In general the series was shot on the Universal Studios backlot, though location scenes were filmed around Los Angeles in areas that could pass for Boston, or rural areas near there. Banacek borrowed elements of both characters and plot points. The Thomas Crown Affair premise had been that a bored, wealthy Boston businessman (McQueen) masterminds a crime, leading to a match of wits with an insurance investigator (Faye Dunaway) who collects a 10 percent fee from the insurance company if she solves the case. He was an unapologetic ladies man who enjoyed the company of beautiful women, but he was street-smart and could engage in violent hand-to-hand fighting if the moment called for it. Banacek was intelligent, well-educated, cultured and suave. He had a mobile radio telephone in each of his cars at a time when these devices were uncommon and expensive. He owned and drove an antique 1941 Packard convertible. Vernon Street, (the same house used in The Thomas Crown Affair starring Steve McQueen) on Beacon Hill in Boston. Felix was the series' only character to ever call Banacek by his first name.īanacek's success as an investigator allowed him to live well. The name "Banaczek" (as pronounced in the show) is actually quite rare in Poland.Īlso featured were Murray Matheson as rare-bookstore owner and information source Felix Mulholland and Christine Belford as Carlie Kirkland, Banacek's sometime-lover and always-rival. Another recurring gag was for other characters to mispronounce his name, often, particularly in the case of rivals, deliberately. Drury was never at a loss for a potential solution which Banacek would always manage to shoot down with his very next line. Part of the joke was that Ralph Manza as Banacek's chauffeur Jay Drury, would often ask "What does it mean, Boss?" Banacek also had a running agreement with his chauffeur for a 10% share of Banacek's 10% if he solved the crime.