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Submitted by: John Chergi
From: Pittsburgh PA
I think Columbo is outstanding. Can't think of a bad episode. The episodes Columbo travels to London and Mexico are 2 of the best I've ever seen. Negative Reaction, A Salute To The Commodore, Dead Weight, etc. Many Classics. The Wednesday movie rotation was intelligent. It allowed the shows more time to direct and write the episodes. Maybe if Columbo was say 20 or 24 episodes a season...It wouldn't have been as exemplary. Columbo would be somewhere Top 5 FAV shows. 1.Classic Hawaii Five-O and 2.Unsolved Mysteries entrenched in the 1st 2 spots although Forensic Files is first rate. JC
Added: November 30 2017 04:34:51 PM
Submitted by: ringfire211
From: Philadelphia
Wow @ that COLUMBO site! Those episode reviews are huuuuuuge! It would take forever for me to read through all those. I was always a fan of the Ultimate Lieutenant COLUMBO site: http://bit.ly/2hJ3B2i. I think it was the first COLUMBO site I stumbled onto a long time ago.
Added: November 30 2017 01:24:51 PM
Submitted by: Mr. Mike
From: Vancouver
If you want to see a site about Columbo, then check this one out (I'm sure there are more)...
https://columbophile.wordpress.com/
Added: November 29 2017 10:02:41 PM
Submitted by: Jason C.
From: La Verne, CA
The episodes that featured Mike Stone chasing down younger criminals were very funny to watch. I know Mike hasn't seen Barnaby Jones but if he had I know he would also have been amused by the 1975 episode "The Price of Terror" where Barnaby finds himself in a confrontation with a karate expert in the shows final act!
I did enjoy the 1970s Columbo episodes. The ones from 1989-2003 clearly were not as good. Some of them weren't too bad but others did not even come close to the quality of the 1970s episodes.
Added: November 29 2017 02:05:36 PM
Submitted by: ringfire211
From: Philadelphia
I definitely disagree with that post-season 5 comment about COLUMBO. It’s true that season 6 only had 3 episodes (not sure why) but 2 of those 3 were very good - the one with William Shatner and the one with Theodore Bikel. As for season 7 it has probably my personal favorite episode (and I know it’s a fan favorite) - the one with Nicol Williamson playing the psychologist who conditions his 2 Dobermans (Laurel and Hardy) to kill when the phone rings and when the word “rosebud” (from his favorite movie CITIZEN KANE) is said. “How to Dial a Murder” is the episode name. It’s superb!! There’s also another excellent one that season with the wonderful Ruth Gordon.
So I thought seasons 1-7 were all excellent and I’ve never heard anything negative about these later seasons. I also didn’t notice any changes in Falk’s performance towards the end. If anything I thought he got stronger with each season. Seasons 1-7 was “classic COLUMBO”. Now, when he returned 10 years later for more episodes in the 80s and 90s that’s a whole different story. I’m sure there are fans of those episodes too but the general consensus is that they weren’t as good as the 70s “classic” ones. I can’t really comment on those as I haven’t really seen them, outside of a few minutes here and there.
Added: November 29 2017 10:38:53 AM
Submitted by: Mr. Mike
From: Vancouver
This is another show where Stone running after some suspects really makes me laugh:
http://www.thestreetsofsanfrancisco.info/sosf-3.htm#13
Added: November 28 2017 08:41:46 PM
Submitted by: Mr. Mike
From: Vancouver
Here is a discussion that all Columbo shows were not wonderful (click on the link).
I would never do The Fugitive; I'm sure there are lots of WWW sites already discussing those shows. That is one thing I looked for when I did the last few episode guides. I couldn't find any other sites for Kojak or Peter Gunn. There is one for the Mission Impossible reboot, but it is buried in a blog. I'm not sure about The Invaders.
One show I was interested in doing was Secret Agent a.k.a. Danger Man. However, there are sites devoted to this based in England where the show was made, so the people doing those sites would have a lot more access to things like locations and production information that I could get. I actually bought the entire series of this show on A&E DVDs when it was originally released because I remembered one very cool episode where Patrick McGoohan figures out this guy's phone number by wiretapping the sound of someone using a rotary dial phone which would make click-click noises for each number. I had a good laugh, after buying multiple box sets of this show, it was almost the LAST episode! I also bought the 1/2 hour Danger Man shows from England. The production order of these on the DVDs is kind of screwy.
