Accused murderer Frankie Steele walks free, thanks to the efforts of San Francisco defense lawyer Joe Ricco. Then a pair of cop killings strikes the city. All signs point to the newly released Steele as the perpetrator. Has Ricco sprung a killer? Dean Martin keeps his affable ease but abandons his hipster Matt Helm-series swagger to portray Ricco in his final leading-role film, a whodunit mystery set in the city that also was the gritty center of action for the era’s Bullitt and Dirty Harry. Convinced that Steele isn’t behind the murders, Ricco launches an inquiry and runs up against a police lieutenant assigned to birddog him, evidence planted by a racist cop and several assassination attempts on Ricco himself. As the mystery deepens, so does the danger. And behind it all is someone the attorney never suspected. The pre-Laverne & Shirley Cindy Williams plays Ricco’s office assistant.

Hawkins is a television series which aired for one season on CBS between 1973 and 1974. The mystery, created by Robert Hamner and David Karp, starred James Stewart as rural-bred lawyer Billy Jim Hawkins, who investigated the cases he was involved in, similarly to Stewart's earlier smash hit movie Anatomy of a Murder. Despite being critically well received and winning a Golden Globe Award, the series was cancelled after one season consisting of seven 90-minute episodes. Stewart requested the cancellation since he believed that the quality of scripts and directors in television could not continuously measure up to the level to which he was accustomed with theatrical films. Seen as part of The New CBS Tuesday Night Movies, it alternated with the TV movie adaptations of Shaft. Contemporary analysts suggested that since the two shows appealed to vastly different audience bases, alternating them only served to confuse fans of both series, giving neither one the time to build up a large viewership.

Ghost Story is an American television anthology series that aired for one season on NBC from 1972 to 1973. Executive-produced by William Castle, it initially featured supernatural entities such as ghosts, vampires, and witches. By mid-season, low ratings led to a shift -- for the most part -- away from paranormal themes and a title change to Circle of Fear.