Simon & Simon DVDs

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Little Garwood
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Re: Simon & Simon DVDs

#286 Post by Little Garwood »

Pahonu wrote: Fri Oct 15, 2021 12:00 am I would argue that The Rockford Files has very clever titles, perhaps more so than Hawaii Five-O…

Chicken Little Is a Little Chicken
The Oracle Wore a Cashmere Suit
The Trees, the Bees and T.T. Flowers
Dwarf in a Helium Hat
Rosendahl and Gilda Stern Are Dead
White on White and Nearly Perfect
A Good Clean Bust with Sequel Rights
Three Day Affair with a Thirty Day Escrow
With the French Heel Back, Can the Nehru Jacket Be Far Behind?
Never Send a Boy King to Do a Man's Job
Lions, Tigers, Monkeys and Dogs
Nice Guys Finish Dead

The other Cannell series that had really clever titles, maybe the best I can recall, is Tenspeed and Brownshoe. Even the series title is clever! This is the whole series after the pilot:

The Robin Tucker's Roseland and Ballroom Murder
Savage Says: There's No Free Lunch
Savage Says: What Are Friends For?
The Sixteen Byte Data Chip and the Brown-Eyed Fox
The Millionaire's Life
Savage Says: The Most Dangerous Bird Is the Jailbird
It's Easier to Pass an Elephant Through the Eye of a Needle Than a Bad Check in Bel Air
Loose Larry's List of Losers
This One's Gonna Kill Ya
Treasure of Sierra Madre Street
Diamonds Aren't Forever
Pahonu made a list (two!)! I knew there was hope for him! :wink:
"Popularity is the pocket change of history."

~Tom Selleck

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ZelenskyTheValiant (Ivan)
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Re: Simon & Simon DVDs

#287 Post by ZelenskyTheValiant (Ivan) »

Pahonu wrote: Fri Oct 15, 2021 12:00 am
IvanTheTerrible wrote: Thu Oct 14, 2021 4:21 pm
Little Garwood wrote: Thu Oct 14, 2021 3:30 pm
IvanTheTerrible wrote: Thu Oct 14, 2021 2:50 pmI believe that pic is from "Ten Thousand Dollar Deductible", again with Schedeen. Always liked that episode. One of the better episodes of the second season. Always called it the "hot air balloon" episode. The sequence even made it into the opening intro for the next few seasons.
There are very few TV series that I can reel off episode titles, and that includes Simon & Simon! :oops: I can (probably) recall episode titles for Star Trek (TOS), Hawaii Five-0, and Kolchak: The Night Stalker, but not too many others...same goes for cue titles for film music...
For me episode titles come really easy. From the 70s I can easily rattle away the episode titles from FIVE-O (obviously), STREETS OF SAN FRAN, and most of COLUMBO and ROCKFORD. From the 80s - KNIGHT RIDER, THE A-TEAM, AIRWOLF, SCARECROW & MRS. KING, etc. From the 90s - WALKER TEXAS RANGER. Shows that I grew up with.

FIVE-O of course had far away the most creative titles. "Will the Real Mr. Winkler Please Die?", "Bomb, Bomb, Who's Got the Bomb?", "30,000 Rooms and I Have the Key", "Didn't We Meet at a Murder?", "A Thousand Pardons... You're Dead", "And I Want Some Candy and a Gun that Shoots", etc. The list is endless. On the other hand, a show like MATLOCK (which I also like) had very static episode titles like "The Cop", "The Author", "The Judge", "The Narc", "The Captain", "The Gigolo", "The Umpire", "The Santa Claus", etc. Basically the episode title either described the culprit or the defendant or the victim.
I would argue that The Rockford Files has very clever titles, perhaps more so than Hawaii Five-O…