Added: November 28 2017 08:30:54 PM
Submitted by: ringfire211
From: Philadelphia
Jason C., you must be gobsmacked by Mike’s comment that he hates COLUMBO 
I know I was when I first discovered this a while back 
I’ve never met anyone who had anything negative to say about the show. Being the big fan of 70s crime shows that Mike is I would have thought this would be right at the top of his list. Even if it was the same formula from week to week surely Mr. Mike could appreciate the brilliant writing and the superb performance of Peter Falk, one of the greatest performances in the history of television. For me in the 70s there was Jack Lord and Peter Falk. Everyone else was a distant second. Falk was just superb!! I think Mike found him annoying which I simply can’t understand because his performance was soooo good. It was a treat to watch Falk do his schtick! Never got old. At least not to me. I mean I like SOSF but Karl Malden is like amateur hour when compared to Falk.
I guess at the end of the day it’s different strokes for different folks. But I can’t disagree strongly enough with Mike on that one. The show was very original, at a time when they had all those assembly line shows being churned out like IRONSIDE and BARNABY JONES and CANNON and POLICE WOMAN and THE ROOKIES. All those shows were pretty much interchangeable and some of those leads (like Raymond Burr) could really put you to sleep with their dullness. I mean how many people can you meet on the street who remember IRONSIDE or BARNABY? But everyone knows COLUMBO.
Added: November 28 2017 07:50:25 PM
Submitted by: Jason C.
From: La Verne, CA
I agree with John that Cannon would be another good series to review. Another show I forgot to mention in my earlier post was The Fugitive. There have been a few books written about that show but it would be fun to see Mike's star ratings applied to that great show.
I see the point on Stone's behavior in The 30 Year Pin. I also thought it was a bit of a stretch in how they had Stone engaging in a REALLY long foot chase at the end of that show! That reminded me of some of the laughable foot chase sequences they had Barnaby Jones go on!
Added: November 28 2017 08:34:05 AM
Submitted by: John Chergi
From: Pittsburgh PA
I would suggest Cannon as a Anal-ysis. Excellent scripts and writing and 5 years. Cannon is an amazing character. Not much to quibble with on the ratings. I'd give Most Likely To Succeed and Police Buff 4 stars and Judgment Day 3 1/2 stars. The Michael Burns character in Judgment Day a FAV. Season 5 Streets SF definitely deserves more respect. I'm glad Mr. Mike you showed this respect in your ratings. JC
Added: November 28 2017 03:12:07 AM
Submitted by: Mr. Mike
From: Vancouver
The 30 Year Pin is potentially a 4 star episode, but I agree with some guy at IMDb who says that in this show, Stone is totally off the rails, and this is really not a good introduction to the series, being the first episode. The Takers is definitely 4 stars.
As far as other productions to review, I'm afraid SOSF will be the last one. (Some guy I know suggested I review M*A*S*H!!!) Of the ones you mention...
Columbo -- I hate this show because of Columbo's shtick and the repeated formula
Barnaby Jones -- never seen a single episode, the complete series takes 45 DVDs
Murder She Wrote -- another one I have never seen, no interest in it
NYPD Blue -- 261 episodes, almost as much as Five-O, no thanks (never seen that one either)
I will probably be spending some time redoing some Five-O reviews, actually, since many of the ones on my site now are from my original viewings of them (dating back to 1994/5) and have never been updated. If I get bored, I have Ironside to watch, though I am not too crazy about that show either.
Added: November 27 2017 06:43:52 PM
Submitted by: Jason C.
From: La Verne, CA
Thanks for reviewing those SOSF season 5 shows. I agree that Hang Tough and A Good Cop...But were good shows and deserved the ratings they got.
I've always looked forward to seeing the star ratings that Mike gives. I definitely look forward to seeing the star ratings for the season 1 shows someday. Off the top of my head The 30 Year Pin and The Takers would be candidates for a 4 star rating.
For fun, if I could pick other favorite crime shows to see Mike review, mine would be: Columbo, Barnaby Jones, Murder She Wrote and NYPD Blue. Curious to see what others on this board would like to see Mike review.
