04:00 Columbo
05:30 The Name Of The Game
03:00 The Mary Tyler Moore Show
03:30 WKRP In Cincinnati
04:00 Rising Damp
Columbo. Episode 7. "Lady in Waiting" There are many things to admire in this series. First, there is the quality of the guest stars. Not just the murderers who go head-to-head with Peter Falk in every story, but also the victims and peripheral characters who appear. For instance, this episode features Richard Anderson and Leslie Nielsen in strong supporting roles. Nielsen is particularly good.
Second, there is the music. Columbo episodes have no opening theme, and use a different closing theme for each story. Back in 1980 I assembled about 35 of these themes on an audio cassette and listened to it many, many times in the years that followed. So much so that these Columbo themes are as familiar to me now as the themes to Hawaii Five-0, Magnum, PI or Law And Order. The scores for each episode tend to use the closing theme (and variations of it) in a lot of scenes and the music is usually beautiful and evocative.
Next, there are many Columbo episodes with a uniquie visual gimmick at some stage. Some scenes enlist split-screen, freeze-frame or blurred images to help tell the story. Sometimes the visuals incorporate sun-glasses or chess pieces in inventive fashion. In other episodes, the producers play around with the audio. On all fronts the show is creative.
Finally, I always admire the amount of variety the producers/writers work into a very rigid formula. This episode, for instance, features Susan Clark as the killer and we witness her elaborage plan acted out in a long fantasy sequence. We are shown how all the pieces will (hopefully) fall into place and she will get away with her crime. Then, when she actually puts her plan into action, we see how things go wrong for her (in one respect) and she has to scramble like crazy to keep it all on track. It makes for a very exciting first half-hour.
This is one of the best Columbo stories. The criminal is sympathetic. She has been protected by her brother to such an extreme extent that she has basically been bullied into submission and it is fascinating for us to see the transformation that comes over her when he is out of her life. Fascinating for us and (unfortunately for her) very revealing for Lt. Columbo.
The Name Of The Game. Season 1, Episode 1. "Fear Of High Places" The first regular episode of the TV series (based on the movie which had appeared two years earlier) again stars Tony Franciosa as superagressive investigative correspondent Jeff Dillon. When I was a kid I thought Franciosa was the coolest of the cool and watching this it is easy to see why. He owns the screen when he is on it. Particularly when he puts on his biggest smile and asks the hardest of hard questions.
It's a sophisticated and enjoyable movie. The middle half-hour meanders a bit too much to maintain interest, but the opening third is strong and the final thirty minutes are the best. The story starts when Dillon attends a press conference where a high level business tycoon denies that he is about to take over a position of power within the government. Dillon gives him a hard time over this and - afterwards - is approached by a young woman who claims to have had an affair with the tycoon. Dillon has misgivings about running the story, but he agrees to meet with the girl. She later turns up dead, sending Dillon on a investigation that will uncover an elaborate espionage plot.
Franciosa is fantastic, and so is Susan Saint James as his researcher, Peggy Maxwell (the only character to appear in all episodes). She's funny, but the two of them lack the sort of chemistry required to make us believe that there is a sexual tension between them. Something the script wants us to believe. Franciosa's scenes with Gene Barry also lack the sort of comeraderie that the writers wish to convey. Barry seems strangely out of place. But none of that is important. What matters, on this show, is the story.
After all the meandering and the (rather good) action finale, the story comes to a close with a fantastic showdown between Dillon and the tycoon's wife. He could blow the whole story wide open and destroy the man's credibility. Yet, despite his infidelity, his wife pleads for him to be left alone. It's an eloquent debate and Dillon's decision (in the final seconds of the movie) makes for a great ending to a good first episode.
Forty years later Tony Franciosa is still the coolest of the cool.
The Mary Tyler Moore Show. Episode 14. "He's All Yours" is one of the weaker episodes. Mary has to deal with mild sexual harassment from an inept younger man, who also has a go at Rhoda and then spreads rumours about Mary at their workplace. It's all slightly uncomfortable and lacking in laughs. Lou Grant is great however. First he drops Mary right in it by telling her to take the young man under her wing, but he saves her at the end in very heroic (and typically gruff) fashion. But, all told, not a great episode.
WKRP In Cincinnati. Episode 61. "Ask Jennifer" is a classic. The first half details Herb's unsuccessful attempts to find a DJ for an afternoon advice show. The second half shows what happens when receptionist Jennifer steps in to do the job and is a roaring success. WKRP always gets praise for writing the "pretty blonde" as the smartest one on staff. But I also love the fact that all the other characters awknowledge this and respect her enormously. Male and female alike, everyone admits that Jennifer is the cleverest one in the room. This episode highlights this character trait and - using nothing but her own common sense - she becomes a city-wide hit as she dispenses advive left, right and centre with a witty quip. Loni Anderson has never been better in the role, perfectly capturing Jennifer's joy at at the microphone. And Loni Anderson really comes into her own when it all turns sour. One caller, acting on previous advice, is beaten up by her husband. As she tells her tale, and the camera gently zooms in on Anderson's face, the horror and guilt are perfectly displayed. It's a wonderful performance and a wonderful script.
Rising Damp. Episode 3. "Charisma" contains one of my all-time favourite funny moments. Ever. Phillip has told Rigsby that one sure way to win Miss Jones' heart is to "burn love wood". He then breaks off a piece of the wardrobe and gives it to Rigsby to use. Not knowing what it is the landlord sets it alight and approaches the object of his affections - a clearly bewildered Miss Jones - waving the smoking stick around like a mad-man. It cracks me up every time I see it. Classic comedy. Wonderful.
Highlight? The Name Of The Game.
Sat, Jun 14th, 2008 - Columbo, Name Of The Game, Mary Tyler Moore, WKRP, Rising Damp