Chicken Little Is a Little Chicken
The Oracle Wore a Cashmere Suit
The Trees, the Bees and T.T. Flowers
Dwarf in a Helium Hat
Rosendahl and Gilda Stern Are Dead
White on White and Nearly Perfect
A Good Clean Bust with Sequel Rights
Three Day Affair with a Thirty Day Escrow
With the French Heel Back, Can the Nehru Jacket Be Far Behind?
Never Send a Boy King to Do a Man's Job
Lions, Tigers, Monkeys and Dogs
Nice Guys Finish Dead

The other Cannell series that had really clever titles, maybe the best I can recall, is Tenspeed and Brownshoe. Even the series title is clever! This is the whole series after the pilot:

The Robin Tucker's Roseland and Ballroom Murder
Savage Says: There's No Free Lunch
Savage Says: What Are Friends For?
The Sixteen Byte Data Chip and the Brown-Eyed Fox
The Millionaire's Life
Savage Says: The Most Dangerous Bird Is the Jailbird
It's Easier to Pass an Elephant Through the Eye of a Needle Than a Bad Check in Bel Air
Loose Larry's List of Losers
This One's Gonna Kill Ya
Treasure of Sierra Madre Street
Diamonds Aren't Forever
Yep, ROCKFORD's titles were creative too. But I still prefer FIVE-O's.

As for TENSPEED, sorry I don't dig those at all. It's just a bunch of garbled nonsense. Hey, look at us! We're REALLY creative! A case of trying to be really "out there" except there's no meaning to it.

"Rabbit, Banana Slays Sour Cream Tractor"
"Hey You, Picture Do-Re-Mi Bubbles Under the Printer Butcher"
"My Last Paper Clip Sold Veggies But World Map Sings"
"Is Your Nose Ear Plug Elephant Juice?"

See? Aren't my titles clever? Quick, Hollywood, sign me up!

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Re: Simon & Simon DVDs

#288 Post by Little Garwood »

IvanTheTerrible wrote: Fri Oct 15, 2021 5:44 pmAs for TENSPEED, sorry I don't dig those at all. It's just a bunch of garbled nonsense. Hey, look at us! We're REALLY creative! A case of trying to be really "out there" except there's no meaning to it.
Next week on Tenspeed and Brown Shoe: “A Sunrise Ivan Didn’t See”! :wink:

That series, while not a classic, was imo highly enjoyable and those episode titles were consistent with the tone of the show, which was one of the few bright spots in an otherwise dreary era of primetime TV. I fondly remember Tenspeed and Brown Shoe from my childhood. The series was recently streaming on Amazon, and I was pleasantly surprised at how much fun it still was, with Jeff Goldblum standing out among the cast, though Ben Vereen was fun to watch, as well..they made a fine duo.
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Re: Simon & Simon DVDs

#289 Post by Little Garwood »

Oh! I also forgot to regale tou with my lone Tenspeed and Brown Shoe anecdote!

There were two guys in my 10th-grade Spanish class, one white and one black, who were the class cut ups. I was up in front of the class giving a presentation with my barely-acceptable Spanish. The two guys were making some jokes between themselves when the teacher said that those two fellows reminded him of that “old TV show.”, though he couldn’t remember the name.

There was a long pause in the class which I broke with those magical words, “Tenspeed and Brown Shoe.” Even then, in 1986, I hadn’t thought of the show since it first aired, but man was it great to remember it again…and actually reference it when needed! :lol: 8)
"Popularity is the pocket change of history."

