40th Anniversary Watch Party

[308GUY]

Can't say I'm keeping to the schedule....but with Universal's "Action TV" showing 6 episodes every morning.....I do watch at least a couple every day!

Doesn't seem to matter how many times I've seen all of them....never get tired of it and just can't seem to be able to get "enough".

[eagle]

Yeah, same here. I have gone through the entire series several times, and I do get bogged down in certain areas, but I always come back and I always love it, and it still transports me, as I said in thread on that subject.

[ZelenskyTheValiant (Ivan)]

I'm still watching. Is anyone else? Sitting down today to watch season 5 eps 1-3. Echoes of the Mind isn't one of my favorites, but it is fascinating.

Yep! Watched the 2-parter "Echoes of the Mind" which I thought was an excellent little psychological thriller. Sharon Stone really dove into that troubled role and really aced the split personality character of Diane/Deirdre. No doubt that was her biggest and most demanding role at that time in her career.

But then "Mac's Back" didn't do all that much for me. I was surprised to see that some consider it one of the very best of the series. It started out really well with a despondent Mag on the beach drowning his sorrows in beer (a great bit of continuity to what happened with Diane in the previous episode) but then all that is lost when we switch gears to the fake Mac. I was actually pretty curious to see where that might lead but this fake Mac just turns out to be some con man who gets Mag involved in some shady gambling and winning some money back for some service men or something. In other words nothing interesting. Sure, you could say it's poetic justice that now Mag is getting his dues by being conned by this new Mac after having conned the old Mac so many times. But as far as I'm concerned Mac is dead. And this new guy who walks around looking like him is simply not Mac, no matter what you call him. I'm sure I'll see more episodes with this guy so we'll see how it goes. But for now I'm not too impressed. Also I read that the end on the beach where the real Mac lights TM's cigar is one of the best moments of the series and I simply don't see it. I mean it's a fine moment but nothing more than that. We've seen the show flirting with the supernatural from time to time (the end of "The Woman on the Beach" comes to mind) so I don't think it's something extraordinary or groundbreaking. It's a nice little scene that adds some closure between TM and Mac but that's about it. There's certainly many more iconic moments in the series than that one.

[ZelenskyTheValiant (Ivan)]

Also watched "The Legacy of Garwood Huddle" and "Under World".

I enjoyed "Garwood Huddle" because I typically enjoy kidnap/ransom stories, plus anything with Pat Hingle in it always gets an extra bonus point. On top of that you get Cliffie from CHEERS who hangs out with his buddy Norm!! That was a great inside joke, as by this point almost everybody was familiar with Cliff and Norm (CHEERS was in its 3rd season by this point). Yes I did enjoy this episode more than "Mac's Back". Go figure... guess I'm in the minority.

"Under World" was even better! In fact I'm sure it'll end up being one of my top episodes from season 5 (and I only started). It's a great personal story for T.C. and his friends who jump in to help him. The twist with his "brother" I did not see coming! It's just a great mystery with lots of great underwater stuff. Much better than the "underwater" episode from season 2 - "Dead Man's Channel". That one just lacked a compelling story like this one has. Plus we finally get to see a compelling underwater struggle with a baddie who's more or less equal to TM (he's a dude!!) instead of seeing TM struggle with a female university professor underwater.

[eagle]

I finished Under World a couple nights ago and agree with you about it. I really like the episode.

Looks like I need to catch up on 3 episodes now. I'll see if I can watch this weekend.

[ZelenskyTheValiant (Ivan)]

"Fragments" was another pretty good one. Probably the closest to a Halloween episode we ever got. It's similar in some ways to season 2's "The Woman on the Beach" - graveyard, ghostly visions, etc. and even Kenneth Mars was in both!! In "Fragments" he ended up being the baddie, which I kind of guessed he would be by about the middle of the episode - since he was the only other main guest, aside from the main guest Samantha Eggar. But I much more preferred Kenneth Mars in his comedic role of the cemetery caretaker Josef in "Woman on the Beach". He was a hoot in that one with that thick German accent of his!

