The New Adventures of Charlie Chan The New Adventures of Charlie Chan The New Adventures of Charlie Chan is a British-American crime drama series that aired in the United States in syndicated television from June 1957, to 1958. The first five episodes were made by Vision Productions in the United States, before production switched to the United Kingdom under ITC Entertainment and Television Programs of America. The series, consisting of 39 half-hour monochrome episodes, follows the investigations of the fictional detective Charlie Chan, created by Earl Derr Biggers in 1925. The series follows the convention, established in the Charlie Chan movies, of having the Asian character
Charlie Chan actors, and the films met with little success. In 1931, the Fox Film Corporation cast Swedish actor Warner Oland as Chan in "Charlie Chan Carries On"; the film became popular, and Fox went on to produce fifteen more Chan films with Oland in the title role. After Oland's death, American actor Sidney Toler was cast as Chan; Toler made twenty-two Chan films, first for Fox and then for Monogram Studios. After Toler's death, six films were made, starring Roland Winters. Readers and movie-goers of white America greeted Chan warmly, seeing him as an attractive character who is portrayed as intelligent,