Added: November 27 2017 11:54:20 AM
Submitted by: Mr. Mike
From: Vancouver
Fifth season episodes are now finished.
http://thestreetsofsanfrancisco.info/sosf-5.htm
Added: November 26 2017 04:54:55 PM
Submitted by: Mr. Mike
From: Vancouver
Streets of San Francisco season 4 episode reviews, now finished!
http://www.thestreetsofsanfrancisco.info/sosf-4.htm
#SOSF #StreetsOfSanFrancisco
Added: November 24 2017 03:02:31 PM
Submitted by: ringfire211
From: Philadelphia
I can’t say I’m a fan of “The Thrill Killers”. For a really outstanding episode about young radicals look no further than “Flags of Terror”. That’s how you do this type of story right. I think dragging it out over a 2-episode arc also didn’t help matters. I guess they figured this is an **IMPORTANT EPISODE** because Douglas passes the torch over to Hatch. But the story about the radicals just didn’t seem strong enough to warrant those 2 hours. Also that lengthy guest lists of “all-stars” seemed too tacky and distracting. It reminded me of MURDER, SHE WROTE where a typical episode had a lengthy guest list of who’s-who past and present. Arthur Hill, Claude Akins, James MacArthur, Jane Wyman, Dirk Benedict, Tom Bosley, William Windom, Anne Francis, Dean Stockwell, Rory Calhoun. Something like that. It seemed more like a celebrity game show than a traditional crime/mystery show. I’d rather see Carl Franklin and Katherine Cannon as the villains rather than it feeling like big name stunt-casting with Susan Dey and Patty Duke. I mean when you have the great Bond villain Dr. No (Joseph Wiseman) in a small throwaway part as one of the jurors (did he even have any dialogue?) then you know they’re going overboard with the big name casting.
Added: November 24 2017 12:25:48 PM
Submitted by: John Chergi
From: Pittsburgh PA
Mr. Mike
I think Streets of SF Season 5 is better than what people remember. Some interesting and well-written episodes. I don't think Richard Hatch was Burt Lancaster or Cary Grant. That's for sure. He was competent as Dan Robbins. Nobody could replace the chemistry and rapport Keller & Stone had established the 1st 4 seasons. It would have been interesting to see Robbins in Season 6,7, or 8. Obviously, he can only be critiqued in Season 5. Douglas was a better actor than Hatch from watching the episodes. That can be established. I think the question is...Were the Season 5 Streets of SF episodes of the same quality acting and writing as Seasons 1-4? I would say YES! Hot Dog, Monkey Is Back, The Thrill Killers are 3 I would say are as good or better than some of the 1-4 episodes. JC
Added: November 24 2017 03:02:10 AM
Submitted by: Mr. Mike
From: Vancouver
John, I disagree that Hatch is OK in season five, as you can see by the reviews which I have already done.
Perhaps his worst acting (I haven't seen all the shows yet) is in "Let's Pretend We're Strangers," where there is one scene which is so bad that it is embarrassing.
There seems to be some suggestion in comments here that I have been too hard on Hatch, maybe because he died recently. I have not exactly killed myself to follow Hatch's career, I will admit.
He was in three Five-O episodes, where his acting was of variable quality: The Child Stealers (good), A Study in Rage (bad) and The Waterfront Steal (meh).
I recently watched about the first 45 minutes of the original Battlestar Galactica, which most of Hatch's fans remember fondly. Aside from the special effects in this show, which were laughably bad, the script with the characters using modern dialogue like "Gee whiz," "Gosh," and so forth (not these exact words, but you know what I mean) was stupid. (I will make an effort to watch more of this show later). Hatch appeared in the remake of Battlestar Galactica as a slimy politician, and he was REALLY good in that role.
After watching most of the season five SOSF shows, I will admit that many of the scripts are not that bad (and I have not yet watched some which are "highly regarded" or "memorable." It's just that you have to sort of filter Hatch out, which is not that hard, because his character's contributions to the stories are generally pretty uninvolving.
Hatch himself in an interview said words to the effect that it took him about seven episodes to get his groove on, because he felt intimidated at following Douglas and also acting with Malden, who was an iconic actor because of his roles in films like Streetcar Named Desire, On The Waterfront, Patton, One-Eyed Jacks, How The West Was Won, etc., etc.
Unfortunately, I can't find any reference to the production order of SOSF shows, which might shed some clues on why Hatch was good or bad in a specific episode.
