Television series

Barbary Coast

Name: Barbary Coast
Genre: Action, Adventure, Western
Released: 1975
Cast: William Shatner, Doug McClure, Dennis Cole, Richard Kiel, Dave Turner

Other titles called Barbary Coast: the 1935 film.

A pulpy 1970s action series set in 1880s San Francisco, where undercover agent Jeff Cable navigates the Barbary Coast's casinos, saloons, and criminal underworld. It's got the DNA of a Western but runs on the kinetic energy of seventies TV adventure—colorful characters, fast-moving plots, and Shatner doing his thing with unironic commitment. For anyone who loves that specific era of network television when ambition and budget collided in wonderfully weird ways.

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Maverick1994

Mel Gibson and Michelle Pfeiffer riffing on con artists and riverboat poker in the 1870s. The same blend of action, humor, and period detail, with a lighter touch and genuinely clever plotting.

But It's a comedy-adventure that leans hard into charm. If you want stakes and darkness, this trades those for wit.

Deadwood2004

A grittier, far more profane look at 1870s frontier lawlessness and the men trying to impose order on chaos. The same historical setting, the same moral fog—but with Shakespearean dialogue and genuine menace.

But It's bleak and linguistically dense. Deadwood demands attention; Barbary Coast lets you relax into it.

The Wild Wild West1965

Agents in period costume navigating outlandish crimes and elaborate schemes. The same DNA—adventure, danger, capable heroes—but with a lighter, campier sensibility that influenced what Barbary Coast became.

But It's knowingly silly at times. Some viewers want their Westerns straighter.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Barbary Coast

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The Long Goodbye1973

Both are about lone operators navigating corrupt societies that don't want to be fixed. But one chose melancholy mystery and the other chose adventure—same moral landscape, opposite emotional registers.

Robert Altman's revisionist take on Raymond Chandler: a detective moving through 1970s Los Angeles as a man out of time, solving a crime while the world lurches past him. Like Barbary Coast, it's about an individual operating in a corrupt, chaotic place—but Altman's film is meditative and strange where the show is propulsive.

But It's deliberate and elliptical. Nothing happens in a straight line, and the ending is quietly devastating rather than triumphant.

Kung Fu1972

David Carradine wandering 1870s California, stumbling into crime and corruption while dispensing justice. That same episodic, encounter-based structure and the pleasure of a skilled protagonist improvising his way through danger.

But The spirituality and introspection are core to it. This is quieter and more philosophical than Barbary Coast's velocity.

The Rockford Files1974

A contemporary private detective navigating Los Angeles corruption with charm and competence. The same formula—a likable hero, weekly crimes to solve, strong supporting cast—just without the period costume.

But It's contemporary rather than historical, which removes the exotic appeal of the Barbary Coast setting.

Barnaby Jones1973

An older detective drawn back into undercover work to solve crimes. Similar episodic structure, similar pleasure in watching a capable protagonist navigate danger and deception.

But The pacing is slower and gentler. There's less adrenaline than Barbary Coast delivers.

McCloud1970

A fish-out-of-water lawman from New Mexico operating in New York City. The same formula: an outsider hero, crime-solving, that particular 1970s TV charm of competent people handling trouble.

But It's set in the present day, so you lose the historical adventure element that makes Barbary Coast distinctive.

Alias Smith and Jones1971

Two reformed outlaws trying to go straight while getting involved in adventures across the Old West. That same blend of action, humor, and period setting—episodic, propulsive, built on likable chemistry.

But The tone is lighter and more comedic. It doesn't have the edge or the undercover-agent structure Barbary Coast uses.

Irwin Allen's Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea1964

A capable team leader commanding a submarine through weekly crises and confrontations. The episodic structure and the pleasure of watching skilled people solve problems under pressure—just in a submarine instead of a casino.

But It's sci-fi, not Western, so the historical flavor is completely gone. The aesthetics are wildly different.

Irwin Allen's Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea poster

Day of the Outlaw1959

Both show underworld societies in historical settings, but Day of the Outlaw is interested in moral decay where Barbary Coast is interested in action and intrigue. Same world, opposite philosophy.

Robert Ryan and outlaw bikers descend on a snowed-in town. A spare, atmospheric Western that's more noir than adventure—morally compromised people in a violent situation with no good choices. Shares Barbary Coast's interest in criminality and lawlessness but strips away the glamour.

But It's bleak and slow. There's no hero winning the day, just men making worse decisions. If you want Barbary Coast's momentum and wit, this will frustrate you.

Thief1981

Both center a talented operator in a criminal ecosystem, but Thief is about the spiritual cost of that life—the loneliness, the exhaustion—where Barbary Coast sees it as adventure. Opposite conclusions about the same archetype.

Michael Mann's study of a master criminal in 1980s Chicago navigating criminal organizations and betrayal. The language and obsession are different—this is about craft and precision, not frontier adventure—but it's built on the same engine: a skilled protagonist moving through a criminal underworld, trying to maintain control.

But It's austere and synth-scored, almost cold. There's no camp or humor, and the tone is existentially bleak. It's not entertainment in the Barbary Coast sense.