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Small & Frye aired from March until June 1983 on CBS.
Nick Small ( Darren McGavin) was an old-line private eye who had never adjusted to the modern world. He was right out of the 1930s, hard-nosed, trench-coated and patterned after the likes of Mike Hammer and Sam Spade. His eager young partner, Chip Frye ( Jack Blessing), was more contemporary, and also brought something else to the partnership. As a result of a freak laboratory accident , Chip could shrink to a height of only six inches by using a special ring device. This gave Small & Frye the ability to get into places their competition couldn't. There was one minor glitch:outside factors like lightning; minerals in certain foods, and his own hiccups could cause Chip to shrink at the most inopportune times.
Phoebe ( Debbie Zipp), Nick's young daughter, served as the office receptionist and was Chip's girlfriend. Dr. Hanratty ( Bill Daily) was the eccentric head of the Police Criminal Lab and Eddie ( Warren Berlinger)was the proprietor of Nick's favorite local hangout, Eddies Bar and Grill.
A Review from The New York Times
By JOHN J. O'CONNOR
Published: March 7, 1983
In ''Small & Frye,'' on CBS at 8:30, Darren McGavin plays Nick Small, a veteran private eye who still sees himself as a character out of a Raymond Chandler novel. His young partner is Chip Frye (Jack Blessing). Chip is in love with Nick's daughter, Phoebe (Debbie Zipp), who looks and sounds like Squeaky Georgette on the old ''Mary Tyler Moore Show.''
The basic script is obviously not terribly interesting. There has to be a gimmick and, unfortunately, there is. It seems that, because of a laboratory accident, Chip can shrink to a height of 6 inches, which allows him to get into unusual situations. This evening, for reasons too ridiculous to explain, he ends up inside a violin. Mr. McGavin's television credits include such series as ''Crime Photographer'' and ''The Night Stalker.'' This new effort is not likely to be one of his more memorable ventures.
Here is Darren McGavin's Obituary from The New York Times
Darren McGavin, Versatile Veteran Actor, Dies at 83
By NADINE BROZAN
Published: February 27, 2006
Darren McGavin, an actor with hundreds of television, movie and theatrical credits to his name, died on Saturday in Los Angeles. He was 83.
The cause of his death, which was reported to The Associated Press by his son Bogart, was not announced, nor was the precise location, identified only as a Los Angeles area hospital.
Among the television roles with which Mr. McGavin was most closely identified were Mike Hammer, Mickey Spillane's tough-talking New York detective, and Carl Kolchak, the cynical newspaper reporter in the horror series "Kolchak: The Night Stalker," which had a short run but became a cult classic.
Mr. McGavin was not particularly proud of Mike Hammer, describing him to a reporter in 1968 as "a dummy." "I made 72 of those shows and I thought it was a comedy," he said. "In fact I played it camp. He was the kind of guy who would have waved the flag for George Wallace."
Spanning almost seven decades, his versatile career took him from "Macbeth" to "Marcus Welby M.D." He played General George S. Patton in the television biography "Ike" and appeared recently in "The "X Files," a show said to have been inspired by "The Night Stalker." He won an Emmy Award in 1990 for playing Candice Bergen's father in "Murphy Brown." He also was the voice for a time on Budweiser's "This Bud's for You" commercials.
His childhood is an enigma. Born in San Joaquin, Calif., he told TV Guide in 1973 that his parents disappeared and that he spent his teenage years living in warehouses in Tacoma, Wash., eluding the police and social workers.
He attended the College of the Pacific in Stockton, Calif., for a year before moving on to Hollywood. He also studied at the Neighborhood Playhouse under the legendary acting coach Sanford Meisner and at the Actors Studio.
According to The Associated Press, his career started after he was hired at Columbia Pictures as a dishwasher and a painter. He was painting a movie set in 1945 when he learned of an opening for a small role in the film "A Song to Remember."
"I climbed off a painter's ladder and washed up at a nearby gas station," he later recalled. Hired by the director Charles Vidor, he returned through Columbia's front gate. No one recognized him but the paint crew foreman, who promptly fired him. The role was a Polish peasant with one line.
Mr. McGavin went on to more substantial roles in movies including "Summertime"; "The Man With the Golden Arm," in which he played Frank Sinatra's drug dealer; "The Court Martial of Billy Mitchell"; and "A Christmas Story."
He also acted on Broadway and off in plays including "Death of a Salesman," "The Rainmaker" and "The King and I."
He and his first wife, Melanie York, were divorced in 1969. That year he married Kathie Browne, who died in 2003. He is survived by four children from his first marriage, York, Megan, Bridget and Bogart.
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