Vintage Television

I have recently been watching some awesome vintage television. Quincy ME with Jack Klugman, Ironside with Raymond Burr and The Rockford Files with a James Garner. What an amazing three hours of television.

Besides the obvious, that they are crime shows and the protagonists name is in the title, they all three have one thing in common. The musical score is important to each episode because it was used to either convey a tone or a mood. This is particularly true of Ironside -- I've just finished watching the first season and am starting the second. In the first season particularly, they didn't just use the score to set mood and tone, but used actual songs. Their music director did an amazing job. I'm only on the second season of Ironside and I'm eagerly looking forward to the rest.

What I like about all three is that the cuts don't jump here, there and everywhere. They stay and linger on and move through the story in a gradual way, but still building up to the conclusion. The shows live and die on the strength of the iconic lead actors. Jack Klugman amazed a lot of people I think going from the comedy of The Odd Couple to the drama of Quincy. However, as Oscar Madison in The Odd Couple he had the same intense-ness of Quincy. Quincy ME was a great show at the beginning, when it was more a crime drama however in the later years it got a little too strident when espousing or exposing a cause -- I just didn't find it as enjoyable.

The Rockford Files has held up, maybe because it had fewer years than Quincy ME. But in this role James Garner exhibited a lot of what has made him popular over the years. He has a real presence, charm and stubbornness that he exhibited in many of the roles he played in films and television. I love to see the interaction between James Garner and Noah Beery Jr,and the interaction between Garner and Joe Santos and Stuart Margolin. Plus, he works his charm quite well on the ladies, it has certainly worked on me.