Tenspeed & Brownshoe

Tenspeed & Brownshoe is an American comical crime series which aired on ABC. The series premiered on January 27, 1980.

One of the odder TV partnerships, the short-lived series tells the tale of Lionel Whitney, an accountant (aka a "Brownshoe" in street parlance") and detective-story afficinado who gets involved with E.L. Turner (aka "Tenspeed,", slang for a fast-talking con-man), who suckers Lionel into a series of schemes. The two end up becoming detectives since it's Lionel's dream and E.L. needs a job to stay out of prison, and use a combination of pulp-detective schtick, elaborate con games, Lionel's karate skills, and good old ole-fashioned investigative skills to solve their cases. T&B didn't last more then a half-season, but it spawned a spinoff of sorts, when Ben Vereen went on to reprise his character Tenspeed on J.J. Starbuck.