"Blind Justice" was very good. I always gravitate towards the more serious episodes and this one was just what I needed. Almost as good as "Under World". Plus it was nicely offset by that great subplot of Magnum sputtering about in that classic old Jag. Loved how Mag ended up finagling his way out of the moral and ethical dilemma at the end in the courtroom, by pulling out that tape recorder and then basically letting the slimy attorney erase the rest (which would have exonerated the attorney's client). Sure, it's contrived - I don't think anyone would let him play any of that recording in a real courtroom as it would automatically be seized and not by the opposing lawyer either. But in a "perfect world" it sure was a clever thing that Mag came up with.

"Murder 101" was a fun one. Tom Shadyac as Danny was especially funny as the surfer stoner dude. But all the class members were good. Especially enjoyed Rick and TC being members of the class and ribbing Mag about how cases are "really" solved. Not sure about the title though. It's really not a murder case they're investigating. They're investigating a disappearance. Besides, the class is PI 101 - that's what the episode should have been called. Err... Private Investigation 101.

[ZelenskyTheValiant (Ivan)]

I'm close to finishing season 5 right now and while I will agree that overall it's not as strong as the previous 4 seasons I still see plenty of solid and entertaining episodes. Good mix of the serious and silly episodes, as had been the case from the very beginning. So I honestly don't see a significant drop in quality.

Some of my favorites from season 5:

Echoes of the Mind
Under World
Blind Justice
Compulsion
All for One

I just noticed that all those above are the more serious episodes and I typically do tend to gravitate more towards those as I feel there's more meat on the bones there. But I also really enjoyed the more silly episodes like:

Murder 101
Luther Gillis: File 001
Professor Jonathan Higgins

"Murder 101" was especially enjoyable because Magnum gets to teach a class and take it on a "field trip" - really enjoyed that! And "Professor Jonathan Higgins" was another really fun one because Jillie Mack (Mrs. Selleck) was just great in it (love her Cockney accent) and Higgy's attempts to transform her were really funny! Of course Luther teaming up with Higgy was always bound to be enjoyable - can't go wrong there.

The only real disappointment I guess was "Kiss of the Sabre" - all the more because I'm a big James Bond fan and a clever Bond parody should have made for one of the best episodes. Yet the whole thing just came across so flat and uninspiring. Very by-the-numbers. The digger in the parking lot attacking Mag in his little car should have actually been in the alternate/Bond universe, not in the real world (because it's so ridiculous). The other real surprise for me was all the praising of "Mac's Back". I saw a lot of folks had this as one of the best of the entire series. I think someone even said it was their #1 episode. I think it started well with a brooding Mag trying to get over Diane's suicide but quickly descended into silly comedy with the new Mac/Bonnick character (whom most doesn't care for anyway) so I didn't get all the love for this episode. I'll admit that after a few more of Bonnick's appearances he's kind of grown on me (but that's more due to Jeff Mackay's likeability than anything else) but I still don't understand what makes "Mac's Back" such a loved episode.

[ENSHealy]

Torah, Torah, Torah

Air Date: March 28, 1985
Episode Number: 105
Season Number: 5.21

[eagle]

I'm still following along; looks like ENSHealy is too. Anybody else?

[308GUY]

Yep.....I always liked this episode. Well done on everybody's part that was involved.

[ZelenskyTheValiant (Ivan)]

Still watching along too (see my post above about my thoughts on season 5) with only 2 more to go. Haven't seen "Torah Torah" yet but looking forward to it because I'm a big fan of Nehemiah Persoff, who coincidentally only passed away 3 years ago at the ripe young age of 102!

[ENSHealy]

Couldn't help but think, they should have reworked the plot so that the rabbi was still in the car when it exploded, and then in Season 7, Thomas spots a rabbi that looks just like him with a fake Torah in Waikiki.

I loved France Nuyen in this one. Too bad she wasn't in more episodes. Come to think of it, she would have been great as Snow White role in the pilot.

