07:00 The Greatest American Hero
08:00 The Avengers
09:00 Good Morning Miami
10:30 Rescue 77
11:30 Due South
The Greatest American Hero. Episode 5. "Reseda Rose" The timeframe for all these early episodes is the same: a few short hours. And that excitement factor is part of the considerable appeal of the show: Bill always shows up when Ralph is trying to do something else. And they always rush off leaving other people waiting on them, or with only a few hours before Ralph has to be somewhere/do something. As well as being funny, it adds an extra level of tension to the proceedings. Everything is happening against the clock. Often over the course of one evening.
Factor in the great dialogue between Ralph, Pam and Bill and you have another great episode.
The Avengers. Episode 142. "False Witness" In much the same way that my favourite season of Due South is the last one (the one with unpopular cast changes) my favourite season of The Avengers is also the last one (the one with unpopular cast changes). I adore Tara King. And, by default, Linda Thorson also. I love the type of stories (fantasy-espionage) and the type of relationship between the leads (mentor/pupil). And, in general, the show is inventive and great fun.
Case in point: a story about several people who are saying the exact opposite of what they intend to say. Mysterous. And unfortunate, given that some of them happen to Agents on assignment and others are key witnesses in a major prosecution. All of this mystery is very entertaining. So is the solution: a nefarious organisation drugging the milk supply! If you take your coffee black then you are safe! Great stuff. Steed and Tara mostly mostly work alone in this one, and each comes off very well in the story. The highpoint is the hectic climax with several bad guys (drugged by Steed) running around saying the oppsite of what they mean: Steed's not here, He's not over there, etc.
I came to The Avengers through The New Avengers (which is still my favouite of the two) so I'm used to seeing a Steed who is older and superior. The earlier seasons of the original show always seemed odd to me because of that. And while the Steed-Peel partnership is great fun and - many would say - set the standard by which all male-female partnerships are judged on televisioon, I still get more of a kick from watching Steed with Tara King.
Plus, I've also had a huge crush on her since 1982 (when I first saw the show)!
Good Morning Miami. Episode 1. "Good Morning, Miami" I love this show. Although much maligned, it's hilarious and very, very sweet. In fact, together with Flying Blind and Almost Perfect (both of which I also have on tape) it's one of my favourite three short-lived romantic comedies. Flying Blind is my all-time favourite. And while the romances on these shows aren't quite as special as the ones between David & Maddie, Sam & Diane, Spike & Lynda or Vince & Penny they have still managed to find a special place in my heart.
Good Morning Miami starts when Jake goes along for a job interview for a job he doesn't really want. He has the world at his feet and he isn't taking it seriously at all (he's only in town to visit his grandmother). When he meets a girl called Dylan (who works there) everything changes and he takes the job to be near to her. Later discovering that she has a boyfriend.
It's silly. But so, so romantic. And I loved this show with a passion the moment I first saw Jake staring at Dylan. As time went on, I grew a bit weary of the romance but I grew to love the ensemble more and more with every passing episode (particularly the great Jere Burns as Frank) and I developed a huge crush on Constance Zimmer as Penny. So much so that it is her picture I use on my DVR menus for this show. The picture of her smiling from the Season One opening credits. I don't think I've ever seen a smile as radiant as that.
This first episode is a great first episode. Very romantic, very sweet and very, very funny. Ashley Williams is adorable as Dylan as soon as she walks on screen and it's obvious why Jake falls in love at first sight.
Me? I would have stayed at the front desk chatting with Penny!
Rescue 77. Episode 1. "Rescue 77" Produced and directed by Eric Laneuville, starring Christian Kane, Marjorie Monaghan, Robia LaMorte, Terence Knox and Richard Roundtree Rescue 77 is a collection of the names I most like to see in the credits for anything. I came to it with high expectations from the very beginning and it never disappointed. Indeed one episode has stayed with me for many, many years and can still bring a tear to my eye when I think of it or hear the music from it.
But I'll get to that in a few weeks.
This is about the first episode. And what a great first episode it is. It takes all the old rescue-show clichés and mixes them up to give you a whole new show. I grew up watching shows like Code R, 240-Robert and Chopper Squad and this one is every bit as good as all those.
Kathleen Ryan returns to active duty in the opening minutes of the story and is reunited with her old partners on the Emergency Medical Service. Wick Lobo is the daring one, creative on the job and crazy off the job. Michael Bell is the quite solid one, he's got a romantic interest in a nurse but he's taking his time with the pursuit. Kathleen, we learn, burned out on the job after a particularly rough rescue in which several children perished. But she's back now. And together they form a credible team. Their first day together (again) finds them saving a worker from under collapsed debris and a pilot from a crashed plane. All these scenes are exciting and fun to watch. The main thrust of the story - however - involves a woman who is being beaten by her boyfriend. The team befriend her, but are later called back to find her shot and dying. Her final moments of life are truly sad. She asks Kathleen if she will die. And Kathleen tells her the truth.
On paper it probably sounds awful, but this was a special show, and a great first episode. The cast had terrific chemistry and the show's fantasy elements (Wick's crazy way to save the man in the tunnel) are balanced with good human drama and a real-world perspective on the place of paramedics within the system.
The show also had two great themes: Early episodes and later episodes.
Due South. Season 3, Episode 1. "Burning Down The House" In much the same way that my favourite season of The Avengers is the last one (the one with unpopular cast changes) my favourite season of Due South is also the last one (the one with unpopular cast changes). I love the Due South pilot. I was living in Canada when it first aired and I remember being very excited and moved by it when it first aired. As the weeks wore on I liked the show less and less. I never warmed to David Marciano in this or in anything else. Eventually I stopped watching. When the show re-started in 1997 with Callum Keith Rennie I tried the first few episodes and totally fell in love with show. Not just for Rennie (although he is the best thing in the show) I also think the show has found it's feet completely by this time and is comfortable with some very extreme fantasy storylines and elements (Fraser's ghostly father being the most obvious example).
Written by series star (the wonderful Paul Gross) this episode is - for me - one of the weakest in the season. The central conceit (that nobody will stop and tell Fraser what is going on) bugs me. I don't buy it. But, in all other respects, the episode works a treat. Gross is hilarious and heroic in equal measure. Rennie feels like he's always been there, and the support cast are great too.
Highlight? Rescue 77
Wed, Jun 25th, 08 - Greatest American Hero, Avengers, Good Morning Miami, Rescue 77, Due South