Added: November 23 2017 09:09:58 AM
Submitted by: John Chergi
From: Pittsburgh PA
I agree with Jason C. about Season 5 Streets of San Francisco. It is a very good Season and Dead or Alive, Hot Dog, Monkey Is Back, and The Thrill Killers etc. demonstrates this. It's only a guess but if Streets of San Francisco extended to 7 maybe 8 seasons it would be seen more favorably. Because it finished at Season 5, it appears to be "tacked" on. No doubt Michael Douglas leaving hurt the ratings. Hatch (Robbins) was a good or solid complement to Stone. He's this young health nut and into physical fitness and eating right. A good contrast to the veteran Stone who works the streets and focused on getting the perpetrators. Happy Thanksgiving to Classic HFO regulars, fans of Streets of SF, and forum visitors. JC
Added: November 23 2017 02:01:41 AM
Submitted by: Mr. Mike
From: Vancouver
This is a good point, George; I have added your comment to the Trivia Section of the review...
Added: November 22 2017 03:56:01 PM
Submitted by: George
From: California
Hi, this is in reference to S05E11: One Last Trick. The comment by Stone about Carol never worked the streets a day in her life, was not a goof. It means that she had been the high class type, not on the streets, and or that Stone could see that she wasn't experienced, based on that $10 incident, etc.
However, much of the show certainly wasn't well written.
I have not been able to enjoy too much of season 5.
Added: November 21 2017 08:56:33 PM
Submitted by: Jason C.
From: La Verne, CA
Great to see "Monkey Is Back" got 3.5 stars, it was a very good show. Time Out deserved the good rating it got also. Looking forward to seeing how Mr. Mike likes "Hot Dog". I'm guessing at least 3 or 3.5 stars for that show.
I'm glad to see many good star ratings on the 5th season SOSF shows. I think that proves it was no where near as bad as many people have said it was over the years. I agree with Mike that the Robbins character was quite wooden and dull at times but that didn't necessarily mean the whole season was the turkey many claim it is.
As far as the differences in the theme go, I didn't notice a big difference between seasons 1 and 2 but there was a difference with the season 3 theme and again with season 4. Season 5 of course had the most noticeable change.
Added: November 20 2017 11:36:38 AM
Submitted by: ringfire211
From: Philadelphia
Ok, I think I hear maybe a very small difference in the season 3 theme and maybe the season 4 theme is just a little more sped up compared to the first 3 but I think seasons 1 and 2 sound almost the same.
Added: November 19 2017 06:35:28 PM
Submitted by: Mr. Mike
From: Vancouver
Try listening to the themes when they are all in one place:
http://www.thestreetsofsanfrancisco.info/themes.htm
There are differences in the sound as well...
Added: November 19 2017 09:57:08 AM
Submitted by: ringfire211
From: Philadelphia
The 4 seasons theme sounded the same to me. I didn’t like the 5th season theme. As I mentioned before they took out that cool drum beat sound that gave it that extra oomph. The result is kinda bland and “light” sounding.
Added: November 17 2017 12:31:39 PM
Submitted by: Mr. Mike
From: Vancouver
Ringfire, I was under the impression there were some differences (however minute) in the different theme songs. I think I noticed something like this while I was watching the different seasons. But maybe not! I know the fifth season is much different, especially the first and second episodes where they had to extend the theme because of the lengthy list of guest stars.
There were differences in the Five-O main title music between seasons because of some union rules which said that they had to re-record cues which had been used before, as I recall. BUT ... on the DVDs, they cheated by just using the titles from the previous season in a few cases. See http://www.fiveohomepage.com/music
Added: November 17 2017 10:58:26 AM
Submitted by: John Chergi
From: Pittsburgh PA
I want to thank some of the forum regulars for talking up Most Likely To Succeed Streets of SF. What a brilliant episode!!! It's 1 of the few I missed over the years. I love that family. There's no real mistakes in the episode. Pretty much a masterpiece. It's strange though they had such a close family but allowing him to go to Harvard a long distance away. He could have went to Cal or Stanford. Plenty of good colleges and universities in California. Wonder how the case shook out. I would have pleaded temporary insanity or something like that. JC
Added: November 17 2017 09:39:04 AM
Submitted by: ringfire211
From: Philadelphia
Are there any differences from season to season in the theme music? I thought only season 5 was different.
