T.H.E. Cat (TV)

(1966-67)
Created by Harry Julian Fink
Starring Robert Loggia
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He was reformed cat burglar and circus aerialist, and worked as a private detective and bodyguard, who used karate and his acrobatic skills.  His name was Cat.  Thomas Hewitt Edward Cat.

T.H.E. Cat* starred Robert Loggia as the main character in a role that was influenced by the hard boiled detective genre. He worked out of a bar Casa del Gato in San Francisco and went up against gangsters and the usual lowlifes.

The show was infused with style, with jazz music** and a film noir mood. Cat was laconic, content to use his skills to gain the upper hand instead of his mouth.  Bad guys were mean and bigger than life, and women, well, they all fell in love with him.  He played it much like Humphrey Bogart, though Bogart certainly was not one for acrobatics or climbing up walls.  Loggia was excellent in the role and was indeed what made the show worth watching.  He had a cool confidence that was hard not to admire.

The show only ran for one season, but did stick in the mind. 

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*The letters were always pronounced individually.

**Written by a pre-Mission: Impossible Lalo Schriffrin