Mind you, there are 36 episodes of the Australian version of the Fat Man from 1954-1955 which leave us with a better idea of the usual content of the series, but not to the quality of the original program. I found a playlist of the surviving ABC and Australian episodes here on Youtube.
The Fat Man was a detective program starring J. Scott Smart as Brad Runyon, the titular "Fat Man." It was popular enough that in 1951 Smart starred in a film version of the program. And Smart is truly the element which makes the Fat Man unique. His voice had a heavy drawl which Smart seemed to use as a means of audibly conveying his character's girth. It works; Brad Runyon dialogue sounds like every other hard-boiled detective (his episodes usually open with a screed against crime that sound like they were lifted from Philip Marlowe) but the way in which he drawls out the tail end of sentences really sets the program apart.
The Fat Man claimed to be created by Dashiell Hammett. It seems as though that wasn't true, but presumably because Hammett had written the Thin Man, the show's actual creators didn't want to be accused of ripping him off. Likely Hammett got some token payment in addition to a credit at the top of each episode. It probably helped the Fat Man to have Hammett's name -- at first! Later, thanks to the red scare, Hammett was accused of being a communist. Although I can't pinpoint when it happened (due to the scarcity of episodes), the Fat Man had definitely dropped Hammett's name before the series ended.
Those few remaining episodes are pretty good detective dramas - not really out of the ordinary, but I find them a bit more lively than, say, Michael Shayne or Philo Vance. In all, a good detective program.
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