Added: November 16 2017 12:15:27 PM
Submitted by: Fred
From: Chatsworth
Are you referring to the theme music clips? Those are great. SoSF's theme music is excellent.
Added: November 16 2017 09:09:49 AM
Submitted by: Mr. Mike
From: Vancouver
To me, "decent" ("of an acceptable standard; satisfactory") means a show which has at least 3 stars. For SOSF's fifth season, that means something...
I think you have missed what I am referring to at the top of each page. Maybe try refreshing your browser if you are not seeing it...
Added: November 16 2017 08:35:27 AM
Submitted by: Fred
From: Chatsworth
Actually Mr. Mike, I gave a long list of "decent" episodes. I would say Hot Dog is the best of the season, but Monkey is Back is a close second. The other episodes I'd classify as great are Time Out and A Good Cop...But.
Added: November 15 2017 05:47:36 PM
Submitted by: Mr. Mike
From: Vancouver
Sheesh, Fred, you have listed several episodes which are "great" there which fall into the category of "those I haven't seen yet" ... I will get to them eventually. The number of reviews in Season 5 is growing. And I have added something interesting at the top of each page under the Season Index...
Added: November 15 2017 04:18:25 PM
Submitted by: Fred
From: Chatsworth
I agree with Jason and Ringfire. From Season 5, Monkey is Back and Hot Dog can be put up with the best from any from the previous 4 seasons. And there are many other decent episodes as well. Among them, Dead or Alive, In Case of Madness, The Cannibals, A Good Cop...But (tackling homophobia ahead of its time), Hang Tough (Ned Beatty is excellent), Interlude (Lois Nettleton fan here), Break Up (Sharon Acker big time fan here), Let's Pretend We're Strangers.
Time Out with one time Five-O guest Cliff Gorman is also one of the best of the season. Lastly, I can't leave out Arnold's Dead Lift. His acting is pretty bad, but it's a pretty good show. I do have an issue of people laughing at his physique. I don't get why they thought it was funny. But they needed that to get Arnold pissed.
I was a big Battlestar Galactica fan. I liked Richard Hatch a lot. Dirk Benedict too. They had good chemistry. But I was a late teen at the time and looking back, I think Hatch's acting is mediocre at best. He was probably not the best pick to replace Douglas. But as was already said, it would be near impossible to replace the Malden/Douglas chemistry. They were fantastic together. A great compliment of older and younger generations.
But I'll agree with Jason and Ringfire in saying that Season 5 SoSf is pretty good. The worse of the bunch, but far surpassing the demise of the original 5-O. On the other hand Season 5 of Five-O was great as were the next several seasons.
Regarding all the "5 year" series. I think that was the length of the standard contract back then. Just like 7 is today. I hate to admit it, but I just watched "Growing Up Brady". A 2000 television movie about the Brady Bunch (also a 5 year run). It's mentioned in that movie that all the actors had 5 year contracts. I'm using that for rationale.
Added: November 14 2017 11:43:56 AM
Submitted by: ringfire211
From: Philadelphia
John D. F. Black, who wrote “Till Death Do Us Part”, wrote some superb Five-O episodes. He’s my favorite Five-O scribe. Also I see Anthony Lawrence on that list - he wrote the Pernell Roberts episode “Breakup” which is definitely among the best episodes of the final season. He wrote some excellent Five-O’s as well.
Added: November 14 2017 10:20:58 AM
Submitted by: Mr. Mike
From: Vancouver
http://thestreetsofsanfrancisco.info/season5.htm
I did this anal-ysis of the writers of the last season of SOSF to try and figure out if the reason that it was so bad was because like with Five-O's last season they brought in a bunch of writers (and other production people) that had little to do with the previous seasons and who really didn't know what was going on as far as the show was concerned.
I don't know if you can say the same thing about SOSF's final season based on this analysis.
That said, I really don't think I am going to overcome my antipathy to Richard Hatch's presence in the final season. The guy is a really boring and mediocre actor -- at least on this show.
Compare him to William Smith on Five-O. At least with Smith you can totally dislike the guy and be constantly complaining "why is this guy anywhere near Hawaii"!!
