Remington Steele - General Discussion

[GHScorpiosRule]

8 minutes ago, Bastet said:

On last night's episode of Pit Bulls & Parolees, the adopters were looking for a buddy for their puppy Remington.  I side eye people who name kids/pets Remington because I wonder if it's glorifying guns (and these folks lived in Texas), but I gave them props when they renamed the new puppy (who'd been called Bro) Steel and, in explaining the name change, referenced Remington Steele.  I wish they'd included the final E on his name, but it made me smile.

That’s so adorable!!!! 

[GHScorpiosRule]

So I started my rewatch of this last night, and I really, really love the "noir" 30s-40s music that Mancini provided for this show.

And it's interesting--this show overlapped with Scarecrow & Mrs. King--but unlike the latter, this show actually showed blood when someone was shot and killed. We never saw that with Scarecrow. And both shows aired during the 8:00 hour.

Anyhoo. I'm just sitting, and feeling the grin on face and butterflies, as I watch Laura and Steele spark and the latter is at how yummy Pierce looks in a tux.

[Egg McMuffin]

Scarecrow was an 8:00 pm show, but Remington Steele aired at 10:00.

[GHScorpiosRule]

I'm so glad I decided to revisit this show. I am so enjoying this trip down nostalgia lane.

And I think I mentioned it when this thread used to be a full forum, but it's so interesting how some of the same actors who appeared on this show, also guest starred on Scarecrow & Mrs. King! I think we never saw Laura's mother after the second season because she landed the role of Dotty on Scarecrow & Mrs. King.

I just love Laura so so so much. And I thought of you, @Bastet, when watching "Red Holt Steele" yesterday. Aside from that stupid canned crying sound that was supposed to be Laura, this is one of my top five favorites. And after Laura bought the loft, we never saw Nero again!

It goes without saying that I also love Remington/Pierce. Gleason or whoever it was in the interviews called it: he was the 80s version of Cary Grant; a clotheshorse, meaning he looked good in anything they put him in.

It's odd, though. Pierce just looks weird/awkward when he's holding a gun, like he did in "Elegy in Steele" as Remington and Laura were chasing after Descoine in the tunnels. But he looked so damned sexay holding one when he FINALLY got the role of James Bond.

But don't get me started on how that twit of Descoine's daughter managed to get inside that mailbox. Yeah, yeah, suspension of disbelief and all that.

It's also bittersweet watching this, knowing that Doris Roberts is no longer with us.

I won't lie--I'm enjoying seeing them work to find out information and solving cases, and using real phones and pay phones here, and not have the information they need in minutes by clacking on a computer or smart phone. I love the low tech.

[GHScorpiosRule]

I’m getting better at not being a masochist with the final episodes of this show.

The last season four episode I watched was “Beg, Borrow, or Steele”; I refused to watch the official series finale because it undid ALL the progress Laura and Remington had made since “Forged Steele” and “Sensitive Steele”.

Not even to see how Keyes got a hold of Remington’s previous fake passports, since the Inspector at Scotland Yard kept them when he got them from Mildred in the Season premiere.

But I caved and watched the last two episodes and that also infuriates me. Laura should have just left the phone off the hook at the end. That ASSHOLE Tony was featured too much. And I didn’t recall how Daniel’s English accent slipped into an American one, and neither Laura or Remington remarked upon it.

And call me a sap, but I really wanted them to say ‘I Love You’ to each other at the end. Sure, I knew they did; Remington admitted it to that Grace person, who was slapping the crap out of him in “Now You Steele It, Now You Don’t”, thinking she was Laura.

Despite what the writers and network did, this is still one of my favorite series. It gave me a heroine I looked up to and whose fedoras I coveted, and the yummilicius ❤️❤️‍🔥💗💘❤️‍🔥❤️Pierce Brosnan❤️❤️‍🔥💗💘❤️‍🔥❤️my tween/teen crush.

[LizDC]

 

[WendyCR72]

1 hour ago, LizDC said:

 

Too bad "Season 5" was so damned awful. And sadly, justified in their bitterness at NBC as they were, Brosnan and Zimbalist just seemed to be going through the motions by then.