[Luther's nephew Dobie]

Couldn't help but think, they should have reworked the plot so that the rabbi was still in the car when it exploded, and then in Season 7, Thomas spots a rabbi that looks just like him with a fake Torah in Waikiki.

I loved France Nuyen in this one. Too bad she wasn't in more episodes. Come to think of it, she would have been great as Snow White role in the pilot.

France Nuyen's existentialist personal motto - "I am Chinese. I am a stone. I go where I am kicked."

Robert Culp was married to Nuyen, both of their IQ's off the charts.
He wistfully recalled their marriage as an intellectual/sexual chess match played on a multidimensional level.
A union of two souls that left both blissfully shattered, he felt had to leave her before their "game" destroyed them both.
Wow, where do I go to find a girl like her?
Culp also said a lesser intellect trying to hook up with her would quickly wind up as her pet!
I always thought that was a great line, not surprising as Culp was an excellent writer. That's one of the reasons his guest starring stints on series like Columbo or The Name of the Game
were always memorable, he was a deft hand at rewriting scripts and would politely show his "suggestions" to the producers. Which were usually accepted as he was good, the
6 best scripts - including the 2nd pilot - for I Spy were penned by him.

[Pahonu]

Couldn't help but think, they should have reworked the plot so that the rabbi was still in the car when it exploded, and then in Season 7, Thomas spots a rabbi that looks just like him with a fake Torah in Waikiki.

I loved France Nuyen in this one. Too bad she wasn't in more episodes. Come to think of it, she would have been great as Snow White role in the pilot.

France Nuyen's existentialist personal motto - "I am Chinese. I am a stone. I go where I am kicked."

Robert Culp was married to Nuyen, both of their IQ's off the charts.
He wistfully recalled their marriage as an intellectual/sexual chess match played on a multidimensional level.
A union of two souls that left both blissfully shattered, he felt had to leave her before their "game" destroyed them both.
Wow, where do I go to find a girl like her?
Culp also said a lesser intellect trying to hook up with her would quickly wind up as her pet!
I always thought that was a great line, not surprising as Culp was an excellent writer. That's one of the reasons his guest starring stints on series like Columbo or The Name of the Game
were always memorable, he was a deft hand at rewriting scripts and would politely show his "suggestions" to the producers. Which were usually accepted as he was good, the
6 best scripts - including the 2nd pilot - for I Spy were penned by him.

She had a whole second career here in the LA area, as a clinical psychologist.

[Luther's nephew Dobie]

Couldn't help but think, they should have reworked the plot so that the rabbi was still in the car when it exploded, and then in Season 7, Thomas spots a rabbi that looks just like him with a fake Torah in Waikiki.

I loved France Nuyen in this one. Too bad she wasn't in more episodes. Come to think of it, she would have been great as Snow White role in the pilot.

France Nuyen's existentialist personal motto - "I am Chinese. I am a stone. I go where I am kicked."

Robert Culp was married to Nuyen, both of their IQ's off the charts.
He wistfully recalled their marriage as an intellectual/sexual chess match played on a multidimensional level.
A union of two souls that left both blissfully shattered, he felt had to leave her before their "game" destroyed them both.
Wow, where do I go to find a girl like her?
Culp also said a lesser intellect trying to hook up with her would quickly wind up as her pet!
I always thought that was a great line, not surprising as Culp was an excellent writer. That's one of the reasons his guest starring stints on series like Columbo or The Name of the Game
were always memorable, he was a deft hand at rewriting scripts and would politely show his "suggestions" to the producers. Which were usually accepted as he was good, the
6 best scripts - including the 2nd pilot - for I Spy were penned by him.

She had a whole second career here in the LA area, as a clinical psychologist.

I just looked her up. As you noted, a clinical psychologist, acclaimed for helping abused women and children and receiving awards for same. She's led an interesting life,
the daughter of a French gypsy and a Vietnamese national of Chinese heritage.