Remington Steele

[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 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 by Egg McMuffin