Simon & Simon DVDs

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Little Garwood
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Re: Simon & Simon DVDs

#131 Post by Little Garwood »

JJ Walters wrote: Last week, on the same day, back-to-back, I saw the S&S chimp episode ("Burden of the Beast") on Cozi, which was great by the way...
Little Garwood wrote:I noticed that McRaney handled the chimp in that episode and Jameson Parker did not. I wonder if there is an "ape protocol" in that an animal only "bonds" with one actor? Silly question, but I am curious to know.
I'm always on the lookout for Simon & Simon-related material, and I found this vintage TV GUIDE ad for "Burden of the Beast." Here, it is A.J. who holds the chimpanzee whereas he does not in the episode itself.

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Last edited by Little Garwood on Mon Jul 09, 2018 5:18 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Simon & Simon DVDs

#132 Post by Little Garwood »

My epic-long-yet-edited review--they're more observations, really--of what is now my all-time favorite Simon & Simon episode, Pirate's Key. Nobody's reading this thread but here it is anyway:

Rick stupidly cracks wise to the restaurant employee thieves after he's already busted them with the goods on film. It's even more stupid when they steal the senator's car to chase down the thieves they shouldn't have even been chasing in the first place.

Love Myron Fowler's description of 1978-era Rick and his great house on Pirate's Key, the jaunty slide guitar theme that plays when A.J. rushes off to work from his boat while living with an amazingly-beautiful Janet, Rick wearing chewed-up straw hat, jean cut off shorts, and blue "44" football shirt, young-and-adorable Cassie Yates in her off-the-shoulder, red-belt, white cherry dress, speaking with a twang; the on-location filming in South Florida, numerous Miami, Fort Lauderdale, and general South Florida references, the fictional "Pirate's Key", not to mention "Blackwater Key." It never feels like 1978 until I see how beautiful Jeannie Wilson looks in every scene she's in compared to just four years later when she looked awful with that short, tight perm.

This would have been a great South Florida TV show. Pirate's Key often feels like Night Moves, the 1975 Gene Hackman Neo-Noir film.

A.J.'s early years working for Aloha-shirt-wearing Myron, who is a paragon of detective wisdom. His old, cramped downtown Miami office, Hoskins, the weasel Myron assistant who A.J. constantly tells to shut up.

I remember A.J. on a case in that motel room snapping photos with mini camera underneath room service serving tray. It was the essence of being a detective to eleven-year-old me. A.J. and his fancy three-piece suits, his too-large for his face rear-view mirrored aviator sunglasses, that huge newsstand.

Love the obviously L.A. building with the obviously slapped-on "San Diego County Administration Center" sign on it. The blatantly L.A./Mexican Spanish being spoken in "North Miami" by the Suenos girl. There's also a boom mic reflection visible in the Simons' cruddy motel room with the room air conditioning unit so prevalant in South Florida and still seen today in many an older home.

Oh, how I loved this show in its early years. Too bad the original 1978 Pirate's Key pilot film has never been released.

Pirate's Key is hands down among the best, most-realized TV pilots I've ever seen. Everything is in place here. Whether it be the characters' chemistry, motivations, and personas, Pirate's Key gets it all perfectly.

For something filmed as a pilot in 1978 and unreleased in any form until 1983 when things had changed in a major way, Pirate's Key is as timeless a production as one could hope. Chemistry is forever and Gerald McRaney, Jameson Parker, Eddie Barth, and Jeannie Wilson have it in spades. I don't just say this as a lifelong fan of Simon & Simon, but as someone who would base their opinion on having the most cursory knowledge of the show and this pilot.
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Little Garwood
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Re: Simon & Simon DVDs

#133 Post by Little Garwood »

An early photo of the elder Simon:

Image
Last edited by Little Garwood on Mon Jul 09, 2018 5:19 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Simon & Simon DVDs

#134 Post by KingKC »

The amazing thing about Simon and Simon is that I watched it as religiously as MPI including summer reruns and latter day reruns (in the nineties) but when I currently read through the episode descriptions I cannot remember the shows anywhere near as well as MPI episodes. I have always wondered why there was such an affinity with MPI over Simon and Simon. I just wish they would bring Simon and Simon back on reruns somewhere as I am not a DVD or Blu Ray fan. I am sure I would be hooked again. The supporting/recurring characters like the mother(Cecelia), Janet, Myron, Downtown Brown and Lt. McMurty were all memorable as, of course, was Rick and AJ. I think it had the best opening instrumental theme song ever. even better than MPI!

