The Persuaders

[Little Garwood]

The Persuaders! is primarily a comedy-adventure series, but there are a handful of episodes which take on a more serious tone:

Angie, Angie- Danny's boyhood friend may be a hitman and Brett strongly suspects this; Danny swears that he's not, leading to strained relations between the two "Persuaders." Larry Storch plays “Angie.”

The Long Goodbye- A formula for a synthetic fuel is sought after by an oil company, a man claiming to be the man's associate, and the Soviets. The episode ends with…SPOILER…the daughter of the dead inventor carrying out his wishes by destroying the formula. Brett reads the inventor's letter, which ends with "world not ready."

Someone Like Me- Brett is brainwashed in a Manchurian Candidate-style plot to assassinate a millionaire (Bernard Lee). A rather serious tone throughout, including a fist fight between Brett and Danny, which is not like the played-for-laughs fisticuffs they had in the series premiere, Overture.

The Morning After- Brett wakes up in a Stockholm hotel room and discovers he was married the night before--to lovely Catherine Schell! Roger and Schell have a couple of poignant scenes together--at least as poignant as this show ever got--and the delicate musical cue plays whenever they're having their meaningful dialogue which was also heard in Angie, Angie. Dr Who fans will perk up when they see Bernard Horsfall aka Chancellor Goth from The Deadly Assassin doing a "Swedish" accent.

[Pahonu]

The Persuaders! is primarily a comedy-adventure series, but there are a handful of episodes which take on a more serious tone:

Angie, Angie- Danny's boyhood friend may be a hitman and Brett strongly suspects this; Danny swears that he's not, leading to strained relations between the two "Persuaders." Larry Storch plays “Angie.”

The Long Goodbye- A formula for a synthetic fuel is sought after by an oil company, a man claiming to be the man's associate, and the Soviets. The episode ends with…SPOILER…the daughter of the dead inventor carrying out his wishes by destroying the formula. Brett reads the inventor's letter, which ends with "world not ready."

Someone Like Me- Brett is brainwashed in a Manchurian Candidate-style plot to assassinate a millionaire (Bernard Lee). A rather serious tone throughout, including a fist fight between Brett and Danny, which is not like the played-for-laughs fisticuffs they had in the series premiere, Overture.

The Morning After- Brett wakes up in a Stockholm hotel room and discovers he was married the night before--to lovely Catherine Schell! Roger and Schell have a couple of poignant scenes together--at least as poignant as this show ever got--and the delicate musical cue plays whenever they're having their meaningful dialogue which was also heard in Angie, Angie. Dr Who fans will perk up when they see Bernard Horsfall aka Chancellor Goth from The Deadly Assassin doing a "Swedish" accent.

Hey Garwood,
Somehow I missed this whole thread! We are the same age and I think I discovered the show around the time you mentioned it playing on a cable channel, around 15-16 years ago. I recorded the episodes on the DVR (or maybe it was TiVo then) and watched them all. I really enjoyed it but don’t have a lot of recall after just one run through. I’ll have to see it again. By the way, I have Kolchak: The Night Stalker on DVD too!

[ZelenskyTheValiant (Ivan)]

All I know is that the show had a great John Barry score! My favorite composer!

[Little Garwood]

All I know is that the show had a great John Barry score! My favorite composer!

Barry composed the theme, but much of the incredibly catchy episode underscore was by Ken Thorne, which was endlessly reused throughout the show….even more than Five-0 did with its musical cues!

[ZelenskyTheValiant (Ivan)]

All I know is that the show had a great John Barry score! My favorite composer!

Barry composed the theme, but much of the incredibly catchy episode underscore was by Ken Thorne, which was endlessly reused throughout the show….even more than Five-0 did with its musical cues!

Yep, that's what I meant. The main theme.

[jno]

I'll confess that although I like a lot of ITC shows, I've always struggled to get into The Persuaders.

In Germany & Austria the show is known as 'Die 2' (The 2) as is renowned for its OTT dubbing into German.

John Barry's theme is superb too, as it is to 'The Adventurer' too (starring the very much maligned Gene Barry). Barry's theme to 'On Her Majesty's Secret Service' is superb too - and definitely check out the Geoff Love & His Orchestra version too (which I prefer): https://youtu.be/ydeh1hKhTs0

[Little Garwood]

Will be wrapping up an Avengers rewatch soon, so after that it’ll be a Persuaders! revisitation. The Persuaders!, like a few other “one-season wonders”, has a way of sticking with me like Kolchak: The Night Stalker, Johnny Staccato, and Q.E.D. in that the dialogue, music, and imagery have stayed in my memory for decades after I’ve watched those series.

[Little Garwood]

What is it about “one-season wonders” like The Persuaders! that causes their dialogue to permeate my everyday conversations? For the past twenty years, I’ve quoted this, Johnny Staccato, and Kolchak: The Night Stalker.

On the other hand, I love several TV shows that ran for years yet they are rarely, if ever quoted.

[Pahonu]

What is it about “one-season wonders” like The Persuaders! that causes their dialogue to permeate my everyday conversations? For the past twenty years, I’ve quoted this, Johnny Staccato, and Kolchak: The Night Stalker.

