156. Center Of Peril

Porter Bent, Mark Donald Gaynor, Jay Richard Yarborough: Interstate Transportation of Stolen Property, Major Theft.

Original air date: 17 January 1971.

Inspector Lewis Erskine doing what he loves the second most: Going undercover. This time he is an art expert certifying that a stolen painting is genuine.

Vic Morrow is the chief bad guy. He, of course, was Sgt. Chip Saunders on the long-running series Combat. By 1971, war dramas were unpopular because of the Vietnam War. Hence, Mr. Morrow goes into the world of art.

Inspector Lewis Erskine also crosses paths with Yvonne Shelby, played by Susan Howard. Ms. Howard is most famous for her role as Donna Culver Krebbs in the prime-time soap opera Dallas. Here, she plays a woman involved with the art thieves. Inspector Erskine had arrested her character on another charge, eight years before, in Seattle.

• S.A.C. Tom Colby does a night flight in a Bell 47 helicopter. One sad irony: Vic Morrow died on 23 July 1982 as a result of a helicopter accident. This was on the set of the movie The Twilight Zone.
• On a happier note: The production values. The low-light photography is stunning. The music used in many places may have been reminiscent of a mid-1970s ABC crime show such as Baretta or Starsky & Hutch. Its use in 1971 shows how Quinn Martin Productions lavished care on this series. A very enjoyable episode indeed.
• RIP Robert Cornthwaite: The actor passed away on 20 July 2006 at at the Motion Picture and Television Country House and Hospital in Woodland Hills, California. He was 89 when he died.