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Re: Simon & Simon DVDs

#135 Post by Little Garwood »

I was a loyal S&S viewer during the show's first four seasons, but I got away from TV and '80s pop culture--and the pop culture of subsequent decades--by 1986. Before the last few years, I hadn't seen S&S since I was a young teen, though I distinctly remember certain episodes. No matter how unmemorable or lightweight an episode is, the peerless Parker-McRaney and supporting player chemistry is what makes the show so much fun to watch. The show is even better imo knowing that JP and Mackie have remained close friends since the series ended nearly thirty years ago.
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Re: Simon & Simon DVDs

#136 Post by MHTR »

Little Garwood wrote:
An early photo of the elder Simon:
He resembled one of the guys from that 70s pop duo, England Dan & John Ford Coley.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/England_D ... y_1976.jpg

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Re: Simon & Simon DVDs

#137 Post by Little Garwood »

MHTR: Going by my own childhood recollections of the '70s, most every guy looked like that! :D

Another Pirate's Key observation: When they drive the truck into the water and get stuck, Rick utters "Shhhhh....", only he adds the "it" at the end! Guess that one got by the censors!
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Re: Simon & Simon DVDs

#138 Post by Little Garwood »

Now you too can wear an exact (sort of) duplicate of Rick Simon's iconic hat:

Image

I don't have a screen cap handy, but I recently watched a S4 episode of Simon & Simon and Rick wore an ever-so-slightly different variation on his usual hat. This particular hat had some about a half dozen tiny vents on either side.

There's also a wider brimmed, not-a-cowboy-hat cover he wore in Pirate's Key. In the pilot at least, Rick was more Jimmy Buffett than any kind of Countrified type character he later resembled.
Last edited by Little Garwood on Mon Jul 09, 2018 5:39 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Simon & Simon DVDs

#139 Post by Little Garwood »

Image

Simon & Simon have their own Luther H. Gillis. It's hardboiled San Francisco private detective Sam Penny, who literally wrote the book on private investigation. He's a hero of A.J. Simon's, who has read Penny's book countless times and considers him "The President of the Fraternity" (of private eyes).

Sam Penny was played by veteran actor Robert Lansing in two Simon & Simon episodes: S3's Shadow of Sam Penny (aired November 3 1983) and S5's Reunion at Alcatraz (aired November 14 1985). The IMdb lists a TV movie called Shadow of Sam Penny, but I have been unable to confirm its existence. The volume of Movies Made for Television I have only goes up to 1979.

While both Sam Penny and Luther H. Gillis are both hardboiled detectives in the classic-but-outdated tradition, but while Gillis is played for comedy, Sam Penny is largely serious. His world-weary attitude on life is a direct homage to spiritual ancestors like Sam Spade and Philip Marlowe.

Sam Penny never wore out his welcome, and it's too bad he didn't get at least one more appearance on Simon & Simon. His two episodes are well worth watching.
Last edited by Little Garwood on Sun Aug 01, 2021 3:16 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Simon & Simon DVDs

#140 Post by Little Garwood »

Late last year I began writing my (idiosyncratic) S5 Simon & Simon episode reviews--more observations than reviews, though I do rate each show with a 1-10 ranking--and was posting them on the (late) IMDb message boards. However, since those are no more I may have to terrify the Magnum Mania populace with them. :lol:

Gerald McRaney won an Emmy this year!

Jameson Parker, on his blog (ReadJamesonParker), has directed his readers to his daughter's GofundMe page. Katherine Parker is near her financial goal so that she may purchase a new power wheelchair.

I have not linked directly to JP's blog on this matter--I do not wish to run afoul of M-M's rules if it forbids such posts--but I encourage my fellow Magnum fans to read Jameson Parker's blog, as he provides lots of food for thought, whether you agree with his views or not.
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Re: Simon & Simon DVDs

#141 Post by MagnumsLeftShoulder »

I'm cool with some reviews for S&S on Magnum Mania. S&S is a show that's been on my "to watch list" forever, but it's not on TV. The first 3 seasons are on Hulu, but Hulu and my isp don't get along so great. :(

I agree that Parker's blog is a good read.

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Re: Simon & Simon DVDs

#142 Post by Little Garwood »

I'm not sure if Shout! Factory, the company that's released many DVD sets has a streaming service...

Today is Jameson Parker's 70th birthday. In fact, both of the Simon brothers actors are 70 now.
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Re: Simon & Simon DVDs

#143 Post by Nikita70 »

Been a fan of S & S for years. I have the first four seasons on dvd but unfortunately Shout decided for seasons 5-8 that they would not include closed captioning....so I will not buy them. Too bad really, I’d love to have them. Great show.

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Re: Simon & Simon DVDs

#144 Post by Styles Bitchley »

Hey Garwood. Any chance you could update the earlier posts with the photo bucket fix discussed in the main forum?
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Re: Simon & Simon DVDs

#145 Post by Pahonu »

MagnumsLeftShoulder wrote:S&S is a show that's been on my "to watch list" forever, but it's not on TV.
I've just watched a couple of episodes I DVR'd off Cozi TV. I think it's on after midnight. One was about John Dillinger still being alive.

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