The first episode of the American television series Paris aired on the CBS television network on September29,1979, and the series ran until January15, 1980. It was the first time that renowned actor James Earl Jones ever appeared in a lead role on television. The show was a crime drama, and it was created by Steven Bochco, who later became famous for his work on Hill Street Blues and NYPD Blue. Bochco also served as an executive producer for those shows. The program recounted the exploits of Woody Paris, a Los Angeles Police Captain who oversaw a group of rookie investigators. Officers Charlie Bogart, Ernesto Villas, and Willie Miller were among the rookie detectives that worked under the direction of Sergeant Stacy Erickson. Lee Chamberlin portrayed Paris's wife, Barbara, and Hank Garrett took on the role of Paris's superior, Deputy Chief Jerome Bench. In a twist that was unusual for police dramas of the era, Paris' home life and life outside of work were given a significant amount of attention in the storylines. Hank Garrett played the role. A part-time job that Paris held at a nearby institution was revealed to be that of a criminology professor. CBS scheduled the show Paris in one of the worst possible timeslots on a weekly schedule: Saturdays at 10 p.m./9 Central Time, despite the fact that the show received critical acclaim for its portrayal of the tension between the professional Paris character and his often impetuous underlings. Paris aired on Saturdays. In that time slot, all three networks introduced new shows for the 1979–1980 season, but only ABC's "Hart to Hart" made it through its first 13 weeks on the air. When it was towards the end of its run, CBS tried airing it on Tuesday nights at10/9, but to no success. Edward DeBlasio served as the show's producer for MTM Enterprises, the same company that would introduce Bochco's groundbreaking Hill Street Blues to NBC during the following season.
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