Which did you like better?When the series was called McMillan and Wife or when,at the end of the series.it was known as Mc Millan?

My preference is definitely when it was the original MacMillan & Wife. Susan St. James and Hudson made a good team and the episodes were more fun then. Also love Nancy Walker. After St. James left the show, it became predictable and boring to me.

Loved the on screen chemistry between Rock and Susan. It was disappointing to watch the show without her.

Why did St. James leave? She was married to a top TV executive!

Why did St. James leave? She was married to a top TV executive!

I've always heard or read that it was a salary negotiation problem. She didn't marry the TV executive (Dick Ebersol) until 1981. She was married to a makeup artist (Thomas Lucas) during her time on the series.

What bugs me most about the series is that Mac grieved for about a minute after she died. It was like she never existed at all!

What bugs me most about the series is that Mac grieved for about a minute after she died. It was like she never existed at all!


That's why I can't stand watching that last season. Can't stand that after all Mac & Sally meant to one another, he can just forget about her so fast. And the show just wasn't the same, I can see why the show was cancelled right after that. Though I believe the NBC mystery movies had ran its course and was taken off the schedule after that season.

McMillan and Wife -- definitely!!

The chemistry between Rock Hudson and Susan St. James was terrific and (I think) the stories were much much better.

The next season with McMillan only should have been heavier on plots and not so many female guests.

As much as I liked Nancy Walker, I think Martha Raye was a good replacement. That much the producers got right.

Here's what happened:

McMillan and Wife slipped in the ratings quite a bit during season 5 and was almost cancelled. NBC decided to bring it back for another season, and knew it was likely to be the final one. Susan Saint James wanted more money to renew her contract, but NBC and Universal saw no reason to spend more money on a low-rated show. Instead, they figured that killing off Sally might help turn things around - what did they have to lose, since the show was headed toward cancellation anyway.

NBC sat on the McMillan episodes for the first few months of the 1976-77 season, choosing instead to run Columbo, McCloud, and Quincy in the Mystery Movie slot. In December, they finally aired a McMillan episode, and the ratings were actually great. They rushed more episodes onto the air, and the ratings went down again. People were curious to see what happened to Sally, but they didn't like the results enough to stick around.

BTW, the new episodes took place a year after Sally's death - that's why Mac was galavanting with new girlfriends.

McMillan & Wife, i think the series is always better when Susan Saint James is around.

Susan also demanded more money during Kate and Alley too