~Tom Selleck

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Re: Simon & Simon DVDs

#290 Post by Pahonu »

Little Garwood wrote: Fri Oct 15, 2021 2:44 pm
Pahonu wrote: Fri Oct 15, 2021 12:00 am I would argue that The Rockford Files has very clever titles, perhaps more so than Hawaii Five-O…

Chicken Little Is a Little Chicken
The Oracle Wore a Cashmere Suit
The Trees, the Bees and T.T. Flowers
Dwarf in a Helium Hat
Rosendahl and Gilda Stern Are Dead
White on White and Nearly Perfect
A Good Clean Bust with Sequel Rights
Three Day Affair with a Thirty Day Escrow
With the French Heel Back, Can the Nehru Jacket Be Far Behind?
Never Send a Boy King to Do a Man's Job
Lions, Tigers, Monkeys and Dogs
Nice Guys Finish Dead

The other Cannell series that had really clever titles, maybe the best I can recall, is Tenspeed and Brownshoe. Even the series title is clever! This is the whole series after the pilot:

The Robin Tucker's Roseland and Ballroom Murder
Savage Says: There's No Free Lunch
Savage Says: What Are Friends For?
The Sixteen Byte Data Chip and the Brown-Eyed Fox
The Millionaire's Life
Savage Says: The Most Dangerous Bird Is the Jailbird
It's Easier to Pass an Elephant Through the Eye of a Needle Than a Bad Check in Bel Air
Loose Larry's List of Losers
This One's Gonna Kill Ya
Treasure of Sierra Madre Street
Diamonds Aren't Forever
Pahonu made a list (two!)! I knew there was hope for him! :wink:
It is indeed a list, though I must admit the second is a cut and paste. Don’t even ask me to start ranking them! :lol: :lol: :lol:

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Re: Simon & Simon DVDs

#291 Post by Pahonu »

IvanTheTerrible wrote: Fri Oct 15, 2021 5:44 pm
Pahonu wrote: Fri Oct 15, 2021 12:00 am
IvanTheTerrible wrote: Thu Oct 14, 2021 4:21 pm
Little Garwood wrote: Thu Oct 14, 2021 3:30 pm
IvanTheTerrible wrote: Thu Oct 14, 2021 2:50 pmI believe that pic is from "Ten Thousand Dollar Deductible", again with Schedeen. Always liked that episode. One of the better episodes of the second season. Always called it the "hot air balloon" episode. The sequence even made it into the opening intro for the next few seasons.
There are very few TV series that I can reel off episode titles, and that includes Simon & Simon! :oops: I can (probably) recall episode titles for Star Trek (TOS), Hawaii Five-0, and Kolchak: The Night Stalker, but not too many others...same goes for cue titles for film music...
For me episode titles come really easy. From the 70s I can easily rattle away the episode titles from FIVE-O (obviously), STREETS OF SAN FRAN, and most of COLUMBO and ROCKFORD. From the 80s - KNIGHT RIDER, THE A-TEAM, AIRWOLF, SCARECROW & MRS. KING, etc. From the 90s - WALKER TEXAS RANGER. Shows that I grew up with.

FIVE-O of course had far away the most creative titles. "Will the Real Mr. Winkler Please Die?", "Bomb, Bomb, Who's Got the Bomb?", "30,000 Rooms and I Have the Key", "Didn't We Meet at a Murder?", "A Thousand Pardons... You're Dead", "And I Want Some Candy and a Gun that Shoots", etc. The list is endless. On the other hand, a show like MATLOCK (which I also like) had very static episode titles like "The Cop", "The Author", "The Judge", "The Narc", "The Captain", "The Gigolo", "The Umpire", "The Santa Claus", etc. Basically the episode title either described the culprit or the defendant or the victim.
I would argue that The Rockford Files has very clever titles, perhaps more so than Hawaii Five-O…

Chicken Little Is a Little Chicken
The Oracle Wore a Cashmere Suit
The Trees, the Bees and T.T. Flowers
Dwarf in a Helium Hat
Rosendahl and Gilda Stern Are Dead
White on White and Nearly Perfect
A Good Clean Bust with Sequel Rights
Three Day Affair with a Thirty Day Escrow
With the French Heel Back, Can the Nehru Jacket Be Far Behind?
Never Send a Boy King to Do a Man's Job
Lions, Tigers, Monkeys and Dogs
Nice Guys Finish Dead

