03.00 The Closer
04.00 House
07.00 Harry O
The Closer. Season 4, Episode 8. "Split Ends" Brenda's delightful parents make another visit as The Best Dressed Cops On TV go after a man who battered his wife (and probably killed her). With Provenza's backstory in the mix, and Brenda's dad pushing her to get married, the script is as much about marriage/couples as it is about standing up to bullies.
House. Season 5, Episode 4. "Birthmarks" Another classic. The case-of-the-week is every bit as strong as the departure-from-formula element of having House and Wilson drive cross country to House's dad's funeral. Wilson??!! Yeah, this fight didn't last any longer than the others! House and Wilson are starting to remind me of Duncan and Joe on Highlander. How many times did they fight and end their friendship? Lots. So many times that it eventually came to mean nothing. Never mind, it's great to see Wilson back. But - honestly - I miss the private eye guy!
Parenting gets the House treatment this week, and the script has a few things to say about friendship, too. We get some interesting background on the House/Wilson relationship and we see not only that they are tied to one another for ever, but maybe we see why. Meanwhile, back at the hospital, all of the other character work together (for the first time?) on a case. I've never been sure that the show could use all these characters on one case at the same time but I think they have proven me wrong. It works. And the all get screentime and are fun to watch. Chase is so laid back now, it's hilarious/wonderful to watch. He's become Joe Cool from the Peanuts strip!
Best bit? House and the car keys (plus lamp).
Harry O. "Such Dust as Dreams Are Made On" Mixed bag. While there are elements of greatness here, there is no real indication of the great television series that would follow and I can understand why this (first) pilot was not picked up in 1973. What makes this worth watching (and re-watching) is the central performance of David Janssen as Harry Orwell: the actor is superb and the script gives him a superb character to play with. Orwell is more world weary than any other private eye that television has given us, and Janssen ensures that this is conveyed by every word and gesture that the detective makes. He rides the bus, has a bullet lodged in him and is more of a womanizer than other TV heroes. But he's all the more real for it. The story is good but meanders too much and - ultimately - is the weakness of the movie.
Martin Sheen guests as the man who shot Harry. He shows up one night (four years later) holds a gun on Harry, throws lots of money at him and pleads for Harry to protect him. Harry agrees to take the case, then turns over and goes back to sleep! He also leaves the money on the floor for much of the movie. He just doesn't care. But he's motivated to see that justice is done, and the story eventually takes him out late at night into the seedy drug culture of San Diego. There's a long lab-scene in the middle that slows to pace to death speed and a long bike chase at the very end that is good but completely out of place. The story would have worked much better at one-hour and I understand that such a version exists but I have never seen it. This is the one I have. And I've seen it many times. I always love the star and the hero, but the story never holds my interest.
Highlight? Harry O (David Janssen)
Yet Another TV Review Podcast
Yet Another TV Review Book
Fri, Oct 17, 08 - The Closer, House, Harry O
