Season Three: Scarecrow Has It Bad

[David T. Cole]

Your S3 topic.

[Mama No Life]

Love season 3....the tide has definitely turned and it's Scarecrow who has it bad for Mrs. K.  Utopia Now, All the World's a Stage.....ah!

[Bastet]

It's interesting ... season three was always one of my favorites, but when I recently tried to marathon it after finally buying the DVDs, I found myself bored with it.  I think I was just in a mood, but the things that always bugged me about the show seemed so very present this time around.  I'll have to try again.

 

I did enjoy Utopia Now as always, though.

[GHScorpiosRule]

Bastet, I think, what bothers me about Season 3 is the unspoken, implication that after season two and before three started, that Lee and Amanda started to unofficially date, but didn't call it dating. Just based on the conversation they had in "Over the Limit."

 

"Utopia Now" remains one of my favorites, along with "The Wrong Way Home" and "The Triumvirate" and "The Eyes Have It."

 

"Flight to Freedom" I don't like because Amanda's behavior and attitude toward Lee in the cabin cruiser BUGS me to no end. She really comes off like a jerk, and that was so out of character for her.

 

And there was the insertion of Herb from WKRP in Cincinnati.  Ugh.

[Mama No Life]

Loved "The Eyes Have It."  One of my favorites of the series, esp the hand kiss at the elevator at the end.  You could see then it was a matter of when, not if....

[Bastet]

I love that episode too, and particularly like the touch that Amanda can't quite pull off her reaction to Lee's "death."  Kate could do it better, but Amanda isn't an actor, so her performance shouldn't be perfect, thus I love that it isn't.

[GHScorpiosRule]

I love that episode too, and particularly like the touch that Amanda can't quite pull off her reaction to Lee's "death."  Kate could do it better, but Amanda isn't an actor, so her performance shouldn't be perfect, thus I love that it isn't.

 

Just watched this last night (I'm binge-watching), and it's so true! Amanda repeating "No....No...Noooo!" Just so...awkward!

 

I can't remember who it was on TWoP, who confirmed that the picture of Lee's parents in "The Eyes Have It" were actually Bruce's parents? Grandparents?  And since his mother was British, I'd like to know which side of the family his uncle in "A Relative Situation" was. Father? Or Father's sister's husband? I don't think so, as I don't think the Col. was married. They probably hadn't thought that far ahead, I guess. Or maybe forgot?

 

And yes, I squeed like a tween in "Utopia Now" when Amanda almost touched Lee's bum.

 

And I'll probably mention this in the Fourth season thread to emphasize the utter stupidity that was the Sekrit Marriage, but this season offers proof why it was so stupid.  In "We're Off To See the Wizard", they hold a meeting about how the female agents to remain on guard, as a number of them knew Lee, and that some even dated him. And this wasn't the first time.  Then in "Reach for the sky"? I think it was, about Billy's friend who was murdered by that banker, we saw Lee talking to Jeanie, Billy's wife. We had mentions of other agents who were married...the guy from season one in "Mind your Manners" I think it was? And of course in "Odds on a Dead Pigeon" from the second season. And they were field agents as well.

 

And Lee and Amanda did such a horrible job of keeping their feelings for each other secret, what with constantly holding hands, finger interlaced, and Lee almost always having his arm around her waist or back. And this was before "Dead Men Leave No Trails" when they have their first, romantic kiss. Which I was hoping would have been more than a quick peck, but oh well.

 

And then there was that scene in "Vigilante Mothers" from the second season finale, when Lee was saying he wanted to rent the house across the street from her because "there's someone I want to get closer to" and she thinks it's her, leans toward him, and says quietly, "we could go to dinner. You don't need to move in..."

 

All in front of Billy and Francine, no less. And then Lee clarifies what it was for.

 

So them having to hide that they were actually, officially dating (which was really a formality), since to me, they WERE dating in Season 3, made no sense.

 

I am also finding that I am fast forwarding scenes that don't have Lee and Amanda interacting for this season. Yet I don't do this with the first two seasons!

[GHScorpiosRule]

Yep, I was marathon watching this show while I was recovering from surgery last fall.

 

So, I started this season last night, and I remember someone over on TWoP saying how Leslie and that moron Buck, were brought in as "obstacles" or to set up a triangle this season, and I'm watching and wondering; why? I mean, if they wanted to do that, did they seriously think the actor they got, a credible rival of Bruce Boxleitner? For real?  And I'm so glad Leslie was a on-off in "Over the Limit" because she irritated me. With the hair up in a bun and dressed so matronly, asking Amanda to please stay and join them for dinner and reveal "all of Lee's secrets!" Or that they could "all" get together some other time? What?

 

The only reason I can remember her is because I recall the actress who played her, also playing Bruce's love interest in his other show How The West Was Won" I think it was called. With James Arness. It was a Western and only lasted a year, I think.

 

And I watched the first disc in the order that the timeline makes sense! Because the way they aired it, Lee has the Q Bureau already in the season opener and it isn't until "Tale of the Dancing Weasel", the fourth episode, that Billy goes up there and says it needs to be cleaned out and that it is now Lee's.

 

They just flowed better.

 

And now, it's "Sour Grapes" and "Utopia Now"!

[BkWurm1]

You should do a write up of the best order to watch the season for the rest of us to follow.