On the other hand, I love several TV shows that ran for years yet they are rarely, if ever quoted.

I have still not seen this series again after over 15 years! I need to see if it’s streaming anywhere.

[Little Garwood]

What is it about “one-season wonders” like The Persuaders! that causes their dialogue to permeate my everyday conversations? For the past twenty years, I’ve quoted this, Johnny Staccato, and Kolchak: The Night Stalker.

On the other hand, I love several TV shows that ran for years yet they are rarely, if ever quoted.

I have still not seen this series again after over 15 years! I need to see if it’s streaming anywhere.

You’ll probably enjoy it most if you focus on that brief, early ‘70s European vibe the show has. Plus there’s the humorous banter between Curtis and Moore (with or without the “extra hilarious” German dubbing). The main theme by John Barry and episodic underscore primarily by Ken Thorne add to the show’s appeal.

[Little Garwood]

Angie, Angie guest star Larry Storch (not to mention Kolchak: The Night Stalker and Mannix) has died, age 99. The man made even the briefest of appearances highly memorable.

[Luther's nephew Dobie]

Angie, Angie guest star Larry Storch (not to mention Kolchak: The Night Stalker and Mannix) has died, age 99. The man made even the briefest of appearances highly memorable.

Storch would draw the biggest names in Hollywood to his nightclub act in the 50's.
I had a buddy who was in the 82nd, Dave being a long time NCO so I wrote Larry Storch for an autographed Corporal Agarn photo for Dave.
I had him inscribe it "From one great NCO to another", he then signing it "Corporal Agarn(Larry Storch)".
There was many an envious glance by other NCO's - while Dave gloated - when it arrived in the Sinai, where they were stationed as part of the UN peace keepers
separating the Egyptian and Israeli armies.

[Pahonu]

Angie, Angie guest star Larry Storch (not to mention Kolchak: The Night Stalker and Mannix) has died, age 99. The man made even the briefest of appearances highly memorable.

Storch would draw the biggest names in Hollywood to his nightclub act in the 50's.
I had a buddy who was in the 82nd, Dave being a long time NCO so I wrote Larry Storch for an autographed Corporal Agarn photo for Dave.
I had him inscribe it "From one great NCO to another", he then signing it "Corporal Agarn(Larry Storch)".
There was many an envious glance by other NCO's - while Dave gloated - when it arrived in the Sinai, where they were stationed as part of the UN peace keepers
separating the Egyptian and Israeli army.

Great story!

[Little Garwood]

It's time to go full-tilt boogie and list my favorite Persuaders! episodes in order:

24. To the Death, Baby
23. The Man in the Middle
22. The Ozerov Inheritance
21. Angie, Angie
20. Five Miles to Midnight

19. Nuisance Value
18. Someone Waiting
17. Someone Like Me
16. Element of Risk
15. Take Seven

14. The Morning After
13. Powerswitch
12. The Gold Napoleon
11. Read and Destroy
10. Overture

09. That's Me Over There
08. The Old, the New, and the Deadly
07. The Time and the Place
06. A Death in the Family
05. Chain of Events

04. The Long Goodbye
03. A Home of One's Own
02. Anyone Can Play
01. Greensleeves

[Luther's nephew Dobie]

It's time to go full-tilt boogie and list my favorite Persuaders! episodes in order:

24. To the Death, Baby
23. The Man in the Middle
22. The Ozerov Inheritance
21. Angie, Angie
20. Five Miles to Midnight

19. Nuisance Value
18. Someone Waiting
17. Someone Like Me
16. Element of Risk
15. Take Seven

14. The Morning After
13. Powerswitch
12. The Gold Napoleon
11. Read and Destroy
10. Overture

09. That's Me Over There
08. The Old, the New, and the Deadly
07. The Time and the Place
06. A Death in the Family
05. Chain of Events

04. The Long Goodbye
03. A Home of One's Own
02. Anyone Can Play
01. Greensleeves

Hi Garwood,
Your first choice on The Persuaders list "persuaded" me to go look up Greensleeves again on You Tube, where the Ned Chil channel furnished a copy with a good visual quality.
It's hard to disagree on your rating this as the best episode, the cast seems quite energized and to be having a lot of fun.
That's Mr. Grainger of "Are You Being Served", actor Arthur Brough, as the butler.
At the 15:05 mark the talent agent reaches into the bimbo secretary's top to get money for Brett's cab fare, it's played for laughs and I did, but nowadays I wonder if they could get away with that.
Very nice camera work at the 10:40 mark with a shot from under the desk.

The Tom Selleck flick "High Road To China"(1983) was originally slated as starring Roger Moore and Bo Derek.
When Moore and Lee Marvin were filming "Shout at the Devil"(1976) they got into a fist fight. Combat veteran and veteran of untold bar fights Marvin got his ass kicked by ex captain of
Intelligence Moore, Lee mistaking Roger for a soft upper class toff. Instead he had crossed sword's with a street copper's son, and as Lee noted, "punching Moore was like hitting granite."