| Starring: | Rusty Lane |
| Country: | United States |
| Language: | English |
| Runtime: | 30 minutes |
| Network: | ABC |
Crime with Father is an early American police drama that aired on ABC on Friday nights from August 31, 1951, to January 18, 1952.[1]
The series centered on Captain Jim Riland of the homicide squad, and his daughter Chris, who "had a knack for crime-solving" and often helped him solve cases when the police were stymied.[2]
Rusty Lane portrayed Captain Jim Riland, and Peggy Lobin played Chris Riland. The writer was Larry Menkin, the producer was Wilbur Stark, and the director was Charles S. Dubin.[3]
According to columnist Terry Vernon, the show was filmed on actual streets without using stock clips or background projections, and showed the home life of the Rilands.[4]
A review in the trade publication Billboard said that the father-daughter crime solvers premise "has the making of a solid mystery-team trend", but the episode critiqued "was marred by trite scripting and melodramatic thesping".[5] The New York Times review of the first episode said it was "...an obviously low-budgeted series, has a far better than average quality of production, even if the pistol shots still sound like cap pistols".[6]
The premier episode was broadcast on August 31, 1951 for the eastern United States, but its start was delayed two weeks on the West Coast. For its first three weeks, the program was sustaining. Thereafter, Block Drug Company became the sponsor, advertising Ammident, Minipoo shampoo, Pycope brushes, and other products.[7] Block's sponsorship ended in early November 1951.[8]