Post by topbilled on Apr 13, 2024 18:26:01 GMT
Oh my gosh, do I love this show. I borrowed the four seasons on DVD from my local library about ten years ago and went through all 88 episodes. I hadn't seen the episodes since they were first run on CBS in the 1980s. I gave the episodes all scores on the IMDb but didn't write any individual reviews (which I hope to rectify going forward).
I was in the process of moving, so I told myself I would buy the show when I was settled into the new place and a complete series set was released. But Warners never made a complete set available and by the time I was ready to buy the DVDs, some of the seasons were no longer being sold on DVD, but I could buy them online to stream. I did buy a few of my favorite episodes but that seemed cost prohibitive.
Anyway, long story short, they are now all on Tubi (with slight ad interruptions). It's been such a pleasure watching these again and then looking at what scores I had issued ten years ago, trying to figure out the reasoning for my scores. LOL
I was afraid the plots (most of them involving cold war enemies and middle eastern foes of the U.S.) would seem dated and wouldn't hold up. But to my surprise, the plots do hold up and they have taken on an added bit of historical value.
Why do I love this series? The cast.
Kate Jackson. Number one reason. She's perfect at playing the romantic elements, the danger and the comedic elements. Unlike her role on Charlie's Angels, she gets to portray a mother (of two boys) and she has her own mother, played by Beverly Garland, living under her roof. So there is a great intergenerational feel to the domestic scenes which balance out the international intrigue of the main plots.
Reason number two is Beverly Garland. Every now and then the writers put Garland's character into the 'A' plots, if her character is unknowingly dating a spy or some guy on the fringe of espionage. But a lot of Garland's material keeps her in the subplots and has her questioning this new secret career of her daughter's, and the humor comes from what she assumes without being told the entire truth. Garland & Jackson are a great mother-daughter comedy act, like Estelle Getty & Bea Arthur on The Golden Girls...where we know there's love but still a lot of misunderstanding. You can tell Jackson adores working with Garland. There was an episode I watched last night where Amanda (Jackson's character) gets kidnapped and she has no scenes with Garland which is rare for this series.
Lee (Bruce Boxleitner) stops by the house to talk to Dotty (Garland) to get clues, and later when he finds Amanda, she learns he visited her mother. And the way Jackson performed that scene, it seemed like Jackson the actress asking if Boxleitner the actor had a good time in his scenes with Garland, as if she was sorry she didn't have any scenes with Garland herself.
Number three reason, of course, is Bruce Boxleitner as Lee Stetson. At his physical peak, he handles the action scenes with ease. He conveys the right amount of cunning, required of a spy, yet vulnerability in love, for the romantic storyline to work.
They couldn't have found a better actor to play off Jackson in this regard.
Number four reason. Mel Stewart as the agency boss Billy Melrose. He's good as the no-nonsense leader with a high degree of integrity and fairness.
Every now and then, he will steer the 'A' plot, but usually he's in scenes in a support capacity. It never feels like a black actor being put into the cast due to tokenism. He's well-integrated and we respect his character's intelligence. Definitely not a black stereotype.
Number five reason. Martha Stewart as agent Francine Desmond. Personally, I think Stewart was cast because she had been a model, and since Jackson was always more cerebral with her roles and not the sexy ingenue, they put Stewart into the agency scenes to give the show a bit of glamour and feminine sex appeal. But what's really interesting with her is that she plays Francine as a very icy woman, especially in the first two seasons (she mellows a bit later).
She's really a perfect contrast to the earth mother type that Jackson is playing. Nothing about Francine is maternal, she's all business, not one bit of domesticity in her, which means Stewart and Jackson's characters are used very differently in the 'A' plots.
As you can see by my commentary, the cast is the main reason to watch the show. They all have carefully fleshed out characters and play them to the hilt, without going overboard. When you add in special guest stars like Hildegarde Neff, Jean Stapleton, Howard Duff it just goes from perfect to sublime.
It is worth noting that this is one of those rare shows where there were no major cast changes. All of them appear in each of the four seasons. Nobody's replaced. They all have time to develop their individual story arcs. Even the two child actors playing Jackson's sons, while not used in every episode, are allowed to mature and grow.
Behind the scenes, there were some very good producers and writers. Top among them is Juanita Bartlett, James Garner's former girl Friday who ascended the ranks on Rockford Files, who took one of the Scarecrow & Mrs. King writers with her when she went to Spenser: For Hire. Bartlett gets the need to use humor and tell sensible detective fiction, but as a feminist, she is very much in tune with how to present Jackson, Garland and Stewart's characters as different yet self-actualizing women.
After Bartlett leaves at the end of season two, the plots seem to get stronger and my highest rated episodes are from season 3 and season 4. By then, Bartlett had so successfully laid the groundwork for the series, the new main producer (Lee Maddux) and his writers could focus a bit more on politics and technology, which are important aspects of espionage.
In season 4, they bring Jackson & Boxleitner's romantic arc full circle by having these two main characters finally marry. The show really doesn't miss a beat. it's a very satisfying thing to go back in time watching these 88 glorious episodes. In a way, it's like watching them all again for the first time, but having the wisdom of my advanced age to appreciate it for what it is. And it's classic television, without a doubt!