Added: November 14 2017 08:57:45 AM
Submitted by: John Chergi
From: Pittsburgh PA
Mr. Mike
Thanks for reviewing some Season 4 and 5 Episodes Streets SF. I think Judgment Day Season 4 is 1 of my FAV episodes Streets SF or Hawaii Five O. Michael Burns is an outstanding actor and he was fantastic as the vengeful killer Barry Jensen. Love when he leaves the book behind. It was a shame when the female Judge Lela buzzed for help and no security arrived. The father of Jensen, Elliott, whose life was destroyed when he was disbarred, made this an excellent episode. He lived in poverty and later died. The shooting at the courthouse and the Law Library chase were memorable scenes. I would give Judgment Day 4 stars. The Thrill Killers and Dead Or Alive stand out in your recent reviews. On The Thrill Killers:Keller shouldn't have blamed himself. It was dark and the young woman didn't look like a criminal. I'll never forget Stone's reaction when he learned Keller was shot in the heart. It was realistic the entire episode from the stealing and kidnapping of the jury to the suspense of whether the jury would live or perish. Dead Or Alive has always been a favorite of mine. The father's million dollar Dead or Alive reward to find the perpetrator was inventive. I enjoyed the episode cause it started to snowball. Citizens were looking for Max Gail's character and wanted that big reward. Some became victims themselves. I will agree with you Mr. Mike about the clown episode. No way somebody with the new clown makeup could go unnoticed in the tight knit clown community. JC
Added: November 11 2017 05:57:51 PM
Submitted by: Mr. Mike
From: Vancouver
Jason, I have put ratings on those season three shows, but it's not like I watched the shows again, I just shuffled stuff around. 
I might watch the shows again later.
Added: November 09 2017 06:16:34 PM
Submitted by: John Chergi
From: Pittsburgh PA
Agree with Jason. I thought the Richard Hatch Season 5 Streets SF episodes were good. Wished they had more seasons. Monkey Is Back is good as any Classic HFO and the Hot Dog with a young Don Johnson was a great episode. There would have been blowback whoever replaced Michael Douglas. Keller was a popular and well-written character. The ladies liked Michael Douglas too. He appealed to both men and women. I've heard the ratings for Streets Of SF were lower but I wish it had 8 seasons. Cannon had 5 seasons and Kojak too. 5 MUST BE magic number for crime shows. JC
Added: November 09 2017 05:32:13 PM
Submitted by: Jason C.
From: La Verne, CA
Glad to see you are working on the season 5 shows from SOSF. For me Hot Dog, Monkey Is Back and Time Out were my favorite from that season.
I thought Stone and Keller had a chemistry that I didn't see with Stone and Robbins. I've read many opinions over the years where many panned the 5th year of the SOSF. I didn't think it was that bad at all - I found it to be better than Hawaii Five-Os final 3 seasons were.
Hope that Mike is able to put a star rating on the seven episodes from season 3 that aren't rated yet. One Last Shot and Flags of Terror should get pretty high ratings, those were two really good shows.
Added: November 09 2017 04:27:38 PM
Submitted by: ringfire211
From: Philadelphia
“The Drop” is my favorite season 5 episode. I love kidnap/ransom stories.
Added: November 08 2017 08:18:06 PM
Submitted by: Mr. Mike
From: Vancouver
I have finally ventured into season five of SOSF. Richard Hatch said in an interview that it took him about seven episodes to "get into the groove" or words to that effect. Well, I am waiting. So far he is dull as dishwater. I would certain like to see some discussion as to why Hatch is so bad and Michael Douglas was so good. But I'm sure there will be postings along the lines of "don't speak ill of the dead." That's not going to stop me. I really had to bite my tongue when Maurice Jarre died, and his passing didn't make me change my tune that his scores were some of the biggest obscenities in human history!
http://www.thestreetsofsanfrancisco.info/sosf-5.htm
I just watched the episode with Marcia Brady as a hooker, by the way ... that was pretty rank. James Olson plays the same kind of character he did in season one!
Added: November 08 2017 09:34:17 AM
Submitted by: Mr. Mike
From: Vancouver
Another obscure show makes it to DVD, may be of interest...
http://tvshowsondvd.com/news/Immortal-Complete-Collection/23 760
Added: November 08 2017 09:28:46 AM
Submitted by: Mr. Mike
From: Vancouver
I have just done the review for the circus episode, Clown of Death (S04E20):
http://www.thestreetsofsanfrancisco.info/sosf-4.htm#20
Added: November 03 2017 03:21:21 PM
Submitted by: ringfire211
From: Philadelphia
I see you gave high marks to “Most Likely to Succeed” which is one of my favorites. Probably my favorite from season 4.