The other Cannell series that had really clever titles, maybe the best I can recall, is Tenspeed and Brownshoe. Even the series title is clever! This is the whole series after the pilot:

The Robin Tucker's Roseland and Ballroom Murder
Savage Says: There's No Free Lunch
Savage Says: What Are Friends For?
The Sixteen Byte Data Chip and the Brown-Eyed Fox
The Millionaire's Life
Savage Says: The Most Dangerous Bird Is the Jailbird
It's Easier to Pass an Elephant Through the Eye of a Needle Than a Bad Check in Bel Air
Loose Larry's List of Losers
This One's Gonna Kill Ya
Treasure of Sierra Madre Street
Diamonds Aren't Forever
Yep, ROCKFORD's titles were creative too. But I still prefer FIVE-O's.

As for TENSPEED, sorry I don't dig those at all. It's just a bunch of garbled nonsense. Hey, look at us! We're REALLY creative! A case of trying to be really "out there" except there's no meaning to it.

"Rabbit, Banana Slays Sour Cream Tractor"
"Hey You, Picture Do-Re-Mi Bubbles Under the Printer Butcher"
"My Last Paper Clip Sold Veggies But World Map Sings"
"Is Your Nose Ear Plug Elephant Juice?"

See? Aren't my titles clever? Quick, Hollywood, sign me up!
So you’re saying: And I Want Some Candy and a Gun that Shoots, and Will the Real Mister Winkler Please Die? are deeply meaningful somehow? There’s no real difference. None of them are exactly Shakespeare, except of course for The Rockford Files episode Rosendahl and Gilda Stern are Dead, which references the play Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, which itself was based on those same characters from Hamlet. I think we have winner!!!

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Re: Simon & Simon DVDs

#292 Post by Pahonu »

Little Garwood wrote: Fri Oct 15, 2021 10:31 pm Oh! I also forgot to regale tou with my lone Tenspeed and Brown Shoe anecdote!

There were two guys in my 10th-grade Spanish class, one white and one black, who were the class cut ups. I was up in front of the class giving a presentation with my barely-acceptable Spanish. The two guys were making some jokes between themselves when the teacher said that those two fellows reminded him of that “old TV show.”, though he couldn’t remember the name.

There was a long pause in the class which I broke with those magical words, “Tenspeed and Brown Shoe.” Even then, in 1986, I hadn’t thought of the show since it first aired, but man was it great to remember it again…and actually reference it when needed! :lol: 8)
Fun story!

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Re: Simon & Simon DVDs

#293 Post by Little Garwood »

I just acquired Tenspeed and Brown Shoe, which has been called a precursor to Moonlighting (never liked it) and Simon & Simon (see this thread). According to the IMDb, Larry Manetti has three appearances and John Hillerman also has one…whoever they are! :wink:
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Re: Simon & Simon DVDs

#294 Post by Pahonu »

Little Garwood wrote: Sun Oct 17, 2021 12:05 am I just acquired Tenspeed and Brown Shoe, which has been called a precursor to Moonlighting (never liked it) and Simon & Simon (see this thread). According to the IMDb, Larry Manetti has three appearances and John Hillerman also has one…whoever they are! :wink:
I think you’ll like it. Hillerman plays the father of Jeff Goldblum’s character in a later episode. Manetti is a goon of the mob character played by Richard Romanus in the pilot. I didn’t remember that he was in two other episodes. Enjoy!

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Re: Simon & Simon DVDs

#295 Post by Little Garwood »

Season and Episode Number: Season 5, Episode 12
Episode Title: Sunrise at Camp Apollo
Original Airdate: January 2, 1986
Writer: Steve Stoliar
Director: Kim Manners

Synopsis: Rick and AJ become involved in a camp for troubled youth suspected of robberies in an upscale neighborhood. The teens refuse help but Julio is arrested for murder and the PI's have ideas about kindly Ross Garrett plus the wealthy kids who hang out at his pharmacy.

