Not an uncommon thing, with series, to retool it.  That second season sounds like they were ripping off Speed Racer.

I pulled this list from my DVD collection that might fit your criteria. You can double-check on IMDB, many I have not watched as yet. They should all be crime shows of some type from the 50's and 60's


87th Precinct

Checkmate

Coronado 9

Decoy

Defenders

Hennesey

M Squad

Man With A Camera

Mr, And Mrs. North

Naked City

Peter Gunn

Untouchables

I also have been able to digitally download the complete 77 Sunset Strip

Not uncommon, you’re right, but someone should have come up with a good storyline to retool it. Making a fast buck in order to sell racing toys and telling a good story should not be mutually exclusive, I feel.

The best thing about Burke's Law so far is the amount of guest stars they pack into each episode. Here's the list so far:

Ep 1- William Bendix, Rod Cameron, Cedric Hardwicke, Suzy Parker, Zazu Pitts
Ep 2- Jim Backus, Elizabeth Montgomery, Dina Merrill, Soupy Sales and Mel Blanc's voice
Ep 3- Mary Astor, Zsa Zsa Gabor, John Saxon, Paul Lynde, Lizabeth Scott, Chill Wills
Ep 4- Joan Blondell, Barbara Eden, Don Rickels, Ruth Roman, Juliet Prowse, Eva Gabor, Gene Nelson

The stories are decent, nothing special. A body is found, Gene Barry gets a call which interrupts his millionaire activities, his Philippino chaeuffer drives him in his Rolls Royce to the crime scene. Gene barry is joined by his young ambitios assistant, Gary Conway, who's a walking encyclopedia. They interview various people and the murder is solved before the final commercial. At least it has it's moments of light humor

Um..........Green Hornet started in radio, not the pulp magazines.  In fact, he was never adapted into the pulps; only comics and Big Little Books, until the tv series came out.

Harlan was most likely a fan of the radio series, first, and, possibly, the serials, second.  They were actually a bit different, than average, as The Green Hornet and Kato battle against a criminal organization, but each chapter has them fighting a different segment of the larger group, rather than the more repetitive Republic-style serial, where you fight the same bunch of goons each chapter and end up in a cliffhanger.  They would defeat the gang of the episode, then move onto the next, until wrapping things up in the final chapter, with the top dog.  This structure was used for both serials.  Keye Luke, Charlie Chan's Number One Son, Lee Chan (and Master Po, in Kung Fu and the voice of Zoltar, in Battle of the Planets), was Kato in both, the only returning actor.

The radio series was a pretty big deal, in its day (1936 to 1950, before a brief return, in 1952), just behind The Lone Ranger, which featured the same creator and broadcaster.

ps Just got my dvds for Babylon Berlin, the German tv series, based on the detective novels, about a police detective in berlin, during the Weimar Republic. Much of the plot revolves around the street fighting, between the Communists and National Socialists, and the hatred of both for the ruling Social Democrats. The hero, Gereon Rath (Volker Bruch), is a detective from Cologne, investigating the blackmail of a government official, for his father, that leads him to Berlin and a brothel, run from underneath a nightclub, controlled by an Armenian gangster. Said Gangster seems to have ties to a mysterious doctor, who treats war veterans, suffering from PTSD. Rath is a veteran of the trenches and suffers PTSD, for which he takes morphine, from small glass vials. He is aided by stenographer Charlotte Ritter, who also moonlights as a prostitute, in the brothel, when not partying the night away with the rest, as the German economy is decimated by the demands of the Treaty of Versaille and the devaluation of the German Mark. There is also an arms manufacturer who is involved with a conspiracy to bring in a railcar of mustard gas, from Russia, for the Black Reichswehr (secret German military formations, in violation of the treaty, in conjunction with Freikorps militia groups, like the Nazi SA). The series features Weimar nightlife, with the Moka Efti as a centerpiece, with Brian Ferry providing some of the music, in period style.....



It's recent, featured on Netflix, with the 3 seasons shown now on DVD, from Kino Lorber. Season 4 has completed production and is supposed to appear this year.

This is great stuff, mixing all kinds of influences, from Berlin Alexanderplatz, to Cabaret, to The Cabinet of Dr Caligari and the Mabuse serials and films of Fritz Lang, to actual history of the Weimar Republic and the rise of the Nazis. It also features elements drawn from actual police history, as Weimar Germany was plagued by several serial killers and noted German police detective, Ernst Gennat, who led the Berlin Criminal Police and was instrumental in the case of serial killer Peter Kurten, who was an inspiration for the killer in Lang's M (and Gannat was an inspiritation for Inspektor Lohmann, in that film and The Testament of Dr Mabuse).

This is recent stuff; but a modern classic, in my mind. Co-creator Tom Tykwer also directed Run Lola, Run, a film that features a young woman who has to help her boyfriend, who is in trouble with a criminal gang, after he loses a cash payment to the gang. the film features alternate versions of the story, depending on decisions at different points, like a choose-your-own-adventure book. You also see snippets of the lives of people she bumps into. The film featured Franke Portente, who played the woman who encounters Matt Damon, in The Bourne Identity. Babylon Berlin is more traditional, yet makes great use of innovative camera angles and storytelling ideas.

Um, but none of the folks you mention here, though all fine actors, were at the time anything close to movie stars, just like those on the rosters Ish Kabbible posted for those "Burke's Law" episodes.

Ferrer had a name and a rep as a "distinguished actor," but he'd been all over TV since 1964. Hell, he was the narrator for some episodes of "Bewitched." I clearly remember him as the star of "The Marcus-Nelson Murders," which was a big TV movie event when it premiered in 1973 or so and served as the introduction of the Kojak character.

Ayres' career had suffered a hit because of his CO status in the war, even though he'd distinguished himself as a medic in the South Pacific, and he made just a few movies after the war, including "Belinda," in which was very good; he took primarily to TV by 1954, though and was on constantly. I think his turn as the vice-president in 1962 in "Advise and Consent" was probably his last notable movie role.

Cassidy was never a movie star, but again, a constant presence on TV shows for years, also going back to the 50s.

So you're right, in those days,"movie stars" didn't do TV, but former and future stars of both movies and TV did, in droves. Same thing with "Love Boat" and "Fantasy Island" and other similar shows. 

Watch any "Perry Mason" and you're bound to see some of each. Of the former, you'll mostly see character actors, from Westerns, genre pictures and radio as well. Fay Wray appeared a few times, as did Neil Hamilton, Dick Foran, Julie Adams and Nancy Gates. Bette Davis even took a turn as a sub for Mason when Burr was in the hospital, as did Michael Rennie and Barry Sullivan. 

In the latter group, you'll see the likes of Robert Redford, James Coburn, Gavin McLeod and Gary Collins. Star Raymond Burr and his producer, a former top actress named Gail Patrick, were justly celebrated for their loyalty and long memories for the regular cast and for older actors who needed work as the weekly guest stars and supporting players. They also stacked the casts with beauty queens and contestants.

I've developed a real affection for this show, which was too difficult for me to follow when I watched it at my aunt's house as a kid, but I've found it enjoyable now. It has aged well in many ways.