[LizDC]

It was a weird season but I kind of want to see it again.  I haven’t seen it since it aired back then.  I only remember a few things about it - Laura had bangs, Jack Scalia was part of the cast for some reason, and Daniel was Steele’s father, died and had some sort televised funeral. 

[Columbo]

Watched the series for the first time on DVD last year. I found it enjoyable. Pierce and Stephanie had great chemistry together. Watching Pierce as Remington Steele made me think he'd have done well in a Roger Moore era type of Bond movie. The whole being wry at how corny the situation was rather than his more serious Bond that he portrayed in the 90s.

 

Funnily enough although the show clearly became better after season 1, I thought Pierce's performance in the first season was his best. The whole con man slowly but surely charming his way into Laura's life whilst also discovering he has a knack for this detective business. 

But whilst Bernice was ok, the constant negativity from Murphy towards Remington was just too much. Like fair enough if it was subtly done and the basis of the envy was because Murphy felt that Remington didn't deserve to be in the private detective business. But it was so over the top that it was ridiculous, and I may be wrong about this but it seemed Murphy's envy of Remington seemed more because he had feelings for Laura, feelings that Laura clearly didn't reciprocate. So he saw the chemistry between Laura and Remington which caused a rather negative attitude in him and in turn made the first season rather meh in a way.

The second season with the introduction of Doris Roberts as Mildred Krebs with her more positive attitude towards Remington made the series much more light hearted and enjoyable to watch.

 

Though I wasn't that fond of season 5. Something was missing, not sure what. I'll have to rewatch the show again.

[WendyCR72]

1 hour ago, Columbo said:

Though I wasn't that fond of season 5. Something was missing, not sure what. I'll have to rewatch the show again.

Trust me, that is far from an unpopular opinion.

In case you missed other posts talking about it, "Season 5" (which was just a series of movies) basically screwed both Pierce Brosnan and Stephanie Zimbalist over. NBC had actually canceled the show after Season 4. However, back in the day when networks reran episodes over the summer, NBC did just that - and ratings were good.

So the network "uncanceled" the series. (Even though the network had officially canceled the show, the option on the actors' contracts was good up to a certain date. So when NBC reversed its decision, the actors had to come back. Trouble is, after the show was canceled, Stephanie Zimbalist had landed the female lead in the movie, Robocop, and Pierce Brosnan had been chosen as - you guessed it! - James Bond [around the time Timothy Dalton would ultimately end up with the role - read on]!

But with NBC using the option on their contracts for Remington Steele, both Zimbalist and Brosnan had to drop out of those other projects. So the "off" feeling for Season 5 was probably - despite their still being professional - a bit of the resentment seeping in. Can't say I blame them! Of course, Pierce Brosnan was lucky enough to get another shot at playing James Bond. Stephanie Zimbalist made a name for herself doing theater.)

[Columbo]

1 hour ago, WendyCR72 said:

Trust me, that is far from an unpopular opinion.

In case you missed other posts talking about it, "Season 5" (which was just a series of movies) basically screwed both Pierce Brosnan and Stephanie Zimbalist over. NBC had actually canceled the show after Season 4. However, back in the day when networks reran episodes over the summer, NBC did just that - and ratings were good.

So the network "uncanceled" the series. (Even though the network had officially canceled the show, the option on the actors' contracts was good up to a certain date. So when NBC reversed its decision, the actors had to come back. Trouble is, after the show was canceled, Stephanie Zimbalist had landed the female lead in the movie, Robocop and Pierce Brosnan had been chosen as - you guessed it! - James Bond [around the time Timothy Dalton would ultimately end up with the role - read on]!

But with NBC using the option on their contracts for Remington Steele, both Zimbalist and Brosnan had to drop out of those other projects. So the "off" feeling for Season 5 was probably - despite their still being professional - a bit of the resentment seeping in. Can't say I blame them! Of course, Pierce Brosnan was lucky enough to get another shot at playing James Bond. Stephanie Zimbalist made a name for herself doing theater.)

Oh thank you. I had heard a little bit about the behind the scenes stuff. I think I remember a quote from Pierce saying in a way it was good that he managed to get the Bond later because it enabled him to become more matured or something like that.