Guest Cast: John Dennis Johnston (Lenny, Camp Operator); Troy Slaten (Cricket); Eric Schiff (Randy Chandler); Roberto Román (Julio Sanchez); Jay W. MacIntosh (Estelle Chandler); Sandy Ward (Frank Chandler); Gail Barle (Rita). Special Guest Star Gordon Jump (Ross Garrett).

Rating (1-10 stars): 8/10

Review/Observations: The episode features an excellent Gerald McRaney performance, most notably in the police station scene with Julio. One can easily believe that Rick was once like these troubled kids.

The young actors playing the campers are typically ‘80s TV “tough kids” and their performances vary in quality. The ending is a little pat and wrapped up all too quickly. Still, the episode has its heart in the right place, and is enjoyable for that reason, as well as the superb performance by McRaney.

The title is a play on the film Sunrise at Campobello (1960), which starred Ralph Bellamy and Greer Garson as Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt.

Sunrise at Camp Apollo is the first Simon & Simon episode broadcast in 1986 (January 2).

It’s another WKRP in Cincinnati reunion, as guest star Gordon Jump, in another villainous post-WKRP role. Jump played the despicable Mr. Horton in the 1983 Diff’rent Strokes episode The Bicycle Man. Here, Jump’s WKRP co-star Tim Reid shares a scene when Downtown Brown arrests Jump’s character, Ross Garrett.

The Opening Comedy Scene is the Simons occupying their bowtie-wearing neighbor, the nebbishy neighbor, Warren Taubam, plying him with snacks and beverages while Town conducts a raid on Taubam’s house, which has an explosive device planted in it.. Taubam recalls was pistol-whipped by a clown who was waiting for the Simons.

Marlowe is seen sitting on the footrest of the living room easy chair in the opening scene.

Rick wears a Woodland camouflage United States Marine Corps cap and grey USMC sweatshirt--rehearsals for Major Dad.

AJ, searching the various bunks, pretends to have done 88 pull ups for the benefit of the returning campers.

Rick and AJ pull pranks on one another in camp. Rick’s bunk all dump buckets of water on AJ. Rick, soapy and wet while showering, has his water shut off and his clothes taken away from him along with the lights turned off.

When their initial searches fail to uncover any stolen precious metal items, Rick suggests to AJ that Cecilia should come to the camp “and bring up a couple of metal detectors. NPR 2240’S ought to do the trick.”

The Camp Apollo “lake” looks to be the same body of water that Rick plows through with the Power Wagon (not seen in this episode) in the opening credits. The lake is waist deep. Both AJ and Rick are seen swimming in it.

Gail Barle has a brief walk-on bit as counselor Rita, who gets Rick and AJ’s attention and an invite to the girls’ camp going away party. Later, in the night time camp party scene, Rita and AJ sit together, with AJ making sure Rick doesn’t sit between him and Rita.

There’s a spectacular night time car crash into a telephone pole when Frank Chandler pursues the burglars after they hit his house a second time.

Officer Nixon gets one line, telling Julio “good luck” when the latter is released from police custody.

Town is the victim of the bucket-of-water gag, which is how the episode ends.

Simon Back Story: AJ has an old brown duffel bag with the words AJ SIMON ESQ. and BEAVERS FOREVER written on it. Cecilia says she wishes there had been youth camps when Rick was young, as he cost the family $5,000 “for that one week in the military academy.” Rick replies, “How could I know the cannon still worked?” The last time the Simons went to a camp, AJ was eight years old.

When a bunkhouse search yields a copy of “Bill’s Tractor Trailer Equipment Rentals” calendar with its “Girl of the Month” feature, Rick says, ”I thought they stopped coming out with that twenty years ago...still get excited every time I see a tractor rig.”

Rick tells AJ that when he was in camp, he used to hide his beer at the bottom of the lake.

