Each program has Mitchell being summoned to the office of the Commissioner, always played by Herb Butterfield, the regional head of an unnamed government agency created to address international unrest as it affects American interests. He will vaguely spell out the assignment, but give Mitchell a contact who will provide more specific details. Never reluctant, Mitchell dives in. He frequently poses as a debonair foreign correspondent or newspaper reporter, sometimes encountering females who need his help or need to be turned over to the authorities.
The popularity of the radio show did not carryover as well for television's initial run. The Donlevy Development Inc. produced thirty-nine episodes with its own money and sold them to individual stations nationwide. NBC-TV film syndicate took charge of the promotion to entice local stations to sponsor the show, suggesting that Donlevy's popularity and the show's excitement could sell toothpaste in Toledo, beans in Boston, or some-such product in numerous broadcasting markets. Television writer and editor, Robert Ryf, wrote most of the scripts. The slightly “over-stocky” Donlevy appears to be a well-dressed brick with a hat, often nursing a sore jaw or a bump on the head. These 1951-52 episodes almost always opened with Mitchell in a nineteenth-century top hat and overcoat, walking down a silent, foggy street—perhaps London—on a chilly night. A momentary pause at a corner also includes a knife embedding itself into the wooden post he is standing by. Cue the same radio theme by Von Dexter. Episodes conclude with Mitchell still alive, the conflict being resolved, and sometimes with a humorous quip to end it.
What may have hurt the television version the most was the hampering of the imagination of radio. If one closed their eyes during the television opening, it sounded nearly identical to the aforementioned radio format, complete with a suspenseful music cue for a sponsor's break. With the co-stars and scenery visualized and the radio series having conceivably run its course, the television version was not as exciting. But very little thought was given to adapting a radio format to the burgeoning field of television in 1950. It would take another eight years for this to happen successfully. Have Gun, Will Travel ran concurrently on radio and television for a while. Its radio format was completely reinvented with a unique opening and theme music unlike anything seen before it. Casting the charismatic Richard Boone was a huge factor over radio's John Dehner as Paladin.
Notes: The State Department may have arranged a special discount if Mitchell only flew “TWA all the way.” For the purpose of continuity and budget constraints, his flights to Europe featured promotional footage of the graceful Lockheed Constellation, taking off, cruising over Manhattan Island, or landing. This would not go over nearly as vividly over radio.
The show had a popular extension through reruns, with initial interest running high. A 1957 chapter in The News Manual, TV and Radio Basics, indicates solid viewership, with women preferring the show slightly more than men. With the exception of the adult Western, many male-centered shows were generally favored by females during the era.
