TMC
03-16-2024, 07:36 PM
Hmmm…. (https://www.quora.com/Why-was-Hart-to-Hart-rather-short-lived-but-during-that-era-other-US-series-like-The-A-Team-Magnum-PI-Hawaii-Five-0-CHIPS-Dallas-Little-House-on-the-Prairie-Knight-Rider-Falcon-Crest-Murder-She-Wrote-Dynasty-Knots/answer/Jon-Mixon-1)
It wasn’t very good - The series was formulaic, dull, and neither of the two leads could spark much interest in themselves or the series. There are many episodes where their dog (Freeway) and their majordomo (Max) are more interesting than the leads…or that episode’s story.
Robert Wagner has never been too appealing as a lead - For a guy who has been hired to star in a number of television series, there’s something lacking in Robert Wagner that fails to keep him on air too long. His character on this series was the “rich, suave, playboy” that Wagner specialized in, but this time he has a wife. Not much character range and not much interest from television audiences.
Stefanie Powers was bland - Powers was popular with television productions during the 1960s and 1970s, but she was never really popular with audiences. She occupied a niche between pinup cheesecake and legitimate actor, and there really wasn’t a lot of interest in performers within that gap. Powers didn’t add much to the program and occasionally her “chemistry” with Wagner seemed to falter, especially in the last season.
It was essentially a far less interesting Thin Man homage - Wagner and Powers didn’t have the talents or the charisma that William Powell and Myrna Loy did, and audiences had seen better, elsewhere.
The death of Natalie Wood - During the filming of the series, Wagner’s then-wife, actor Natalie Wood, died under rather odd circumstances, after an argument at night on their rented yacht. While the ABC and Aaron Spelling (the network and the show’s producer) stood behind Wagner, the matter always haunted the series in the background. Wagner was never arrested for Wood’s death; however he’s never been forthcoming about the matter in a way that would have “reassured” audiences and so he subsequent projects have met with mixed levels of success.
It wasn’t very good - The series was formulaic, dull, and neither of the two leads could spark much interest in themselves or the series. There are many episodes where their dog (Freeway) and their majordomo (Max) are more interesting than the leads…or that episode’s story.
Robert Wagner has never been too appealing as a lead - For a guy who has been hired to star in a number of television series, there’s something lacking in Robert Wagner that fails to keep him on air too long. His character on this series was the “rich, suave, playboy” that Wagner specialized in, but this time he has a wife. Not much character range and not much interest from television audiences.
Stefanie Powers was bland - Powers was popular with television productions during the 1960s and 1970s, but she was never really popular with audiences. She occupied a niche between pinup cheesecake and legitimate actor, and there really wasn’t a lot of interest in performers within that gap. Powers didn’t add much to the program and occasionally her “chemistry” with Wagner seemed to falter, especially in the last season.
It was essentially a far less interesting Thin Man homage - Wagner and Powers didn’t have the talents or the charisma that William Powell and Myrna Loy did, and audiences had seen better, elsewhere.
The death of Natalie Wood - During the filming of the series, Wagner’s then-wife, actor Natalie Wood, died under rather odd circumstances, after an argument at night on their rented yacht. While the ABC and Aaron Spelling (the network and the show’s producer) stood behind Wagner, the matter always haunted the series in the background. Wagner was never arrested for Wood’s death; however he’s never been forthcoming about the matter in a way that would have “reassured” audiences and so he subsequent projects have met with mixed levels of success.