 

 

[Egg McMuffin]

It ultimately was good that Brosnan didn’t play Bond in the late 80s. The producers of that series hadn’t yet modernized it and they were producing the movies on a budget. There was also a lawsuit over rights that caused a six year delay between Dalton’s second movie and Brosnan’s first entry (previously, they were on a two year cycle). Dalton’s movies were both disappointing at the box office, and the delay gave the producers an excuse to replace him. And starting with Goldeneye, Brosnan’s first, they actually spent money on the series, and the new entries were blockbuster hits.

[Maverick]

 There was actually a six year delay between Dalton and Brosnan (License to Kill was 1989, Goldeneye in 1995).   I agree it was for the best he had to wait 10 years to take over the role.  Moore and Dalton's Bond were like night and day.  Brosnan and his Remington played more closely to Moore's version, which they wanted to move away from to a more serious take.  Dalton was way too serious and humorless.  By maturing a bit and being a decade away from Steele Brosnan was able to strike the right balance and distinguish himself from both.  

[GHScorpiosRule]

Oh I looooved the first two seasons that Decades aired over the weekend!

This was such a great show, and I continue to envy and love the many hats that Laura wore.

I think I mentioned this in the last marathon watching I did on my dvds, but I can't imagine why the director of the particular episode, didn't just say "CUT!" when Efrem slipped in and out of the English accent when we first meet him in "Sting of Steele."

He greets Remington with an English accent, then of course, I guess he's pretending to be American when they meet up with what'shisface in that bar; but then he's back to English when he first meets Laura and her mother; then it's back to an American accent with them for the rest of the episode. Then of course, when he appears again, it's the English accent.

I really love how Remington didn't remain...stagnant, for the lack of a better word by the end of the season and even in the beginning of season two; even though they flipped the switch with Laura, suddenly afraid to move forward with him, as we saw in the second season premiere.

But "Vintage Steele" from season one is one of my top five favorites, as well as "Red Holt Steele" from season two, minus that horrid canned crying, instead of letting Stephanie doing it herself, which she ended up doing a few minutes later when she asked why the assholes (that's my word) had to burn down her house.

I'll be watching the last half of the second season this week.

[LizDC]

40 years ago…

[Bastet]

2 hours ago, LizDC said:

40 years ago…

Good gods, I'm old.

I'd really liked female TV characters before Laura Holt, despite the dearth of good ones in the '70s and '80s, but I had never instantly fallen in I want to be her! love with one until her.  She's still one of the greatest, because she's so well-rounded (you know, like male characters).  She's smart, and she's serious in her professional life - because it's her professional life - but she can be goofy and outright wild in her personal life.  She's both sophisticated and athletic.  She's sexy - as a sexual being, not just as an object of male sexual desire - and has a "girl next door" charm.  She has insecurities, but she stands up for herself and others.  A couple of brief illogical infatuations aside, she doesn't want anyone who doesn't respect her exactly as she is.  She turns the patriarchy's game on itself and owns a successful business in her twenties.  I was so inspired by her then, and I'm still proud of a sister when I re-watch.

[WendyCR72]

10 hours ago, LizDC said:

40 years ago…

Good Lord, I was 10. In ELEMENTARY SCHOOL! Damn.

[Thomas Crown]

18 hours ago, WendyCR72 said:

Good Lord, I was 10. In ELEMENTARY SCHOOL! Damn.

About the same age too when I started watching it. 

Still a great show from the 80s.   Looking back on it now, I'm realizing that Remington Steele was a bit of a jerk going around spoiling all those classic movies that he loved to reference and giving away all the endings to Laura 😃

[Thomas Crown]

I'm really enjoying revisiting this show for the 1st time in a long time.  I tried to do this with Moonlighting a while back but quit midway into season 4 after the show lost its way.   I've just started Season 2 of RS and watched only a few episodes but no complaints so far.  The show is still so much fun with Season 1 having some fantastic episodes.   I love that the episodes are close to 50 minutes long giving the stories time to breath.  Plus that wonderful jazzy score gives the show such a classy style.   

Laura is still amazing after all these years.  Compared to Maddie Hayes, I would choose Laura every time.  And I'm a big Moonlighting fan too, but there is something special about Laura Holt as portrayed by Stephanie Zimbalist.  Bastet above perfectly described her and why she's amazing. 

