| In November 1973, Harry lived in San Diego | | | | adversary and sometime partner in crime fighting |
| where, following his enforced retirement from the | | | | was Lt. Manny Quinlan (played by Henry Darrow) |
| police, he took up as a private detective in order | | | | of the San Diego Police Department. Manny would |
| to supplement his meager police pension. He had a | | | | often help Harry, to the disgust of his bosses and |
| house on the beach where he spent much of his | | | | Harry always kept Manny up to speed with what |
| time alone working on his boat, The Answer. His | | | | he was up to. When Lt. Quinlan was killed off, |
| other form of transport was a beat-up Austin MG | | | | during February 1975, Harry moved briefly to Los |
| which spent much of its time waiting for him to | | | | Angeles, at the behest of a client, where he |
| earn enough money to afford the spares needed | | | | found himself living in a neighbouring apartment to |
| to repair it. Thus, much of his detecting is done on | | | | an air hostess called Betsy (played by Kathrine |
| foot or by bus or taxi. | | | | Baumann). |
| Harry's first case involved his being employed by | | | | Betsy was about to move to Santa Monica and |
| the guy who shot him who himself needed | | | | Harry learnt that his San Diego home was being |
| protection from a killer. From then on, he was | | | | raised to the ground so he too moved to Santa |
| available for hire by anyone for just $100 per day | | | | Monica and rented a place next door to Betsy. |
| plus expenses. | | | | Betsy had a succession of roommates who |
| The character portrayed by David Janssen was | | | | wandered about the place wearing little but bikinis |
| rather weary and downbeat and being in some | | | | and visited Harry whenever they felt like it. |
| pain from his gunshot injury, was unable to | | | | Following these was Sue, also an air hostess, |
| provide much by way of energetic combat with | | | | (played by Farrah Fawcett-Majors a whole year |
| his adversaries, whether unarmed or otherwise. | | | | before she starred in Charlie's Angels) with whom |
| The lack of a flashy motor-car, or even a | | | | Harry had his first steady relationship since he |
| functional one, prevented the appearance of the | | | | was divorced. |
| normally obligatory car chases but despite, or | | | | Harry's professional foil in Santa Monica was Lt. |
| perhaps because of all this, Harry O was a very | | | | Trench of the Santa Monica PD. Trench seemed |
| popular character, who, like Magnum PI, narrated | | | | to actually quite like Harry but found him rather |
| the programs himself, in the first person. | | | | infuriating, and so it was until the series wound up |
| At the beginning of the series his sometime | | | | in April 1976. |