(Credit: Amazon.com)
Created by
Robert Butler
Michael Gleason
Cast:
Stephanie Zimbalist …. Laura Holt
Pierce Brosnan …. Remington Steele
Doris Roberts .
You know, if any series were a prime candidate for a relaunch, it might be Remington Steele. These adventures of Private Detectives Remington Steele (Pierce Brosnan) and Laura Holt (Stephanie Zimbalist) are funny, charming, romantic, and surprisingly well written for the time period. They’re not quite as campy as other shows of the era, which is both a good and bad thing, but there’s no denying the appeal of Pierce Brosnan’s Steele. He was so charming on the show, that the series eventually landed him one of the most coveted roles in all of film making; James Bond. In fact, the two seasons in this box set are controversial because of the Bond franchise.
This DVD set encompasses the last 28 episodes of the series. After the show’s fourth season, ending with the episode Bonds of Steele, the show was about to be cancelled. While the show’s fanbase was pretty fanatical, ratings were not really that high. Thing is, the summer after the show, Pierce Brosnan became the leading candidate to become the next James Bond. With this news, the show’s rating went through the roof during summer reruns, and NBC decided to pick up the show for a sixth season. Brosnan begrudgingly had to agree to come back due to the show due to contractual obligations, which cost him the Bond gig and actually cost Stephanie Zimbalist a role in Robocop. Hence, we got Timothy Dalton as Bond. All thanks to NBC. After six episodes, the show was finally able to ride off into the sunset, and Brosnan had to wait for Goldeneye until he took up the 007 mantel.
For what’s here, this show is pretty entertaining. None of these episodes here really take themselves too seriously, which is a good thing, and you can tell all involved are just having fun, which translates very well towards the audience. What surprised me is just how well the show was actually written.
Take for instance the episode Grappling Steele in which a professional wrestler named Crunch Kramer (Gary Kasper) is receiving death threats. What I loved is how the show was able to throw a flock of red hearings at you, all with legitimate motives. This made the episode nearly impossible to figure out, and at the same time you get a fun look at a goofy 80’s professional wrestling circuit. Along the way, the leads get to dress up in funny disguises to go incognito while investigating the crime. The episode is typical of the enjoyable fun to be had with this show.
The episodes also have a decent amount of cameos. For Star Wars and Indiana Jones geeks, it’s great to see Julian Glover in the installment Steele Searching. He played General Veers in The Empire Strikes Back and Walter Donovan in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. I kept waiting for him to mention that Germany had declared war on Remington Steele, but it never happened. Louie Anderson shows up in Steele Spawning and is actually pretty funny, especially in a scene where he’s posing as a cop with a short temper. My favorite cameo of these episodes is from Efrem Zimbalist Jr., who is actually Stephanie Zimbalist’s father. I was wondering where I’d seen the actor before and just couldn’t place him until I found out it was his voice that I really recognized. The actor portrays Alfred on Batman: The Animated Series, which he is consistently awesome at. Here he has a great role as a mentor to Brosnan’s Steele, who has a deep secret about his protégé’s past. This is a terrific part that is really crucial to these episodes.
Like I said before, Remington Steele could be a great candidate for a relaunch. Heck even Brosnan’s available now. The show has a breezy charm and is really easy to watch, which is saying a lot compared to many of the shows of the era. Brosnan and Zimbalist have a wonderful chemistry together and keep things going with just a hint of sexual tension, but not enough to be overbearing. I also have to mention Doris Roberts’ Mildred Krebs who is another great character for the actress. Her comedic talents fit like a glove with this series and she makes a great sidekick for the leading duo. These last two seasons of the show are as entertaining as any the show produced during its run. The show was never groundbreaking, but then it was never trying to be.
Score: 7.0
The Video
For a show that went off the air almost 20 years ago, this looks pretty good. There’s a little degradation, but for the most part, this looks as good as its original broadcast. The film is presented in Fullscreen with an aspect ratio of 1.33:1.
The Audio
The audio is also good. There are no problems that I could tell and the balance was always good. The show is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1 and is quite nice.
SPECIAL FEATURES: Commentaries, Featurettes.
Audio Commentaries by Co-Creator Michael Gleason and Show writers John Sakmar, Kerry Lenhart, John Wirth, Brad Kern and Jeff Melvoin – You get several commentary tracks on this set and they’re all entertaining. John Sakmar and Kerry Lenhart have their track on the episode Steele on the Air and are all on together for several others on the set. These tracks are very jovial and entertaining to listen to as well as being really informative.
Steele Fanatics – I will say first off how I hate how these Featurettes are marked on the DVD menus. That is to say, they’re not marked. They look as if they’re just another episode on the menu, which is annoying if you are specifically looking for them. You get no help from the packaging either as it doesn’t mention which disc or side of the disc the Featurettes appear on. At any rate, this Featurette runs about 10 minutes and it’s got some nice little tidbits about some of the most rabid fans of the series. Best anecdote goes to Doris Roberts who says that she was talking to a foreign official who didn’t quite recognize her until she revealed she was on the show.
Steele Stars – This is a look at the many guest stars that were on the show. This has interviews with many of the writers and stars. It runs about 7 minutes.
Steele on the Road – This begins with a reporter from the L.A. Times, who confesses that she moved to L. A. from back east because of her love of this show. This again goes about 7 minutes and covers many of the location shoots that had to be done for the series.
Steele Farewell – This is the last one and it’s kind of touching. You can tell all involved loved the show and even Brosnan comes back for a little goodbye.
Score: 7.0
| InsidePulse’s Ratings for Remington Steele: Seasons 4 and 5 | |