When Julio is fighting with another camper, Rick tells AJ not to break up the fight, because “Dad never broke us up, did he?”

When one of the kids asks the Simons which camp they were at last summer, Rick stammers and then answers, “Guadabompo.” When Rita asks, “Guadabompo? In Mexico? But I thought that was a prison camp!” Rick replies, “It is. It was just a little misunderstanding. We were only there a couple of days. Oh, hey Town…” Going by the January airdate, this would have been in the summer of 1984, since it is assumed that this episode takes place in the summer of 1985.

Cecilia recalls “the first time Rick was arrested. They said he stole old McDougall’s car and took it for a joyride, just because he had the reputation for getting into trouble. And after an entire day at the police station, his father and I finally convinced them that Rick couldn’t have possibly done it.” Rick cringes throughout and then says, “I did it.” Cecilia says that’s not the point. The point is we stuck together and had faith in each other no matter how bad things looked. When a kid asks if AJ was ever arrested, Cecilia says, “Uh, well…” and the scene cuts away.

Just before the final fight, one of the camp kids says: “It’s like AJ says: Sometimes ya gotta retaliate!”

Memorable Dialogue:
Rick: “I confiscated some a little potato alcohol from cabin number 8. Can’t believe these guys.” [Goes to drink it]
Lenny: [shakes head] “Uh, we gotta set an example here.”
Rick: “How...good an example?”
*Lenny goes to take away the jar, Rick pulls it back*

Undercover Shtick: The entirety of this episode is the Simons undercover as camp counselors.

Notable Use of Music: Percussion-and-synth-flute-heavy cue is heard as the Camp Apollo bus pulls into camp.

Electric drum cue during the home burglary of Estelle Chandler’s house.

Synth wooden percussion and electric guitar cue is heard as Rick follows Julio on foot through the woods, ending when the two happen upon some deer, which they both admire.

Blues Bayou acoustic guitar-electronic flute-soprano saxophone cue as Rick breaks into Julio’s camp foot locker.

The Thoughtful Simons Chime is heard, followed by by a mournful, sympathetic soprano sax piece when Rick goes to talk to Julio at the police station.

A lame generic ‘80s rock music song is heard at the rich kids’ dance. “My daddy always said to me/there’s nothin’ in this life you get for free/whatever you get, there’s always a girl that’s due, yeah/on the day that I said goodbye, you shook my hand, the tears were in your eyes/son ya gotta do what ya gotta do…”

1980s-ness: The February 20, 1984 issue of Time magazine, featuring the then recently-deceased Soviet Premier Yuri Andropov on the cover, is seen on Cecilia’s coffee table. That issue of Time was well over a year old when this episode was filmed. Andropov’s successor, Konstantin Chernenko, had died in March 1985, nearly a year before this episode was first broadcast.

The Julio’s Mullet hairdo and cut-off sleeve sweatshirt.

San Diego References: Town wears a tan SDPD cap in the opening scene.

Flubs: When Town dives over a glass counter to tackle one of the thieves, it’s clearly Tim Reid’s stuntman.

Head camp counselor Lenny says, “Vigilantes don’t need any proof! They’re calling in all the political favors they can mustard!”[sic]
"Popularity is the pocket change of history."

~Tom Selleck

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Re: Simon & Simon DVDs

#296 Post by Little Garwood »

Season and Episode Number: Season 5, Episode 13
Episode Title: The Blue Chip Stomp
Original Airdate: January 16, 1986
Writer: Gary Rosen
Director: Dennis Donnelly

Synopsis: A college basketball star is being pressured by his brother to make easy money from gamblers. When a recruiter is murdered, AJ and Rick are on the case to help the young man while busting the syndicate.

Guest Cast: Fran Bennett (Wanda Tate); Ron Doyle (Toby Heinz); Lawrence-Hilton Jacobs (Gordon Tate); Everette Lamar (Stanley Tate); Susan Blu (Heinz's secretary); H.M. Wynant (Leo Graves); Lee Paul (Rollo); Steve Kahan (Coach Edison). Special Guest Star Donald Hunter (Captain J.C. Hacker).

