Master of Deception

This story would have made an intriguing premier episode because its very original, all about Barnaby chasing down a bigamist, not only a heartless soul but an extremely clever crook.

Glenn Corbett (of ROUTE 66 fame) plays the failed husband (Darryl) in question, who has the good fortune of marrying two women with jobs at electronics companies. His mission is to snag some secret plans for an advanced television invention -- which could make him a fortune -- using both unsuspecting wives.

Needless to say, he's not going to get away quite that easy. His first wife, Pauline (played by Fran Brill) uncovers the bitter truth and is promptly murdered. Would you expect anything else? Now it's up to Barnaby to get to his second wife (Markie Post). I agree with the last reviewer; interesting to see Post in a very early dramatic role, known for the FALL GUY and the sitcom NIGHTCOURT. Markie Post passed in 2021.

Incidentally, Fran Brill went on to a successful career as a voice actor, her most famous role being Zoe (and additional characters) on SESAME STREET. Sci fi actor Kenneth Tobey plays his first wife's boss.

AAA script by Gerald Sanford, also series associate producer, later writer for CHIPS.

Only debit; the actress Darryl hires to pretend she's his wife (on the phone) obviously is trouble. He should have saw it coming. She was fairly slick herself.

Dedicated to fans of both Glenn Corbett and Markie Post. SEASON 7 EPISODE 20 remastered CBS/Paramount dvd box set. The cover features a much younger Buddy Ebsen, a photo or sketch probably taken from his appearance ten years earlier in BREAKFAST AT TIFFANYS.

A man is found out by his wife that he's taking photos of plans from her company that he tells her what he's going to do with them. So he makes sure she doesn't escape with her life. We later find out he's also married to another woman who works for another company he's very interested in. It's up to Barnaby Jones to make sure he doesn't get away. Unlike many other eps of the show this late in the run, Barnaby is the center of the narrative full-time as opposed to the usual showcases of either Betty or J. R. during this period. One of the most pleasurable moments of this particular one was seeing Markie Post, a few years before starring in "Night Court", as that other wife. In fact, the entire ep was enjoyable from beginning to end. So that's a recommendation of "Master of Deception".

Darryl (Glenn Corbett) is not a very good husband. First, he murders his wife. Second, you then see he has another wife at the same time! How does polygamy relate to industrial espionage? See the show.

Seasons 5-8 featured way too many episodes where Buddy Ebsen is essentially just there in a token role and the cases are handled by Jedediah and Betty. These shows are generally very bad and fortunately this one is NOT a Betty nor Jedediah show. The plot is pretty interesting and the solution pretty satisfying. I sure wish they'd made more episodes like this in the final seasons...without the usual clichés and deficiencies you too often saw in these episodes.