Rabjohn
Running time30 minutes
Production company(s)Latimer Productions
Revue Studios
DistributorMCA TV
Release
Original networkNBC
Original releaseSeptember 20, 1957 –
June 21, 1960

Episodes
Main article: List of M Squad episodes
SeasonEpisodesOriginally aired
First airedLast aired
138September 20, 1957 (1957-09-20)June 13, 1958 (1958-06-13)
240September 19, 1958 (1958-09-19)July 3, 1959 (1959-07-03)
339September 18, 1959 (1959-09-18)June 21, 1960 (1960-06-21)

Set in Chicago, Illinois, it starred Marvin as Detective Lieutenant Frank Ballinger, a member of "M Squad", a special unit of the Chicago Police, assisting other units in battling organized crime, corruption and violent crimes citywide. Paul Newlan co-starred as his boss, Captain Grey. Although Marvin had been appearing in feature films since 1951, it was this series that made him a star, and he later went on to an even bigger film career afterward. Nelson Case was the announcer.[3] The popularity of M Squad was proven in the ratings wars by the NBC network choosing a Friday night time slot opposite Frank Sinatra's ABC variety show in the fall of 1957 and Phil Silvers' long running CBS comedy, Sgt. Bilko, in 1958. Both series were eventually cancelled.

Guest stars

Music
  • The theme music for the first season was composed by Stanley Wilson,[4] who won the 1959 Grammy Award for the Best Soundtrack Album and Background Score from Motion Picture or Television. In the second and third seasons, the new theme was composed by Count Basie.[4]
  • A soundtrack album, Music from M Squad, with liner notes by Lee Marvin, was released by RCA Victor Records in 1959 during the last season of the show.[5][4]

Trivia
  • In episode "The Jumper", an officer was depicted taking bribes. This prompted Richard J. Daley, the Mayor of Chicago at the time, to discourage motion picture and television location filming in Chicago for the rest of his administration (1955-1976). The Blues Brothers, released in 1980, marked the reversal of the policy under then-mayor Jane Byrne.
  • The TV series Police Squad! was a spoof on police series in general, and on signature elements of M Squad in particular. The opening sequence of Police Squad! spoofed portions of the opening sequence of M Squad, particularly the theme song arrangement and the sequence with shots being fired from behind a car. As well, the Police Squad! office was designed to look very much like the M Squad office, and the narration in each series was very similar, with each character introducing himself in each episode as a "detective lieutenant".
  • Similarly, the 1994 music video directed by Spike Jonze for the song "Sabotage" by the Beastie Boys directly parodies the opening sequence of M Squad, amongst other police shows.
  • A novel was published in 1962, M Squad: The Chicago Cop Killer, by David Saunders. It was published by Belmont Books, New York.
  • Lee Marvin carried two Colt Cobra revolvers, the lightweight variant of Colt's "Detective's Special" revolver, which was popular with detectives at the time.

Home media

Timeless Media Group released M Squad: The Complete Series on DVD in the Region 1 on November 11, 2008.[6] This release has been discontinued and is out of print.

On November 4, 2014, Timeless Media re-released the complete series on DVD in a new 16-disc special edition collection that contains an entire disc of bonus content.[7]

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References
  1. "Pall Mall Presents M Squad". Tobacco Videos. Archived from the original on June 26, 2010.
  2. Lee Marvin for Pall Mall Cigarettes (TV commercial). YouTube. July 9, 2011. Retrieved March 26, 2020.
  3. Alicoate, Charles A., ed. (1960). The 1960 Radio Annual and Television Year Book. Radio Daily Corp. p. 1198.
  4. "Studio City Walk of Fame Highlights: 'M Squad'". Studio City, CA Patch. February 7, 2012. Retrieved March 26, 2020.
  5. "The Music from M Squad - Stanley Wilson | Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved March 26, 2020.
  6. "Official Press Release for M Squad - The Complete Series". Archived from the original on November 1, 2014.
  7. "Package Art Arrives for TMG's 'Complete TV Series: Special Edition'". Archived from the original on November 1, 2014.
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