Clarke had a starring role as sleuth Simon Templar in "The Saint in Manhattan" in 1987. There was a one-hour pilot episode that aired on CBS. It did not make the fall schedule; instead, CBS decided to show it and have viewers call in and vote to put it on the schedule. About 44,000 people called in, with more than 40,000 of them voting in favour of the show. These numbers did not sway CBS, especially since the show did not fare well against whatever was playing on the other two networks that night, and it declined to purchase any future episodes.