Just to catch up on what we watched, in terms of mostly old television, during the first half of this year! Previous viewings are here.
The Rockford Files seasons 4-6 (DVD)
Mission: Impossible seasons 1-4 (DVD)
Starsky & Hutch seasons 3-4 (DVD)
Dragnet (1967-70) seasons 1-4 (download)
Kojak season 6 (1989/90) (download)
Maverick seasons 1-2 (download)
The Deputy season 2 (download)
Bat Masterson seasons 2-3 (download)
Jesse Stone movie series (2005-15) (DVD)
Reacher season 2 (download)
I don’t necessarily think these posts are the most interesting to readers… but, it has become a kind of “log” for me anyway. Nonetheless, to try to make it slightly more interesting, a bit of commentary follows…
Farewell to Kojak—and this final season, while OK, I think was let down a little by patchy writing. Telly, almost 70, was a bit too old, but he’s fine, and his sidekick, played by the sadly very recently deceased Andre Braugher, was just great. In terms of the “revival” movies for Theo, the best by a long chalk was the first, 1985’s “The Belarus File”, not least because of the excellent acting talent, and the presence of a lot of the cast of the original series. It was deadly serious, like the original 1973 pilot movie (“The Marcus-Nelson Murders”), but that was a strength, not a weakness.
Telly Savalas and Andre Braugher in 1989—a great team, and both now no longer with us.
But not quite adios to Jim Rockford—in fact, in July, we just watched all eight of the 1990s revival movies too. More on that later, mebbe. The original Rockford Files, circa 1974-80, was such a great show—maybe the best of all TV detective shows? Not just for Garner, but for the excellent supporting cast—Joe Santos as Jim’s cop pal Dennis; Gretchen Corbett as Jim’s lawyer, Beth; Stuart Margolin, particularly excellent as the ultra-dodgy Angel, a friend Jim made during his time in stir… and best of all, Noah Beery Jr as Jim’s crusty old dad, Rocky.
I always remember James Garner as one of mom’s faves, from way back when he was in Maverick (1957-62), which we are also currently watching. It was a show before my time, obviously, but I knew all about it from mom long before the excellent 1994 Richard Donner movie came out. Speaking of, we did watch the ’94 movie some months ago—and it was just as good as I remembered. Garner was super, naturally, and it had so many nice cameos from old-time western stars. One of the best movies of the 1990s, perhaps, which in my opinion was not the greatest of decades. (It’s just that the 21st Century makes the ’90s seem much better than they were!)
It’s Jimbo Rockfish, looking about as beaten & dishevelled as he usually does.
We watched a few other Garner movies, too, in recent times, including the westerns Duel at Diablo (1966), Support Your Local Sheriff (1969) and Support Your Local Gunfighter (1971). If Garner is in it, it’s almost always worth watching.
Ah, and Jim’s friend, Tom Selleck, who made two highly memorable appearances in Rockford. Let’s talk about Tom. Another great, seemingly effortless actor, but I haven’t kept up with him much this century. So, we watched all nine of the Jesse Stone movies, as adapted from the crime books by Robert B Parker. If you like a modern noir vibe, these extremely subdued, melancholic films about a troubled maverick cop will be right up your street.
Tom Selleck plays brooding alkie cop Jesse Stone just about perfectly.
There’s a lot of atmosphere by modern standards, and the character touches are so well-rendered… especially Jesse’s relationship with his adopted dog, Reggie, with whom he maintains a tragically cautious distance (having had to put his previous dog to sleep and being emotionally fragile), almost until the end of the animal’s life—the films spread over several years. Reggie’s reproachful looks every time the functioning alcoholic Jesse takes a shot of Whiskey are beautifully played. Any films which show affection for dogs (both Garner and Selleck are dog people, it’s worth mentioning) definitely has something going for them. Recommended, if you’ve not seen them—the DVDs are available cheaply.
Joe the Dog (who passed away in 2013, before the final JS film) also plays Reggie quite beautifully.
That’s all for now. More later!
I didn’t realise that Kojak lasted so long, nor that Andre Braugher was in it. Will definitely have to look that one up. Watched Telly Savalas just yesterday as the bad guy in the Spaghetti Western, A Reason to Live, A Reason to Die. Pretty much a cameo role really, but worth watching for James Coburn and Budd Spencer.
The Rockford Files has long been on my list of shows to watch through – I only saw the occasional episode with my mother while my father was out on a Friday night.
Recently watched the Jesse Stone movies and thoroughly enjoyed them – Reggie’s expressions a definite high point.
Yeah, Reggie steals it!
One of my favourite Savales performances is in Horror Express, where he just cranks it up to 11 and is clearly having a hoot doing so.
Chrissie,
I really enjoy these looks back at shows and hope you continue. Like Nigel, I didn’t know Kojak went on for so long, and am delighted to learn that Andre Braugher was part of the cast. Great actor who I first noticed on Homicide, so something I have to search out.
I’ve heard good things about Homicide, and plan to catch up with it at some point soon. Braugher’s character made an interesting partner for Kojak: smart, not afraid to challenge his boss, but also willing to hear him out.
The Rockford Files is arguably the most consistently solid detective tv series, and that’s largely down to James Garner and the team he built around himself at Cherokee. There are fewer than a half-dozen episodes where the plot begins to unravel and the interest wavers, the worst example being ‘Just a Coupla Guys’ (S6 E10), an ill-judged backdoor pilot which unfortunately ended up being the original series’ penultimate show. Probably my most enjoyable re-watch.