Speaking of Moonlighting, IMO the season 1 episodes written by Glenn Gordon Caron are prequels to what he would do on Moonlighting. You can easily recognize his style of writing since he would use that template on Moonlighting.  For instance, having 2 characters arguing and having their lines overlapping each other worked well on Moonlighting but not on Remington Steele.  

[nora1992]

This is now available on Prime Video!  Found it by accident.  Anyone know when it was added?

[GHScorpiosRule]

16 minutes ago, nora1992 said:

This is now available on Prime Video!  Found it by accident.  Anyone know when it was added?

It had to be recent as I’m always scrolling through Prime and have never seen it show up 

[SusanwatchingTV]

It was just added 1/1/23. I know because I already had it on my list, even though I own the DVDs.

(I have Nash Bridges on my list too, though yes, I own the DVDs. It's just so easy to watch over streaming.)

Edited January 26, 2023 by SusanwatchingTV

[Enigma X]

I have been binge-watching this show for the past week mainly to bask in the glow of Pierce Brosnan's adorableness, but I also am enjoying it (for the most part).

 

[Enigma X]

I made it to season 5 and this really is a bad send off for such a good show.

[AgathaC]

58 minutes ago, Enigma X said:

I made it to season 5 and this really is a bad send off for such a good show.

Ugh. Season 5 is awful! I’m not a fan of S4 either, to be honest. S3 is good, but I tend to stick to S1-2 when I’m in a RS mood!

[Enigma X]

4 minutes ago, AgathaC said:

Ugh. Season 5 is awful! I’m not a fan of S4 either, to be honest. S3 is good, but I tend to stick to S1-2 when I’m in a RS mood!

Seasons 3 and 1 were my favorites. Season 4 was hit or miss. Season 5 is insulting to all the actors involved. Also, I never cared for the Chalmers character.

[LizDC]

I’ve made it all the way through Season 4, except for last episode. I think I need to brace myself for that one and Season 5. I haven’t seen either since they first aired.

[Bastet]

I like the first half of season four, but in the second they hit the reset button on their relationship, with them behaving like the crucial events in the first half - they are fully committed to each other after "Steele Searching" and then "Forged Steele" cements the progress they've made in terms of trust - never happened, resulting in the ridiculousness that is their behavior in the finale (and then "season" five).

[Egg McMuffin]

 

7 hours ago, Enigma X said:

Season 5 is insulting to all the actors involved.

Except for Jack Scalia. He makes everything worse (see “Dallas”).

[Bastet]

21 minutes ago, Egg McMuffin said:

Except for Jack Scalia. He makes everything worse (see “Dallas”).

I think the only other thing I've seen him in is as Joey Buttafuoco in one of the several TV movies made about Amy Fisher (sadly, I think I watched them all), so I just have all kinds of negative association going on with him.

[LizDC]

29 minutes ago, Bastet said:

I think the only other thing I've seen him in is as Joey Buttafuoco in one of the several TV movies made about Amy Fisher (sadly, I think I watched them all), so I just have all kinds of negative association going on with him.

I did too! All three. Wasn’t Drew Barrymore in one of them? 

[Egg McMuffin]

The Amy Fisher TV-movie triplecast! It’s sad I remember this. Two of them actually aired against each other, and the third aired a week or two later. One was authorized by Fisher; another was authorized by the Buttafuocos and the third was the “independent” version and told from the POV of a reporter covering the case. It was like Rashomon, only with Amy Fisher.

Alyssa Milano was Amy and Jack Scalia was Joey in the Buttafuoco version. Drew Barrymore was Amy in the independent version

Edited March 1, 2023 by Egg McMuffin

[sskrill]

I watched the DVDs years ago, but was wandering around Prime after my YouTubeTV was unceremoniously cut off thanks to my brother not relogging in when he was here last, and tripped across this again.

I've had a thing for PB since I was 12 and this show debuted.  I had forgotten how good he was with comedy.  His timing and delivery is impeccable.

