Private detective and former World War II Office of Strategic Services secret agent and foreign languages professor Stuart ("Stu") Bailey (Zimbalist) and former government agent and nonpracticing attorney Jeff Spencer (Smith) form a duo who work from stylish offices at 77 Sunset Boulevard in Suites 101 and 102.

[2] Suzanne Fabry, the beautiful French switchboard operator played by Jacqueline Beer, handles the phones for Sunset Answering Service, in Suite 103.

Comic relief is provided by Roscoe the racetrack tout (played by Louis Quinn), who frequently hangs around the offices giving horse-racing tips.

The show's breakout character, who had not been included in the pilot film, was Gerald Lloyd "Kookie" Kookson III (Edd Byrnes), the rock and roll-loving, wisecracking, hair-combing hipster and aspiring PI who initially works as the valet parking attendant at Dino's, the club next to the detectives' office.

The catchy theme song, written by Mack David and Jerry Livingston, typified the show's breezy, jazzed atmosphere.

The song became the centerpiece of an album of the show's music in Warren Barker orchestrations, which was released in 1959, a top-10 hit in the Billboard LP charts.

[3][4] The show became the first "franchise" in television, spawning no fewer than three spinoffs recreating the "77" format, a team of private detectives, their secretary and sidekick, solving cases, in picturesque cities.

His character of Rex Randolph from Bourbon Street Beat was said to have left New Orleans and relocated to North Hollywood, joining Bailey and Spencer's firm and taking Office 104.

Up-and-comers who made guest appearances include: Ellen Burstyn, Roger Moore, DeForest Kelley, William Shatner, Mary Tyler Moore, Shirley MacLaine look-alike Gigi Verone, Robert Conrad, Dyan Cannon, Janet De Gore, Jay North, Connie Stevens, Irish McCalla, Adam West, Tuesday Weld, Sherry Jackson, Marlo Thomas, Max Baer Jr., Carole Mathews, Elizabeth Montgomery, Karen Steele, Randy Stuart, Susan Oliver, Robert Vaughn, Suzanne Storrs, Peter Breck, Donna Douglas, Troy Donahue, Chad Everett, Gena Rowlands, Cloris Leachman, Eve McVeagh, and Diane Ladd.

Established film and TV actors and older stars who guest-starred include Fay Wray, Francis X. Bushman, Rodolfo Hoyos Jr., Ida Lupino, Liliane Montevecchi, Keenan Wynn, Rolfe Sedan, Jim Backus, Billie Burke, Buddy Ebsen, George Jessel, Peter Lorre, Boris Karloff, Burgess Meredith, Nick Adams, Gerald Mohr and Roy Roberts, among others.

The character of Stuart Bailey was presented as a solo private investigator, with no continuity or reference to his past years with Jeff Spencer, Suzanne, Kookie and Roscoe or to his military OSS background.

This was actually a scene from "5" (the sixth-season opener) and it was supposedly located in New York City where Bailey arrived to work for a client to "pay his dead brother's way into heaven."

The episode "The Target" was unusual because key roles were played by the show's primary behind-the-scenes crew, who happened to also be experienced actors.

[5] In the 1964 summer reruns period, shows from the Bailey and Spencer years were shown, and the Season 6 episodes were abandoned, rarely seen until September 2017 on MeTV.

The success of 77 Sunset Strip led to the creation of several other detective shows in exotic locales, all produced by the Warner Bros. studio, which created Strip — Bourbon Street Beat in New Orleans with Richard Long and Andrew Duggan, Hawaiian Eye in Honolulu with Robert Conrad and Connie Stevens, and Surfside 6 in Miami Beach with Troy Donahue and Van Williams.

[7] A 25-minute pilot presentation was shot for upfronts in the spring of 1997, but despite a few attempts to modify and finalize it for broadcast in 1997–1998, the project never made it past the testing stage.

Early mentions of the show were made in the network's fall affiliate presentation promotion, with the 77 Sunset Strip logo visible in the movie backlot motif.