The series centered on a greatly embellished version of the real-life Eliot Ness, played by Stack, and his incorruptible treasury agents whom Chicago newspapers had dubbed "the Untouchables." Their battles against organized crime served as the source material for the television series. While the fictional Ness and his Untouchables were somewhat lifeless characters, the back-stories and motivations established for the series' criminals were incredibly well defined. This was due, in large part, to the talented guest actors-including Robert Redford, William Bendix, Lloyd Nolan, J. Carrol Naish, and Peter Falk-who played the series' criminal kingpins. This led to one of the basic problems of the series: the criminals appeared more human than the heroes.

     The series began as a two-hour made-for-television movie documenting Ness's fight against Chicago mob leader Al Capone. The movie. and its episodic counterpart, maintained an earthy grittiness through the use of stark sets and dark, studio back-lot exterior sequences. A realistic mood was added by narrator Walter Winchell (who had, incidentally, a few years before, broken the real-life scandal of Lucille Ball's alleged communist ties during the McCarthy-era blacklisting period). Winchell's staccato delivery of introductory background material set the stage for each week's episode.

     ABC justified the series' violence on grounds of historical accuracy, yet the network often violated the same rule by having their fictional Ness responsible for nabbing mob leaders such as George "Bugsy" Moran and Ma Barker, figures with whom he had no actual dealings. Indeed, a number of FBI agents complained about their real-life victories being credited to the fictionalized Ness. Such pressure eventually forced ABC to create additional FBI characters to portray more accurately the people involved in the show's historically based cases.

     The Untouchables also drew controversy for its stereotyped ethnic characters. The Italian-American community protested the series' use of Italian names for criminal characters. The Capone family also brought a $1 million lawsuit against producer Arnaz for using the Capone likeness for profit. This was particularly upsetting for Arnaz, a classmate and friend of Capone's son.

     The show was tremendously successful in its second season, but its popularity rapidly declined when NBC countered with the musical variety program Sing Along with Mitch. Producer Martin converted his Untouchables success into an impressive string of cop­ based dramatic hits, including The FBI (1965) and The Streets of San Francisco ( 1972). Stack became a popular TV actor and starred in other successful dramas in which he played similar crime fighters and adventurers. Since 1987, he has hosted Unsolved Mysteries, a popular "reality" program. The Untouchables inspired two revivals: a 1980s movie version, as well as a 1990s syndicated series.