 

I am having a hard time accepting that Buck was ever intended as a love interest.  He was a joke and I felt the show treated him that way as well. 

 

Is Leslie the one that Lee was looking to buy a present for and so was trying to get Amanda to tell him what the straps on some dress he liked were called?  (Spaghetti straps)  That was annoying. 

[GHScorpiosRule]

You should do a write up of the best order to watch the season for the rest of us to follow.

 

I am having a hard time accepting that Buck was ever intended as a love interest.  He was a joke and I felt the show treated him that way as well. 

 

Is Leslie the one that Lee was looking to buy a present for and so was trying to get Amanda to tell him what the straps on some dress he liked were called?  (Spaghetti straps)  That was annoying. 

 

I can do that since it's only the first five episodes that need to re-ordered, so that it makes sense.

 

I agree about Buck, which threw me when it was brought up over on TWoP. Back when this show was airing, I was completely ignorant of all the behind the scenes stuff; I only ever saw one interview and one story piece, by Entertainment Tonight, back when ET was the place to get your entertainment news, and the first was with Kate during the first season, where she talked about the chemistry between her and Bruce, and they showed the clip from "The ACM Kid"-the one where she threw the beer in Lee's face, told him he stank and that "Sex with you was always a major disappointment!" This was before the show had premiered and I thought that Amanda and Lee really were exes or something.  And the second piece was in the second season, where they talked about the show filming in Europe.  But yeah, Leslie was the woman Lee was thinking of getting the dress that Amanda wore--with the spaghetti straps. UGH. So glad she was a one-off. Especially since Lee called her by Amanda's name! I love that look on Lee's face that Bruce did so wonderfully. The wince, that thing with his eye, like 'oh shit, did I just say that?' 

 

I think "Triumvirate" and "Utopia Now" and "The Eyes Have It" are my top three favorite episodes.  Though I think they should have aired "The Eyes Have It" before "Triumvirate" or left out that idiotic line by Lee saying it was nice that Amanda cared enough to come to him, when he left the hospital, trying to find out what happened to the Barnstorm List. Because really? It was a shock that Amanda would care? I'll blame it on his concussion.

 

And I fully admit, I skipped three episodes, because by this point in the series, I only care about Lee and Amanda and their relationship. I skipped over "Fast Food for Thought", "One Bear Dances, One Bear Doesn't" and "Playing for Keeps."  The last which has Amanda in three scenes. I believe it was because Kate's father had passed away? Oh and "The Boy Who Could be King" because it's just stupid. Though the ending where Lee and Amanda are holding hands indicate that they are more than just partners.  And that Billy and Francine are aware of that.

 

And then there's my nitpick with "Over the Limit"-near the end when Amanda shoots the pulley, so that the net falls on the bad guy? When Francine tells Amanda it was "great shooting" and Lee gets all sarcastic and asks why didn't she just "take him out" I was like, Lee, you do know who you're talking to, right? Amanda, who had failed miserably at the shooting range.

 

And now I'm finishing up with the third season! I do wish that their FIRST OFFICIAL kiss had been more than a peck though in  "Dead Men Leave No Trails". Not expecting a passionate clinch, but something a bit...more.  And now, I'm watching the finale "All the World's a Stage" before taking on the last season. I'm only going to watch my favorites, which means I won't be watching the last four. Maybe the finale, since Kate was able to appear in more than just one scene.

 

So, here is how one should (in my opinon) watch the first five episodes of this season:

 

1. "Welcome to America, Mr. Brand"

    

2. "Tail of the Dancing Weasel"

    

3. "Over the Limit"

    

4. A Lovely Little Affair

    

5. "We're Off to See the Wizard"

Edited December 14, 2015 by GHScorpiosRule

[GHScorpiosRule]

Oh! And I just realized--There were no "Oh my Gosh"s this season. And Amanda's penchant for talking without taking a breath was gone too.

 

Too bad, as I find those to be characteristics inherent to her character and part of her charm.

[Bastet]

And then there's my nitpick with "Over the Limit"-near the end when Amanda shoots the pulley, so that the net falls on the bad guy?

 

I remember that episode, because it's just a series of nitpicks.  There are wardrobe changes that make no sense, the Corvette magically transports itself from one location to another ... it is just hilariously bad in its continuity.

 

And, yes, the reason for Amanda barely being in the tennis episode is that Kate's father died and they had to re-write it at the last minute to plug Francine in to Amanda's role and just tack on that telephone call at the end.

 

I don't remember what was cited as the original source for the concept that Buck and Leslie were brought in as potential romantic foils, but I have never believed it with respect to Buck.  Leslie, obviously, although she's there for one episode and as some obvious cardboard cutout of a character to make Lee realize his true feelings.  But Buck?  He's not written that way at all. 

 

Oh and "The Boy Who Could be King" because it's just stupid. Though the ending where Lee and Amanda are holding hands indicate that they are more than just partners.  And that Billy and Francine are aware of that.

 

That was bizarre.  Because they're nowhere near the point in their relationship where they'd be draped all over each other in front of their boss (not that there's ever a point at which that is appropriate). 

 

And Amanda's penchant for talking without taking a breath was gone too.

 

I know Kate Jackson idolized Katharine Hepburn, so whenever she did one of Amanda's breathless rambles I got a kick despite my annoyance with some of them, because it reminded me of Hepburn as Susan in Bringing Up Baby. 

Edited December 15, 2015 by Bastet