Added: November 03 2017 08:29:37 AM
Submitted by: Mr. Mike
From: Vancouver
I have reviewed a couple of SOSF episodes in the last while, you know where to find them.
In addition to the "spooks" episode, which I thought almost incomprehensible, I also watched the one starring Robert Drivas (the son from Vashon), which also got to the point where "you can't tell the characters without a score card."
Both of these shows will require further viewing.
Yesterday I watched the circus-related episode. Aside from being able to take advantage of building a show around an actual circus which was in San Francisco at the time, I think this show appealed to Karl Malden who, like his character on the show, always had dreams of being a circus clown.
The script for this show is pretty crappy. There is a big reveal at the end (spoilers, obviously) that the clown who knocks off three circus people (current and former) is the daughter of this guy who became crippled during an accident which she figures these people were responsible for. This woman is not normally a clown, she is connected with the equestrian part of the circus show.
This doesn't make any sense, because circus people are very close-knit and there is no way that a clown who suddenly appeared out of nowhere could knock off someone during a performance without the other half-dozen or so regular clowns (and other personnel) not scratching their heads as to why this "new" clown was there in the first place!
Added: November 03 2017 07:53:54 AM
Submitted by: Mr. Mike
From: Vancouver
I have been watching Longmire, a contemporary "western" set in Wyoming. I binge-watched the first five seasons already (there are only 10 or so shows in each season). What is funny, the lead actor is an Australian like Alex O, some guy who is in his mid-50s named Robert Taylor (same name as the famous American actor of the 1930s-1960s in movies and TV shows).
This show is like Five-Zero in the sense that like Hawaii, which you would expect to be a "nice place," you would think Wyoming is kind of nice and ecological, but boring. However, on the show it is a cesspool of vice and corruption, with lots of issues relating to Native Americans, as well as prostitution, drugs, wife-beaters, veterans with PTSD, the Irish Mafia (seriously), money laundering, etc., etc. In other words, more than enough crime to keep the show going for 5 years (the upcoming season, which will be all released on one day by Netflix this month, will reportedly be the last).
Longmire is the sheriff of some small Wyoming town, and has serious issues because his late wife was dying of cancer but was murdered. There are lots of relationship problems with not only him as he tries to adjust to life without her, but also the people who work for him. Longmire is going crazy because he thinks people are out to get him, his daughter ends up working for the local casino, run by guys who he despises, etc., etc.
I thought the first season had a few Five-Zero-like episodes which were kind of crappy, but the show got better as it went along, and there is a real "holy fucking shit" episode in the 4th season...
Added: November 03 2017 07:27:41 AM
Submitted by: Mr. Mike
From: Vancouver
I have been watching Longmire, a contemporary "western" set in Wyoming. I binge-watched the first five seasons already (there are only 10 or so shows in each season). What is funny, the lead actor is an Australian like Alex O, some guy who is in his mid-50s named Robert Taylor (same name as the famous American actor of the 1930s-1960s in movies and TV shows).
This show is like Five-Zero in the sense that like Hawaii, which you would expect to be a "nice place," you would think Wyoming is kind of nice and ecological, but boring. However, on the show it is a cesspool of vice and corruption, with lots of issues relating to Native Americans, as well as prostitution, drugs, wife-beaters, veterans with PTSD, the Irish Mafia (seriously), money laundering, etc., etc. In other words, more than enough crime to keep the show going for 5 years (the upcoming season, which will be all released on one day by Netflix this month, will reportedly be the last).
Longmire is the sheriff of some small Wyoming town, and has serious issues because his late wife was dying of cancer but was murdered. There are lots of relationship problems with not only him as he tries to adjust to life without her, but also the people who work for him. Longmire is going crazy because he thinks people are out to get him, his daughter ends up working for the local casino, run by guys who he despises, etc., etc.
I thought the first season had a few Five-Zero-like episodes which were kind of crappy, but the show got better as it went along, and there is a real "holy fucking shit" episode in the 4th season...
Added: November 03 2017 07:27:41 AM
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