Simon & Simon - Emeralds Are Not a Girl's Best Friend

Rate, review & discuss the Simon & Simon and Murder, She Wrote crossover episodes

Moderator: Styles Bitchley

How Would You Rate This Episode?

10 (Perfect!)
3
6%
9.5 (One of the Best)
3
6%
9.0 (Excellent)
10
21%
8.5 (Very Good)
7
15%
8.0 (Pretty Good)
10
21%
7.5 (Decent)
3
6%
7.0 (Average at Best)
4
9%
6.5 (Not So Good)
4
9%
6.0 (Pretty Bad)
2
4%
5.0 (Just Awful)
1
2%
 
Total votes: 47

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J.J. Walters
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Simon & Simon - Emeralds Are Not a Girl's Best Friend

#1 Post by J.J. Walters »

This is the official MM thread for Emeralds Are Not a Girl's Best Friend, the Simon & Simon crossover episode with Ki'i's Don't Lie (3.3). All discussions and reviews for this episode should go here. If you wish to rate the episode, please do so with the poll. The avg. score will be the official 'community rating', which will be used on the episode page (updated monthly).

This thread is also linked in the episode page of the Episode Guide.


Original Air Date: 10/7/1982
P.I.'s Rick and A.J. Simon are in Hawaii tailing a con artist who Higgins has just entrusted with $350,000 in proceeds from his charity event. The three follow her to South America, where they reel her in with a con of their own, using a huge emerald and A.J. as bait.
Last edited by J.J. Walters on Fri Dec 28, 2007 6:19 pm, edited 4 times in total.

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J.J. Walters
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#2 Post by J.J. Walters »

Man, it sure felt good to watch a Simon & Simon episode again! Along with Magnum, Tales of the Gold Monkey, The Equalizer, Hill St. Blues and St. Elsewhere, this was one of the few shows of the 80s that I truly liked. I don't think I've ever caught an episode on syndication, so this would be almost twenty years since I've watched an episode!

First off, what a killer theme song and opening credits sequence! Man, that brought back a lot of memories! Love that slide guitar. It was great to see some of the recurring characters that I remember, ADA Janet Fowler (Jeannie Wilson), Myron Fowler (Eddie Barth), Cecilia Simon (Mary Carver). And we get to see a young Joe Mantegna and Panchito Gómez as guest stars!

The episode itself was pretty good, I thought. It tied in nicely with the Magnum episode and had a couple of cool scenes. The South American setting in a corrupt fictional country was fun. I could do without Morgan Fairchild, however. I love the denouement with A.J. and Rick moving in to the estate for a while while they testify at Catherine's trial. They're crashing at the guesthouse, they have free access to the GMC Jimmy, and they're heading off for a dip in the tidal pool! Ha! I love how they did Magnum's reaction to all of this (with a slight smile) -- He's not overly upset by it. He's mildly irked, but yet he see's that Rick and A.J. are very similiar to himself, and even though they are invading his "personal space", he's going to enjoy being around them for a while. Awesome.

One thing that's kind of strange about crossovers is the syndication runs. Ki'i's Don't Lie in syndication ends with Catherine being caught at the airport before she flees to South America. If you happened to catch the Simon & Simon episode after you saw the Magnum syndication episode, you would be scratching your head.
Higgins: It's not a scratch! It's a bloody gouge!

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#3 Post by lutherhgillis »

I found Simon & Simon a little flat when I watched it back in the day. I believe it came on TV right after Magnum in our market. To me it was definitely a step down from Magnum. I know for sure that the best episode for S&S was the Ki'i's Don't Lie episode of Magnum!!!

The only show that I really enjoyed from the detective genre as much as Magnum was Rockford Files. Its funny that Tom appeared on Rockford a few times...

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#4 Post by grapeshot »

I liked the first season of S&S, the one that nobody watched. It was a looser and goosier show than the subsequent seasons, after it got paired with MPI. The Simon brothers lost that way cool vintage Chevy they drove, the theme song during the credits got redone in a more blander version, and the whole show got a new, straighter vibe. Still, if the show hadn't been paired with MPI, it would've probably been canceled, so I guess it was a good move for the network and the show.

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foggydayz
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#5 Post by foggydayz »

i'm a big simon and simon fan, and i cant remember ever seeing "Emeralds Are Not a Girl's Best Friend". i've searched the internet for it, but season 2 of simon and simon isn't out (yet?).

does anyone know where i can see this episode?

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#6 Post by Doc Ibold »

Hey Foggy,

The complete (non-syndicated) episode can be found on the Magnum Season 1 DVD set

-Doc

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#7 Post by foggydayz »

Doc Ibold wrote:Hey Foggy,

The complete (non-syndicated) episode can be found on the Magnum Season 1 DVD set

-Doc
AWESOME :D ,,, i have been wanting to see that for ages. THANKS DOC :D

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#8 Post by Lt Tanaka »

I have both the American and British versions of this "complete season". I can't remember which is which but one version has her being caught at the airport (and doesn't include the Simon and Simon episode) whilst in the other one she escapes and the other show is included as a bonus. I bought both because I really wanted the my season to be "complete".

