There's nothing wrong with the outrageous, and in television, the outrageous is typically a given. There's no better way to grab an audience's attention than to go over the top. It's another story, however, if you want to keep a television audience tuned in. For that, you need decent, honest quality.

The star of multiple crime-centric shows, David Janssen understood what drew an audience to a series, but he also understood how to ensure a character stood out above the rest. This was most likely why when Janssen began playing Harry Orwell, the central character of the hit series Harry O, he broke the mold of what a viewer might expect from a crime protagonist.

"You know what we've done? We've left the toughness out of Harry O's character," said Janssen during an interview with the Copley News Service. "We've got this tough ex-cop and ex-Marine, who retired and became a private detective because he got a bullet in his back, and we've got him disliking violence."

Janssen was aware that a character like Harry Orwell wasn't for everyone, and he didn't seem to mind one bit.

"The American public has gotten used to detectives that are larger-than-life characters, and the reality of a private detective may offend the American taste," said Janssen. "It may be that the superdetective is a staple they want. Just as few westerns go over big if they realistically allude to poverty in the Wild West."

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Here's how David Janssen set Harry Orwell apart from his fellow private detectives

Janssen didn't seem to mind whether he ruffled a few feathers with his portrayal of the character. He was mainly concerned with giving his audience a quality television series that they could invest in and relate to.

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