Rating (1-10 stars): 8/10

Review/Observations: The episode itself has some moments reminiscent of The White Shadow (1978-81), which this episode "feels" like at times.

Thanks to a call from Town's SDPD superior, the hard-nosed and media savvy Captain J.C Hacker, Temple Hill beats Town to the Toby Heinz murder scene via the TV station helicopter.

Captain J.C. Hacker refers to Town and the Simons as “The Rat Pack.” Hacker doesn’t know Town, but he knows his reputation. Hacker refers to Temple Hill as Town’s “main squeeze.”

Town actually hires the Simons to investigate the Heinz murder.

Stanley “V-8” Tate is held onto by thug Rollo and driven off down the side street near the school and is then let go. The car goes about 40 mph. Stanley is unhurt.

Hacker tosses his ice-filled beverage cup into a dumpster where Town is hiding from him, thus spattering Town’s sweatshirt.

AJ gets punched in the face by a woman he bumps into during the barroom brawl at The Limelight.

There’s a nighttime establishing shot of the San Diego PD exterior.

Officer Nixon is seen during the Gordon Tate arrest. Nixon does not have any dialogue.

The stream from the fire hose AJ uses to blast the thugs doesn't look nearly powerful enough to cause the guy to roll down the floor like he does.

Temple asks Town out to dinner in the lead up to the episode's freeze frame.

Simon Back Story: None.

Memorable Dialogue:

Rick: “Town, I want to get a bet down on the daily double. There’s a place up here about five blocks down, just turn right at the next light.”

Town: “Let me ask you something, is this the kind of place I might have to arrest myself in?”

Rick: “Not if you don’t go in.”
--------
Captain Hacker: “Let me lay it out for you, Downtown. That’s what your friends call you, isn’t it? We don’t know each other, but I know your reputation in the department. You’re a good cop, but you have the tendency to slide across the lines when it pleases you. A little Bunco today, a little burglary tomorrow. What we have here is a homicide. Clean as a hole through Mr. Heinz over there. We don’t need you, Brown.”
-------
AJ (posing as a federal jerk): “Lt. Brown! I want you to get rid of Mr. Meakin with an “a.” Then I want you to get me the Federal Disease Control Center in Atlanta, and then I want you to go out and buy yourself a large bottle of amnesia.”

Undercover Shtick: At the coroner's, AJ plays a "big federal jerk" and Rick poses as a “freshly-murdered” corpse.

Rick as a Texas basketball recruiter, complete with cowboy hat, bolo tie, and boots. His drawl sounds more like Louisiana or even Virginia. He claims to be the first to actively recruit players from Africa. When the other recruiter asks Rick what school he's from, Rick the Texan replies, "Hard knocks, son. Hard knocks."

At The Limelight club, AJ plays a bookie who beats up “20 bet welsher” Rick. This is done so that AJ can talk with Leo Graves, and so Rick can snoop around in search of Gordon Tate, who is about to be eliminated by Graves’ goons.

Rick and AJ as overalls-wearing, water delivery men to the late Toby Heinz's office. AJ: "He may be dead, he didn't cancel his water." AJ calls Rick “Barney.”

Rick and AJ as suit-and-sunglass-wearing henchmen of "Mr. Cantrell from Newark, New Jersey" when they nab Rollo--by gunpoint. This tactic seems like kidnapping, forced confession, and false imprisonment to me.

Notable Use of Music: The sax-driven opening music sounds like The Cosby Show theme and another, earlier CBS series, The White Shadow.

“Urban Streets” slow electric guitar, electric bass, and synth cue as the Simons pull up to the Tate house and shortly after they leave. Another, similar-sounding cue is heard while Town tails Stanley Tate to the city youth center.

