Friday, August 22, 2014

The continuing adventures of the cop show 80's edition 

 

     Welcome back folks to another Thursday with your old pal the Shadow. Yeah right, looks more like Friday. Sorry once again for the lateness of this, but my wife was in an accident Thursday on her way to work and so had to postpone the show. Fear not true believers, she is unhurt and only my Jeep has a boo boo. So without further ado we bring you back to your regularly scheduled program. What pray tell does the Shadow know today you ask? I know you did. I heard you with my mind. This one comes from the dark corners of the imagination. Apparently in recent history there was a poll taken among morticians nationwide. What were they polling you might ask? Why they were polling the the decomposition rate of the human body and as it turns out we are decomposing in some cases up to 3 days slower then the norm. This is due to the amount of preservatives we are consuming on a daily basis. What does this all mean folks? Well what this means is that in our future it is quite possible that we will turn into plastic, soap, or wax after death. Can you image what this means? What do we do with the bodies? Will the future see family wax museums, or will family members be kept in the home for those more sentimental minded folks. I can see it now. Oh no the power has gone out hey sweety can you light grandma so we can see to finish our game of checkers. How about if the medium of decomp happens to be soap. I mean what do you do cut off grandpa's hand as a soapy shower back scratcher. Yuck! My, my the future sure looks bright doesn't it? So now onto How I Geek @ podbean.com with that famous pop sensations Greg and the Gang. This week we may not be having a show due to work obligations. If we do have one it will be on 80's movies. Greg defined those to me as any movie released between 1980-1989. Hmm, I am glad he is here to point out those little nuances to me... thanks buddy!

     So now let's continue this month of my favorite cops shows aired during my lifetime with the next decade, the 80's. First up for your eye hole viewing pleasure is that great dramedy CHiPs. CHiPs is often referred as a dramedy due to the fact that it was a cop drama with little to no violence and comedy thrown into each episode. This series ran on on NBC from September 15, 1977 to July 17, 1983 and lasted a whopping 139 episodes over six seasons. I know the show started in the 70's, but hey it ended in the 80's and that is good enough for me. I say it is a very nice transistion. The protagonists of this show are Officer Francis (Frank) Poncherello (Erik Estrada) and Officer Jonathan (Jon) Baker (Larry Wilcox). Highway patrolman generally don't travel in pairs, but the show got around this by saying that Ponch was in some sort of trouble and that he had to ride with a training officer Jon. By the end of the 1st season this was phased out as people got used to the two pairing up. Ponch was the wisecracking kinda trouble maker and Jon the straight laced officer. This buddy cop show was known for it's constant and large car pileups. There was never any real violence in this show, but man the action and comedy really made this program work. I loved it and watched it every chance that I could. Unfortunately Estrada was not easy to get along with and Wilcox not liking the producers favoritism with Estrada forced Wilcox leave the show. His leaving was a real detriment to the shows chemistry and it just died out in its final season with a fizzle. This seems to be what kills off most shows with the infighting and actors getting to big for their britches. So a great show comes in like a lion and goes out with a whimper. With it's passing ended the final gasps of life to the 70's cop dramas. So onto the next we merrily go.

     So what is next you might ask? Well you might and if you do I gotta have an answer. So what is next is that great Tom Selleck hit, Magnum P.I. Magnum ran on CBS from December 11, 1980 to May 1st 1988. This show was the creation of powerhouses Donald P. Bellisario and Glen A. Larson. These two guys are still going strong today in the TV world. The protagonist of this show is Thomas Magnum (Tom Selleck) a former Navy seal turned private eye. His main source of income is running security for fictional famed author Robin Masters and includes living in the guest house on the mansion grounds and access to the Ferrari. Of course this gives him the freedom to only work on the case he wants to work. One of the great aspects of this show was Magnum constantly narrating the story as it preceded forward. This gave the show a bit of a film noir feel to it. This show was definitely first rate in my humble opinion and was one I never missed if I could help it. There were many great costars too that helped draw this series together. First is the other caretaker of the Masters estate, Jonathan Quayle Higgins III (John Hillerman). He was a retired sergeant major of her majesties army and a bit of an author himself. He often patrolled the grounds of the estate with his two dobermans that he referred to as the lads. There was often friction between Higgins and Magnum, but the pair eventually became good friends with mutual respect for one another. Then there is Magnum's Vietnam buddies Orville Wilbur Richard (Rick) Wright (Larry Manetti) an exclusive club owner and the guy with the know and the fingers in the underworld. Then there was Theodore Calvin (T.C.) (Roger E Mosley). He is a copter pilot for his business Island Hoppers and Magnum often takes advantage of their friendship to get him to fly him about on cases. Season 7 of this show was supposed to end with Magnum's death, but the out-crying of the fans caused the network to add an 8th season in which Magnum survives. Alas though with all things the show came to an end and we were robbed of more Magnum awesomeness. I hope someday they reboot this show. I just hope that they put the right elements together to make the reboot as awesome as the original, if one is to ever come. So now let's go further and deeper down my rabbit hole and see if I can pull one out my hat.

