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DVD McMillan & Wife - Season One
They were the happening '70s answer to Nick and Nora Charles from the Thin Man movies, and when McMillan & Wife premiered as part of the "NBC Mystery Movie" lineup (in three-way rotation with McCloud and Columbo) on September 17, 1971, they were an instant hit with both critics and viewers. The two-hour pilot "Once Upon a Dead Man" set the serio-comic tone for the series: San Francisco police commissioner Stewart McMillan (Rock Hudson, his film career in decline) and the goofy doofus Sgt. Enright (John Schuck) frequently found themselves in the midst of a mystery, typically beginning when McMillan's cute and kooky wife Sally (Susan Saint James) stumbled onto telltale evidence or a murder scene. The McMillans were the perfect image of '70s California cool, attending trendy parties and charity benefits while solving robberies, murders, and other malicious goings-on, sporting the latest fashions (Hudson's handlebar moustache and longish hair perfectly complementing Saint James's bellbottoms and shag hairdo) and verbally sparring with some of the goofiest dialogue this side of Hope & Crosby's Road movies. Schuck provided additional comic relief while Nancy Walker, as the McMillans' nosy maid Mildred, made brief but memorable appearances before her role was expanded in subsequent seasons.
By latter-day standards the plots are simplistic but cleverly engaging, especially given that the entire series was something of a lark. The first regular series episode "Murder by the Barrel" (9/29/71) is indicative of the series' entertainment value, and "Death is a Seven Point Favorite" (12/8/71) was a season highlight, with '70s stalwart Don Stroud as a pro football quarterback targeted for murder in a bookie scheme gone awry. And while Hudson's macho image was certainly appealing to viewers unaware of his off-screen homosexuality (several episodes end with Stewart and Sally under the sheets), there's no denying that Saint James (whose irresistible charm was previously established on Robert Wagner's caper series It Takes a Thief) was the ideal costar, a perfect Nixon-era combination of looks, humor, and flighty, non-threatening intelligence, adorable to men and acceptable to women's-lib activists. Drawing upon Universal's reliable stable of TV directors including Hy Averback and Addams Family alumnus John Astin, writers including future TV mogul Steven Bochco, and a bevy of guest stars including Andrew Duggan, Jackie Coogan, Wally Cox, Herb Edelman, Peter Bonerz, June Havoc, Rene Auberjonois, Tyne Daly and many others, the debut season of McMillan & Wife (totaling 10 hours and 25 minutes of viewing time) provided a strong start for the series, which lasted (ultimately without Saint James) until 1977. --Jeff Shannon
I loved this show growing up and have watched each episode many times. I am really looking forward to Season Two. I wanted to comment on another reviewer who mentioned that in the last episode of the first season, Sally was pregnant. I, too, can't figure out what happened because in Season Two and Three, I don't believe any mention is made of a miscarriage but no baby is mentioned. Then, in Season Four, I believe, she got pregnant in real life and the pregnancy was once again written into the show. This time she got into her Eighth month of pregnancy in the show and for one episode, the baby being born is mentioned, but the baby is never seen and then once again, the last season is without any mention of a baby. I am sure that her pregnancy had to be written into the show, as she was really pregnant. But why and how did they get away with this huge hole in the plot. I am curious if anyone else finds this strange and maybe in the "Trivia" section, someone can explain this to all the millions of McMillan fans who wonder as I do. It's one mystery that I want to solve soon!! Help!
Finally on DVD - My favorite show from the 70's
I was still in grade school when the Sunday Night Mystery Series came out but watched it every weekend with my mom. McMillian and Wife was always my favorite. Watching the show brings back fond memories of watching with mom, but also of the effervescent Susan St. James, the bitingly funny Nancy Walker, endearing John Schuck and of course the ultra-cool and patient Rock Hudson as the commissioner.
I'll have to echo the comments already aired here about the lack of any special features or inserts. What gives here? Also, the dual layer DVD's are a real drag. How about a little more substance for the season two set, Universal? Don't be so cheap!
Finally, you've got to add in the Mystery Movie whistle theme...
Love the show, so glad to see the DVD's. Let's go Season Two!
BEWARE OF UNIVERSAL COMPILATIONS!
