YELLOWSTREAK

YELLOWSTREAK
MAD UK #247, November 1982
a: Dave Stoten

A lot of TV detective spoofs of the seventies put all the detectives together, usually because the premise was the detective had some kind of gimmick or trait. This is supposed to by about this premise taken to its most absurd conclusion as a detective called Yellowstreak, who's supposed to be Orson Welles as all their traits combined.

This article seems to pre-date right-wing rancor against “woke” by forty years, lamenting how detectives used to be like Sam Spade, then TV made them disabled (Ironside, Raymond Burr), black (Shaft, Richard Roundtree), female (Police Woman, Angie Dickinson), fat (Cannon, William Conrad), streetsmart (Columbo, Peter Falk), and old (Barnaby Jones, Eddie Albert). McCloud is in the background of the splash panel as well.

Winifred Atwell was a jazz/ragtime musician. I have no idea why she's referenced here.

There are appearances by Quincy, Efrem Zimbalist and Roger Smith from 77 Sunset Strip, and Starsky & Hutch. There seems to be a picture of James Garner in Quincy's lab. In the last panel Orson Welles looks more like Tim Curry.

I'm familar with Karl Malden and Michael Douglas from Street of San Francisco and Robert Wagner from Hart to Hart, but I must say I'm stumped by the two in the same panel as with Kojak. They must be the only non-American detectives.

SHAFTED

SHAFT
CBS 1973-1974

SHAFTED
Crazy #4, May 1974
w: Len Wein
a: Mike Ploog

Not the films, of which there were three, but the TV series. Since many of NBC's mystery series were revolving TV movies, CBS decided to do the same thing and brought Shaft to the small screen, alternating with the Jimmy Stewart series Hawkins. The Shaft series also featured Richard Roundtree as John Shaft, the big black dick who was sex machine to all the chicks.

There was an unwritten rule in the seventies that if one TV detective was parodied, they all had to be, hence the appearances by Ironside, Columbo, Cannon, Barnaby Jones, and Ironside on the cover. They're on the inside too.

Shaft's boss was Lt. Rossi (Ed Barth).

In Isaac Hayes' theme, a popular song in its own right, he describes Shaft as “a mean mother--” and is then interrupted before he can say the f-word. 3

Shaft's Big Score was the title of one of his movies.

MCCLOD

MCCLOUD
1970-1977 NBC

MCCLOD
MAD #169, September 1974
w: Lou Silverstone
a: Angelo Torres

Sam McCloud (Dennis Weaver) was a marshal from Taos, New Mexico working as an investigator in New York City for Chief Clifford (J. D. Cannon). This series alternated with MacMillan and Wife, Hec Ramsey, and Columbo as part of the NBC Mystery Movie. McCloud used the “fish out of water” premise of the western officer unaccustomed to city ways.

Another co-worker was Col. Broadhurst (Terry Carter)

McCloud was attractive to women, though he had a sometime girlfriend, Chris Coughlin (Diana Muldaur).

In the foreground of the first panel is Keye Luke as Charlie Chan.

Celebrity appreciation in letters page.

Cover to German edition. Potrait of McCloud appears to be swiped from the Mort Drucker caricature.

MCCLOD
Cracked #111, September 1973
a: Nireves (John Severin)

His boss here is Ironside (Raymond Burr), and also in the office are Friday (Jack Webb), Mannix (Mike Connors), and Columbo (Peter Falk). McCloud spoke with Western and Southern metaphors all the time.

Ironside wouldn't have had any feeling in his feet.

MCCLOWN
Crazy #2, February 1974
w: Marv Wolfman
a: Neal Adams

The opening credits showed McCloud on a horse while travelling in the city so the parody continued the joke.

In the final panel is the cast of Gunsmoke.

This was the cover of TV Guide

LONGSHOT

LONGSTREET
1971-1972 ABC

LONGSHOT
MAD #153, September 1972
w: Stan Hart
a: Angelo Torres

The early seventies saw the era of the detective with the disability and/or gimmick. Longstreet's was that he was blind. This explains the story of Mike Longstreet (James Fransiscus), an insurance investigator, as told by his associates. The real Longstreet lost his eyesight from a bomb in a champagne bottle. His seeing eye dog was named Pax. His co-workers were Nikki (Marlyn Mason) and Duke (Peter Mark Richman).

The other two detectives are Ironside (Raymond Burr) and Cannon (William Conrad)

TV'S DEFECTIVE DETECTIVES
Cracked #102, August 1972
a: Jack Barrett

The other detectives at this gathering are Mannix (Mike Connors), Ironside and Mark Sanger (Don Mitchell), Nichols (James Garner), Cannon, Columbo (Peter Falk), and Sarge (George Kennedy). There is more than one cowboy in the splash panel, perhaps the other is McCloud?

Jack Webb as Friday from Dragnet also appears to be present.

IRONRIDE

IRONSIDE
1967-1975 NBC

Warning: Racial humor and blackface

IRONRIDE
MAD #139, December 1970
w: Lou Silverstone
a: Angelo Torres
In the 60s and 70s, detective shows all seemed to have “gimmicks”. This one was that Ironside (Raymond Burr) was paralyzed from the waist down. He was assisted by Eve Whitfield (Barbara Anderson), Ed Brown (Don Galloway), and Mark Sanger (Don Mitchell). Raymond Burr had previously starred on Perry Mason and supposedly he was in a wheelchair in this because he was very lazy in real life and didn't want to do repeated takes standing up.

From Finnish edition of MAD.

IRONSLIDE
Cracked #82, January 1970
a: John Severin

From TV Scenes Worth Waiting For in Cracked #74, January 1969, art by Lugoze.

FIRESIDE
Sick #68, June 1969
w: Fred Wolfe (Paul Laikin)
a: Al Bare

Then there was this bit on The Benny Hill Show.