     So up next for your satisfaction is another one of those great 80's cop shows (man there are a lot of them) that great, "Works for me detective" Hunter. Hunter ran on NBC from 84 to 91 for 7 seasons, 3 made for TV movies, and a very short lived revival series (5 episodes 3 aired in the US). This series was created by another TV powerhouse Frank Lupo and produced by the great Stephen J Cannell. This show is entirely the brain child of Lupo and is one of the very few shows that Cannell only produced and did not at least co-create. In its first season Hunter was a more violent series and this theme did not set well with the viewers. As such the show came pretty close if not making dead last in the ratings polls causing it to be almost canceled. For season 2 Cannell brought in his old friend and mentor Roy Huggins of Maverick and Rockford Files fame. His re-tuning of the show had an immediate effect and the show turned around. The shows protagonists were Sgt. Rick Hunter (Fred Dryer) and partner Dee Dee McCall (Stephanie Kramer). Hunter had that Dirty Harry feel to him. He is a tough no nonsense cop with a high moral compass. He does what it takes to get the job done, and done right, within the law. McCall and her chemistry with Hunter helped temper the show and Hunter's gruff personality. This show was pretty great and I watched it to every chance I get. I know I say that a lot, but it is true. Kramer left the series at the end of it's 6th season to pursue other aspects of her career. So first Darlanne Fluegel was brought in as officer Joanne Molenski, but because of creative differences of opinion she left the show. Her character was killed off by a female serial killer in "Fatal Obsession." After Molenski's death Lauren Lane was brought in to play Sgt. Chris Novak, a former love interest of Hunters. The whole changing of the guard as it were did not go over well with the fans and it finished 45th in the polls. An 8th season was planned but due to Fred Dreyer wanting more money, money issues as a whole, and creative issues the show was finally canceled. There were 3 made for TV movies aired in the following years after it's cancellation with the final one being the pilot for a revived series. All three did very well showing that Hunter was still just as awesome. The new series only aired 3 episodes (though they made 5 total) before NBC canceled it for financial reasons. It is a real shame, because this show was really great and deserves a good re-look. I for one would love to see it's return to TV. So any who onto the last review of the week.

     So what is my final pick for the week? Why it is that Michael Mann show of awesomeness Miami Vice. Miami Vice ran on NBC from 1984 to 1989 and was written by Anthony Yerkovich of Hill Street Blues fame. This show is about a team of vice cops that deal with drug trafficking and prostitution in the Metro-Dade Miami area of Florida. This great show was innovative for it's time integrating music and the diverse, yet vibrant culture of southern Florida. It is said they spent at least 10,000 bucks an episode for unique music from famous artists like Phil Collins and The Police, but believe me there are many more. With this hard hitting, cutting edge show of popularity, audiences were delighted far and wide. The main characters of focus were James (Sonny) Crockett (Don Johnson) and Ricardo (Rico) Tubbs. The show started with Tubbs coming to Florida to solve the murder of his brother and seek revenge. He ends up working with Sonny. they solve the case, Tubbs decides to stay in Florida, and the rest us history as they say. Doing research on the show I found it very interesting all the different folks considered for the role of Sonny Crockett. Nick Nolte, Jeff Bridges, Mickey Rourke, and Larry Wilcox were all considered for the part of Sonny and even Mark Harmon was up for the role when Johnson threatened to quite over a contract dispute. Man, all these guys are big named actors for their time, but I could not imagine anyone other then Johnson in the role. It would have been like if Christopher Walken had gotten the role of Han Solo in the Star Wars franchise. Now that I could not imagine either. He is a great actor but no Han Solo. What I can say? This show was well written and directed for it's time. It was cutting edge and integrated all the latest technologies like cell phones into its stories. I personally love it and that is that. In 2006 Michael Mann tried to revive this series in the form of a movie. I have to tell you Shadow fans this movie was way sub par. It is a shame to because of how awesome the series was and how far special effects have come since the 80's. I mean they had a lot of good material to work with and they flubbed it... blah. Maybe they may take another crack at this on the small screen and let us hope that they learned their lesson from the dismal failure of the movie. Alas though who knows. I mean it does seem like movie execs love the smell of flying monkey poo after all.

     Well Shadow fans that is all the time I have this week. I am already way late for this and need to get out to you folks. Instead of my usual questions I want to thank all those who participated in my contest. it was great meeting you all and I hope you had as much fun winning the prizes as I did giving them out. Congrats to Gary Smith, Tom Monroe, Amy Sanders, and Amber Lipton and thanks again for playing. Maybe I will do this again next year. So any who I hope you all enjoy cop show as much as I do. Do you have any favs I have not mentioned? Well till next week folks I will see you from the shadows.

4 comments:

  1. Love all of those. Wasn't it thought that Higgins may have been Masters all along or did they nip that one?

    ReplyDelete
  2. I should have included that info. It was a hook they did in the later seasons. It was left open ended and never resolved.

    ReplyDelete