The Plainclothesman


The Plainclothesman is an American crime drama series which was broadcast on the now defunct DuMont Television Network.

Broadcast history

The series ran from 1949 to 1954, and was a detective show starring Ken Lynch, whose character was known only as "The Lieutenant". Uniquely on television, the main character's face was never seen on camera as the series used the "point of view shot" technique. The exception was a July 1952 episode, which featured flashbacks in which Lynch's face was shown.
The program, produced and distributed by DuMont, aired Wednesdays at 9 pm ET on most DuMont affiliates during the 1949–1950 season, on Wednesdays at 9:30 pm ET during 1950–1951, and Sundays at 9:30 pm ET during 1951–1952. The Plainclothesman was cancelled in 1954, with the last program airing on September 12.

Cast

Only around four episodes were preserved. One kinescoped episode of the series is held in the J. Fred MacDonald collection at the Library of Congress.