but Friedkin thought William Peter Blatty's script was awful, explaining the script was like some of the old television episodes cobbled together rather than something new and exciting. Edwards directed the film himself. Blatty was impressed by Friedkin's honesty and asked him to direct The Exorcist (1973). Edwards' film was originally titled—but then only advertised as—Gunn...Number One!; no sequels followed. As for the above comment that the script was like some of the old television episodes cobbled together, the film Gunn borrows heavily from the Peter Gunn series' pilot, the season 1 episode 1, "The Kill" (mobster's death by fake Coast Guard vs fake police, burial, romantic interlude, meeting at racquetball court, bombing at Mother's), and lifts sequences from three other episodes (girl in Gunn's apartment - "The Briefcase" - season 2, episode 12; chase through the boatyard - "Hollywood Calling" - season 2, episode 22; talking to an informant - "Death Is a Four Letter Word" - season 3, episode 34). Sherry Jackson tells how she was hired for the movie, "A friend took me to lunch in the noisy Paramount commissary while I was wearing the costume [from the Star Trek episode, "What Little Girls Are Made Of"]. I’m terribly near-sighted and when we walked in, it got quieter and quieter, so I asked what was happening. Turns out, they were all looking at me. All the seats were full, so we got a table in the director’s room where Blake Edwards happened to be sitting. My friend told me he began pointing to me and giving hand signals to Craig Stevens in another part of the room and yelling to him ‘Sam! Sam!’ That turned out to be a character in Edwards’ next film, ‘Gunn,’ and I was offered the part.” She continues, "But Paramount knew it was not going to be a big hit, so they wanted to use me to promote it.” According to Herbert F. Solow, Paramount executive, he recalled that Sherry Jackson's friend who led her into the commissary was Star Trek actor William Shatner. Although the complete Peter Gunn television series is available on VHS and DVD, the film version of Gunn has never been issued on home video in any format, though pirate DVDs of the movie are available, copied from the pan-and-scan Netflix version that has its credits in French. The widescreen version is not available. Trivia In the TV