Still love him 😍

 

[GHScorpiosRule]

So I resumed my rewatch of this on Prime and one of my faves, after “Red Holt Steele” of course is “Love Among the Steele” and this is my favorite scene, which alway makes me giggle like a tween:

Remington: “I think someone’s shooting at us.”

Laura: “Why?”

Remington: “Because we’re kissing. Someone always shoots at us when we’re kissing!”

Me:😂😂😍😍🥰🥰😍😍😂😂

 

Edited May 8, 2023 by GHScorpiosRule

[Guest]

I’m so glad this popped up- I had no idea that Remington Steele was on prime now! I started season 3 yesterday since I had rewatched 1-2 fairly recently by borrowing dvds!

[GHScorpiosRule]

On 5/8/2023 at 11:22 PM, deaja said:

I’m so glad this popped up- I had no idea that Remington Steele was on prime now! I started season 3 yesterday since I had rewatched 1-2 fairly recently by borrowing dvds!

I love season three for the progress both Laura and Remington make, but it’s a mixed bag because of the season premiere. As I had stated previously:Team LAURA as far as what he did-lying about the Hapsburg Knife theft. But one of my top five is “Steele Your Heart Away”  where Remington is in Ireland with amnesia. He’s sooooo charming! And his facial expressions when he’s befuddled just make me laugh. Pierce was just so very good at the comedy!

But their relationship is very confusing as the European episodes aired between the ones in the States. In Europe-just professional; back home, sort of kind of getting back to the personal.

And I know I mentioned this when talking about the Season that Never Should Have Happened, but I have to clarify-when Daniel first shows up, they can’t decide if he’s English or American! The first scene with Pierce, he’s got the British accent; then the rest of the episode, it’s American when he’s Daniel! Then in season three when we meet him again, it’s British accent! The American comes back in the series for real this time finale.

I also crack up in “Steele in the Family”how Remington calls Mildred’s nephew “”Burr-nerd” while everyone else says “Bernaaaard.”😄😄 And again here it seems both he and Laura are back on track! 
 

ETA: I will forever love Cassandra Harris for convincing Pierce to come to Hollywood. But GOOD God was she awful as an actress. From her Felicia to the one off of Anna. 

Jumping into the shallow pool, but I have yet to see another actor who was as gorgeous/beautiful/handsome and talented as Pierce Brosnan. One who STILL is scrumptious as far as I’m concerned. And a good person.

Edited May 12, 2023 by GHScorpiosRule

[Guest]

45 minutes ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

Jumping into the shallow pool, but I have yet to see another actor who was as gorgeous/beautiful/handsome and talented as Pierce Brosnan

My first ever celebrity crush. haha

[GHScorpiosRule]

1 minute ago, deaja said:

My first ever celebrity crush. haha

Same! Well, my first Hollywood celebrity crush! I fell hard for Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan when I was 10. He isn’t classically handsome at all. But his height, that voice. Just the whole package made for one sexay celebrity. The fact that he has oodles of talent is icing. And he had aged like a very fiiiine wine!

[Bastet]

6 hours ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

ETA: I will forever love Cassandra Harris for convincing Pierce to come to Hollywood. But GOOD God was she awful as an actress. From her Felicia to the one off of Anna. 

Just awful.  I could forgive the occasional appearances of Felicia, but giving her the Anna episode was inexcusable.  That was a great script (written by the show's best writer, Susan Baskin), but Harris was terrible.  And, while that wasn't the only time this show brought back an actor in a different role - common TV practice at the time - it was particularly distracting to have her play Lying, Scheming Woman From Steele's Past #2 when her previous appearance had been as Lying, Scheming Woman From Steele's Past #1.

The show was littered with appearances from friends and family, and some of them didn't deserve to be there.  Lynne Randall (Gleason's wife at the time) would never have been cast in multiple episodes by an objective party, either.  Gleason and Randall's daughter playing the granddaughter in "Have I Got a Steele For You" (the Mulch episode with the Courtney doll) gives one of the most wooden line deliveries I've ever witnessed, but she's a child and was only shown for a few seconds each in a couple of scenes.  Harris was painfully bad as Anna (and not good as Felicia).

