Switch

Switch follows a pair of private investigators who make a living by outsmarting crooks with elaborate cons and staged encounters. The series keeps a light, tongue-in-cheek tone while delivering action and drama, as each episode centers on a new case built around deception and clever trickery. Robert Wagner’s Pete Ryan and Eddie Albert’s Frank MacBride lead a small team, including Malcolm Argos, Maggie Philbin and Wang, who help set up theatrical ruses, fake identities and sting operations to expose frauds. Episodes are mostly self-contained, leaning on banter, improvisation and moral gray areas instead of serial story arcs, so the focus stays on the craft of the caper and the relationship between the leads.

Created by Glen A. Larson, Switch aired on CBS for three seasons from September 9, 1975 to August 20, 1978, and its debut prompted a schedule shift that moved Hawaii Five-O to Friday nights.

Switch stood out in the 1970s TV landscape for blending detective work with comedic confidence-artist techniques, giving crime drama a lighter, more theatrical flavor. The show raised the profile of Sharon Gless before her later successes, and the pairing of Wagner and Albert became the series’ calling card. Its use of staged cons and witty repartee made it a recognizable, if somewhat niche, part of 1970s pop culture TV.

Critical and audience reaction was mixed to warm, and modern user ratings are modest, with an average around 6.7/10 from a small sample of voters. Reviewers tended to praise the chemistry between the leads and the inventiveness of the sting setups, while sometimes noting uneven pacing or tonal shifts between comedy and suspense. Recurring themes include ethics around deception, teamwork and the line between performance and genuine emotion, and the show appealed to viewers who liked clever plots served with a wink.