Cool synth-flute, percussion, and acoustic guitar while Rick walks down the hallway to where Gordon Tate is being braced by thugs.

The electric “Simons Slide” cue is heard when Gordon is freed from the thugs.

Electric guitar and metal percussion cue as the Simons drive Rollo to "Mr. Cantrell", played by Town with a wheezy voice.

Electric guitar and what sounds like wooden percussion along with a droning synth flute when Simons and Town chase the thugs underneath the bleachers at the gym and also in the subsequent gun battle in the locker room.

1980s-ness: Gordon Tate's "El Debarge" Jheri Curl hairdo. The women's poofy hairdos in the audience at the basketball game, especially one bleach-blonde with a "Flock of Seagulls"-type hairstyle. Temple Hill’s sawed-off looking red coat--it looks like half a wool trench coat. Town’s aqua workout pants with snaps on the front of the legs.

San Diego References: Fictional Canyon High School; "CU," (Canyon University). There are also car stickers with "Eastern Atlantic" and "Pacific Western" affixed to the bumpers. Town wears a "McDonald's"-style San Diego Padres cap at The Limelight nightclub.
"Popularity is the pocket change of history."

~Tom Selleck

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Re: Simon & Simon DVDs

#297 Post by Little Garwood »

Next week’s review will be my last for a bit, not that anyone notices them… :wink: Just need a break from the Simonverse for awhile…the show is forever intertwined with my childhood, so there is all the weighty “baggage” that goes with exploring one’s “old days.” Thanks to anyone who’s bothered to read my ramblings up to this point; I appreciate it.
"Popularity is the pocket change of history."

~Tom Selleck

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Luther's nephew Dobie
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Re: Simon & Simon DVDs

#298 Post by Luther's nephew Dobie »

Little Garwood wrote: Fri Oct 29, 2021 2:05 am Next week’s review will be my last for a bit, not that anyone notices them… :wink: Just need a break from the Simonverse for awhile…the show is forever intertwined with my childhood, so there is all the weighty “baggage” that goes with exploring one’s “old days.” Thanks to anyone who’s bothered to read my ramblings up to this point; I appreciate it.
Well I read them Garwood and get a big kick out of them. I can't add anything as it has been so long since I viewed an episode.
I don't understand why it never appears on any of my Comcast channels. It is one of the high points of 1980's TV and it rarely
made a misstep. I don't currently watch Magnum because I became too familiar with all the episodes and I don't want to
ruin my enjoyment of them as entertainment. You become too familiar with a given episode and it becomes just a series
of quotes instead of being able to lose yourself in an enjoyable adventure.
Simon & Simon would be a perfect substitute for Magnum in the meantime but the networks are busy running Three's
Company for the thousandth time.
I look forward to your return to this thread Garwood.

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ZelenskyTheValiant (Ivan)
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Re: Simon & Simon DVDs

#299 Post by ZelenskyTheValiant (Ivan) »

Luther's nephew Dobie wrote: Fri Oct 29, 2021 4:25 am Simon & Simon would be a perfect substitute for Magnum in the meantime but the networks are busy running Three's
Company for the thousandth time.
Yes, but THREE'S COMPANY is stronger than SIMON. :wink: In fact it gives MPI a run for its money. I would say it's one of the top sitcoms of all time and certainly the best from the late 70s/early 80s time period.

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Re: Simon & Simon DVDs

#300 Post by Lucylou123 »

Hello. I love this RE I have to say! I was wondering if I could ask you all something. If you're a Simon and Simon fan, could you please recommend me any scenes/episodes where Aj is hurt physically or emotionally and Rick comforts him, or maybe just any great AJ episodes in general because I'm trying to write more fanfics and I need inspiration from the hurt/comfort side of things, but I can only recall a couple of examples of what I just told u. Plus I'd love to watch more episodes like that. If u can't help that's ok

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