At least J.D. Cannon, one of Gleason's best friends, who played the anchor in "Steele in the News" and the retired jewel thief whose dog is kidnapped in "Hounded Steele" was a solid actor.  I couldn't stand Efrem Zimbalist Jr. as a person and don't think he was anything special as an actor, but I generally got a kick out of him as Daniel.

 

[GHScorpiosRule]

2 minutes ago, Bastet said:

but I generally got a kick out of him as Daniel.

I just wish he or the writers could decide if he was American or British! I know I keep harping on this, but at the end of “Steele Searching” we have Daniel reverting to talking to Remington in an American accent (which he slipped into while at the compound), but a few seconds later, he’s got the British accent to Laura, as he leaves the Earl of Claridge’s home.

But agree 100% with the rest of your post above.

In addition to Stephanie’s many fedoras, I also coveted her great hair!

[SusanwatchingTV]

Last night I finished my rewatch of all five seasons.  I have the DVDs and had watched them maybe 10 years ago, but this was my first rewatch of the whole thing since then.

I really enjoyed it overall, but I was struck by a few things which I've noticed before but were more solidified after this watch:

 

1) The relationship between Laura and Steele just doesn't make sense.  Laura in particular doesn't make sense.  I don't know if it's the writing or Stephanie's acting, but her interactions and facial expressions aren't consistent from scene to scene, not to mention episode to episode.  They really should have let them have a relationship - a real relationship.  Some struggle with him not having a true ID might make sense, but not for so long.  I really hate that episode where they go to the couples therapy camp and fight. It soured me on the show a bit when I first saw it and still irks me today.

2) Stephanie Zimbalist wasn't nearly as good at acting as Pierce Brosnan, even though she supposedly had more training and experience.  Again, maybe it's the writing she struggled with, but even sometimes her lines came across as fake or stretched...and she really doesn't sell being in love with Steele, but I think Laura would have to have been to put up with him and to have invested so much time with him intimately (even without actual consummation).

3) Season 5 wouldn't have been so bad if they had made Laura acknowledge her feelings for Steele, and even without that, it's the final scene - the phone call - that should never have happened.  I could have lived with the ending were it not for that stupid phone call.  Laura not saying, "I love him." or "I'm married, leave me alone" was just inexcusable. 

But still, I do enjoy the show and I'll revisit again in another 10 years. I don't think the humor and fun will ever get old.

[LizDC]

On 5/9/2023 at 7:42 PM, SusanwatchingTV said:

I don't know if it's the writing or Stephanie's acting, but her interactions and facial expressions aren't consistent from scene to scene, not to mention episode to episode.

***

Stephanie Zimbalist wasn't nearly as good at acting as Pierce Brosnan, even though she supposedly had more training and experience. 

I was recently looking at her IMDB page to see what she’s been up to lately. Not much, it turns out.  I did notice that she wrote an episode from Season 3.

I have to agree, her acting was not the best. It seemed too theatrical, like she was acting for the people in the back of the auditorium and not for the people ten feet away on the couch.

I still haven’t finished my rewatch.  I still have Season 5 to go.

[Bastet]

48 minutes ago, LizDC said:

I have to agree, her acting was not the best. It seemed too theatrical, like she was acting for the people in the back of the auditorium and not for the people ten feet away on the couch.

That's why she's a really good stage actor (which is what she has largely been doing since the show ended, which is why those credits aren't on IMDb).  She's average on camera (although I think she was a great fit for Laura, so there are only a few moments I actually dislike), but she's great on stage (I've seen her in numerous things over the years).

To her credit, she's said she realized that all the really good guest stars they had who blew her away with their talent compared to hers had extensive stage experience, so she sought those roles out after she had to drop out of a film (Robocop) due to the network dragging them back to this show in order to hone her craft.  And then knew that was her niche.  She's very good with money, so she knew she'd be fine with her RS savings and a stage career, with some additional TV work here and there.

[GHScorpiosRule]

16 hours ago, Bastet said:

That's why she's a really good stage actor (which is what she has largely been doing since the show ended, which is why those credits aren't on IMDb).  She's average on camera (although I think she was a great fit for Laura, so there are only a few moments I actually dislike), but she's great on stage (I've seen her in numerous things over the years).

