[4][5][6] According to Vincent Terrace, Peter Gunn was the first detective series whose character was created especially for television, instead of adapted from other media.

[3] The series is probably best remembered today for its music, including the iconic "Peter Gunn Theme", which was nominated for an Emmy Award[7] and two Grammys for Henry Mancini.

[8][9] Peter Gunn is a suave, well-dressed private investigator whose hair is always in place and who loves cool jazz.

A contemporary article in Life noted that Edwards "deliberately tailored the part after the famous movie smoothie Cary Grant".

He often visits Mother's, a smokey, wharfside jazz club that Gunn uses as his "office", usually meeting new clients there.

[citation needed] Gunn drives a 1958 two-tone DeSoto two-door hardtop in the first few episodes of the first season, then a 1959 Plymouth Fury convertible with a white top and a car phone.

Herschel Bernardi costarred as Lieutenant Jacoby, a jaded veteran police detective and friend of Gunn who works at the 13th Precinct.

[7] For the second season, Mother was played by Minerva Urecal, following the departure of Emerson for a starring role in The Dennis O'Keefe Show.

)[1] Both Billy Barty as diminutive pool hustler Babby and Herbert Ellis as Beat bistro owner, painter, and sculptor Wilbur, appeared in several episodes as occasional "information resources", as "Mother" also often is.

According to Blake Edwards, Gunn was "a present-day soldier of fortune who has found himself a gimmick that pays him a very comfortable living.

"[14] Speaking of Albright in 1992, Henry Mancini said, "She was perfect casting for that role because she had an off-the-cuff kind of jazz delivery that was very hard to find.

"[16] Craig Stevens discusses how he and co-star Lola Albright were cast for the show, with cable TV host Skip E. Lowe, in an interview taped in 1993.

Trumpeter Shorty Rogers appeared in the episode titled "The Frog" playing flugelhorn as Lola sings "How High the Moon".

[22] Drummer Shelly Manne, in addition to performing on the soundtrack album, was credited with a Special Guest role in the 1959 episode "Keep Smiling" playing drums in the "Bamboo Club" combo.

Mancini stated: The Peter Gunn title theme actually derives more from rock and roll than from jazz.

The piece has one chord throughout and a super-simple top line.The "Peter Gunn Theme"[23] became an instant hit, earning Mancini an Emmy Award nomination[7] and two Grammys.

[25] The theme was also used in the Spy Hunter arcade video game,[26] and has been used by the Kilgore College Rangerettes as the tryout music for their specialty jazz group since the 1960s.

In 2001, Edwards and his son, Geoffrey, joined with producers Jeffrey Tinnell and John Michaels and writer Norman Snider in developing an updated television series, The New Peter Gunn for Muse Entertainment in Canada.

The project fell through when producers John Woo and David Permut began developing a big screen remake for Paramount with screenwriter W. Peter Iliff.

TNT announced a new series was in development in May 2013 from producers Steven Spielberg, Julie Andrews, Lou Pitt, Justin Falvey and Darryl Frank with writers Scott Rosenberg, Jeff Pinkner, Josh Appelbaum, and André Nemec.

Marathon Music & Video released a seven-cassette box set entitled "TV Cops and Private Eyes", in which an episode of Peter Gunn was included.

In 2002, A&E Home Video released two volume sets of Peter Gunn on DVD in Region 1, which comprise 32 episodes from Season One.

[31][32] Timeless Media Group released Peter Gunn – The Complete Series on DVD in Region 1 in 2012.

The 12-disc set features all 114 episodes of the series, as well as a bonus CD of Henry Mancini's score, The Music from Peter Gunn[33]