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#9 Post by lutherhgillis »

Guys,

S&S was a pretty good show. Gerald McRainey was great. The crossover with MPI was much better than the Murder She Wrote cross.

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#10 Post by golfmobile »

This episode was on Sleuth today so I recorded it for some screenshots (foggydayz, PM me if you never found it to view it and I can send you a DVD of it).

As you know, Higgins goes with AJ and Rick back to the mainland. Here he is in their office (I can't seem to get these to upload at dropshots right now -- I upload and upload and they won't show up. So Webshots allows them but you have to click on the thumbnail to see the full size photo -- I get one thing to work and then another thing doesn't . . . . ):

Image

Here's Thomas back at Robin's Nest, apparently eating the lads' dinner. And when else did he wear this camouflage hat? I don't recall seeing it on him before -- maybe with good reason -- it looks too small for him:

Image

When Higgins goes back to Hawaii, after Catherine is caught and Thomas drives into the estate (hiding Robin's camera behind his back), Higgins already knows and extends his hand for Thomas to give him the camera back, Thomas drops his head in resignation:

Image

Now, Higgins appears to have come out the SIDE door of the residence, as discussed recently on the Robin's Nest thread (he has come out this door and has turned to his left to head back through the tunnel to go to the gueshouse to deliver clean linen):

Image

From the side entrance toward the tunnel/arch:

Image

Then, here come AJ and Rick, supposedly coming from the guesthouse:

Image

Notice both Higgins' and Thomas' goofy smiles and AJ and Rick go on by them, heading to the beach:

Image

And note that both AJ's and Rick's swimsuits/shorts are every bit as tight and short as Thomas' are -- so it just was the "style" then, which everyone seems to forget in ridiculing Tom Selleck in his short-shorts!

But, boy! Are these guys heading for a major sunburn or what?

Image

(Sorry you had to click on every picture to be able to view it -- don't know what is wrong with dropshots tonight, but it's really annoying me!)

golf
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#11 Post by SelleckLover »

When I was on Oahu in 1988, my legs were whiter (if that's possible) than Rick and AJ. I was affectionately called "shark bait" by my friends there. LOL :D

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#12 Post by IslandHopper »

This does not involve a crossover episode, but it does concern a "Simon & Simon" episode. I was scrolling through the Sleuth channel info-descriptions of upcoming shows and episodes and there is a Simon & Simon episode called "Mike & Pat." The description reads: "San Diego Sea World wants the Simons to locate a kidnapped dolphin before separation from its make kills it." This sounds very similar to MPI's "Old Acquaintance." Old Acquaintance involved a plot to use a dolphin to assassinate a foreign president (a la The Day of the Dolphin), but I believe Goldie Morris also said that the dolphin in "Old Acquaintance" will die if it's not reunited with its mate.

Has anyone seen this Simon & Simon episode, and if so, is it similar to the MPI episode? Just curious. I'm sure I saw it back in the 80s, but I can't remember any details.
The answer is obvious, old man. Logic is irrelevant. It's simply Tropical Madness. (J.Q. Higgins)

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#13 Post by Sam »

IH,

Where have we seen this? LOL

Season 5 HFO...Little Girl Blue

Two men kidnap a young girl and hole up in a World War II bunker on Diamond Head. McGarrett and his men must rescue the child from the desperate criminals.

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#14 Post by IslandHopper »

I just watched the Simon & Simon (S&S) episode "Mike & Pat" from my DVR. I was surprised to learn that the "Mike & Pat" episode was aired (October 14, 1982) three years before the MPI episode "Old Acquaintance" (October 3, 1985). Although I always liked S&S, I always favor MPI. However, I'm sorry to admit that I think that the "Mike & Pat" episode is better than MPI's "Old Acquaintance." It's not because the S&S episode has something that the MPI episode doesn't, it's for what the S&S episode doesn't have that I like...No Goldie Morris. I'm not saying that to be funny. It's just that I really could not take that episode seriously with her character, as she was just so over-the-top. I really think that character took a lot away from that episode. The S&S plot seems a little more solid and there seems to be more danger involved in the S&S episode.

An important theme in the S&S episode was that the dolphin left behind was in danger of dying without her mate, because she was too depressed to eat. This was apparent in "Old Acquaintance" too. It is listed as a flub in the episode guide. I don't know for sure, but it seems that "Old Acquaintance" took its basic plot from the motion picture "The Day Of The Dolphin." I wonder if MPI got any ideas from the S&S episode?

What is it with detective stories and dolphins? We have "The Day Of The Dolphin," "Mike & Pat," "Old Acquaintance," and "Ace Ventura Pet Detective." I'm sure there are more that I'm not aware of.

Yeah Sam, there seems to be a lot of similarity between many different episodes of different shows.
The answer is obvious, old man. Logic is irrelevant. It's simply Tropical Madness. (J.Q. Higgins)

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#15 Post by SelleckLover »

This just goes to back up a post I made a few months back. There ARE NO new plots in episodic TV anymore! They've all been done and then some! If you've been watching TV for as long as I have, you've seen them all. (My first recollection of TV watching was "The Mickey Mouse Club" in the 1950's.)
Some are just done better than others! JMHO! :D

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