To her credit, she's said she realized that all the really good guest stars they had who blew her away with their talent compared to hers had extensive stage experience, so she sought those roles out after she had to drop out of a film (Robocop) due to the network dragging them back to this show in order to hone her craft.  And then knew that was her niche.  She's very good with money, so she knew she'd be fine with her RS savings and a stage career, with some additional TV work here and there.

Thank you for saying this. I was afraid to venture in and sound like some rabid stalker fan of Stephanie's! Because I thought she was really good at playing Laura, and didn't and still don't see what others have said. The chemistry between her and Pierce is downright amazing. I love that in the 90s, when her father, Efrem was voicing Alfred in the Batman Animated Series, they recast the role of the DA for one episode and Stephanie played her. And she was really very good.

Aside from the pivot the show made when season two started (I will never believe that Laura and Remington didn't consummate their relationship) and having them wait four years until they did, as if this show was some 80s Silhouette romance where the hero is perfectly willing to wait however long it takes (marriage, obviously) before they have sex), Laura, I think, did a good job being conflicted, and she had baggage. The audience already knew, well, at least I did, that Remington was in love with Laura by season two, and in three, in "Now You Steele it, Now You Don't" when he's getting the crap beat out of him, and he thinks it's Laura who's questioning him-he confesses that he loves her. 

I think they were in a very good place in season 4, and the writers had to fuck it up with that INSULTING series finale.

One thing I'm glad the show did was the opening them, with the slower music in Season 3, but then they used the faster tempo for the first half of season 4-actually up until the Christmas episode. I hated that. Then they went back to the slower, more romantic tempo.

I am NOT going to watch the last episode of season four, and for sure am not going to watch the final "season" they were all dragged back to do.

Edited May 11, 2023 by GHScorpiosRule

[AgathaC]

I stay far away from the Season 4 finale. That was just horrendous. Actually, I’m not a big fan of that season a a whole. I know there are some decent episodes, but all my “must rewatch” ones are in the first three seasons.

I do think there’s a definite “theatrical” quality to Stephanie in RS, though I never minded too much, as it seemed to work for the show’s style. For the most part.

I thought in some other TV work like Centennial and Tomorrow’s Child, she was more “natural.”

[Bastet]

11 hours ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

Because I though she was really good at playing Laura,

Absolutely.  There are better actors out there, but this was one of those times where actor and character come together in just the way that's needed.  While the big moments are played more appropriately for the stage than the screen (also, one has to remember this was more common in the '80s), Laura Holt isn't about the big moments.  Laura Holt needs to be someone the girls and women in the audience can relate and aspire to, an oasis in a television sea of female characters who are mere appendages to the men who do all the thinking and acting -- smart, resourceful, and professional, but with a playful side and insecurities.  Multi-facted:  Glamorous and sophisticated at elegant functions, competent and in charge at the office, casual at home, sporty and relaxed on the weekends.  Like people.  Like how men were portrayed all over TV.

Bottom line, she needs to feel like a real person, and especially not a one-note stick in the mud next to the charming, flashy, cheeky guy next to her.  That she nailed.  In her performance, and in that she'd go to Michael Gleason when the all-male-but-one writers room churned out something that simply didn't make sense for a woman, or Laura in particular.  She didn't win - or even wage; her dad instilled some really warped views on women she didn't entirely shake - every battle, but Gleason listened far more than his brethren of the time, and always credited her with making Laura real.

Edited May 12, 2023 by Bastet

[sskrill]

Pierce has an art exhibition running from May 14 - May 21 in LA.

https://somanydreams.co/contact/

 

[GHScorpiosRule]

10 hours ago, sskrill said:

Pierce has an art exhibition running from May 14 - May 21 in LA.

https://somanydreams.co/contact/

 

Damn. My firm has blocked the page so I can't see it!

[sskrill]

50 minutes ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

Damn. My firm has blocked the page so I can't see it!

There isn't much info given except dates, times, and address.

I'm considering a day trip to LA to see it but I'd have to come up with something else to do to make it worth the drive.

 

[WendyCR72]

I love the sort of irony of Pierce Brosnan having an art exhibit when he played Thomas Crown [in the 1999 remake], who liked to spend his days at the museum, looking at art.

Then his little art caper. 😉