If my review were based solely on the merits of "McMillian & Wife", it would easily score five stars. This modern interpretation of Dashelle Hammett's Nick and Nora Charles from "The Thin Man" is, to its fans, almost flawless television. It was my favorite of the NBC Mystery Movie entries, and today I enjoy it even more than I did then. How delightful to slip back into the more innocent, gaudy, fun times of the 1970's with Mac and Sally.
However, one must beware of DVD compilations released by Universal Studios. Like all of my other Universal sets, skips and sticks beset this one. Two of the eight episodes are ruined, one has a gap of about 90 seconds that is lost to a sticking problem, and another loses almost ten minutes in this same fashion. There are similar comments all over Amazon reviews by others who have had these same problems with Universal sets. We also own the Dragnet set, which skips, sticks, and has a totally jacked menu. We recently purchased the Adam-12 set, and it not only skips and sticks, it appears to have actually damaged our DVD player. Now the machine makes a loud whirring sound, and has begun to skip and stick on ALL DVD's.
I can't imagine what is wrong with those people at Universal, but they are putting out some seriously botched product. Buy any set from them with caution.
A viewer's favorite from the get-go, McCloud applied country-to-city humor to the popular police-series formula that exploded on TV networks in the early 1970s. Although it would eventually become part of the three-way line-up on the "NBC Mystery Movie" schedule (where it rotated with McMillan & Wife and Columbo, the series pilot premiered (on September 16, 1970) as part of NBC's "Four-in-One" cycle of TV miniseries (Rod Serling's Night Gallery was also in that foursome), and its popularity quickly earned a regular network timeslot, first on Wednesdays at 9:00 p.m. and later as the "Mystery Movie" threesome settled into a well-rated Sunday-night slot. To be sure, McCloud owed almost all of its success to the perfect casting of Dennis Weaver as Deputy... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Dennis Weaver DVD Release Date: Released the 09 August 2005 Usually ships in 24 hours
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Oh, just one more thing, mystery mavens--get ready to be mystified and entertained by the award-winning third season of Columbo, starring Peter Falk as the rumpled but unbeatable Lieutenant. Having taken home Emmys for outstanding limited drama and lead actor in its '71-'72 debut season, Columbo was again named best drama for its third season ('73-'74). The reason for the repeat success? The formula remained the same: intelligent, engaging scripts and direction, guest performances by top actors, and, of course, Falk at center stage as Columbo, the most unlikely of supersleuths, but unquestionably one of the sharpest (the role would later earn Falk three more Emmys between 1975 and 1990). The 10 episodes compiled in this two-disc set again feature top talent from film and... More Info about this DVD Director(s): Steven Spielberg DVD Release Date: Released the 09 August 2005 Usually ships in 24 hours
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Created by Sidney Sheldon (I Dream of Jeannie), Hart to Hart was a Thin Man for the 1980s. Self-made millionaire Jonathan (Robert Wagner, It Takes a Thief) and part-time journalist Jennifer Hart (Stefanie Powers, The Girl from U.N.C.L.E.) even had their own Asta-like pooch, Freeway. Unlike Nick and Nora Charles, however, children weren't part of their globe trotting, crime solving plan. Fortunately, they had trusty butler/Bentley driver Max (Golden Globe winner Lionel Stander) to keep them company.
Mr. And Mrs. H., as Max referred to them, were introduced by 1979's two-part pilot ("Hart to Hart"), which features Roddy McDowall and Stella Stevens as devious doctors and Wagner's future wife, Jill St. John (Diamonds are Forever), as a wealthy... More Info about this DVD Director(s): Gabrielle Beaumont - William Whitehead - Bruce Kessler - Karen Arthur - Stuart Margolin DVD Release Date: Released the 25 October 2005 Usually ships in 24 hours
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Armchair sleuths, get out your trenchcoats: Universal has released the sophomore season (1972-73) of the classic detective series Columbo, starring Peter Falk as the sage but rumpled police lieutenant. As with the first season, there's plenty of star power in front of and behind the camera to abet Falk in these eight 90- and 120-minute episodes: John Cassavetes stars in the season premiere, Etude in Black, as a philandering symphony conductor, with Blythe Danner and Hollywood legend Myrna Loy in support; Oscar winner Ray Milland is a scheming orchid grower in "The Greenhouse Jungle," co-starring Bradford Dillman and William Smith; Robert Culp and Dean Stockwell are a football team manager and owner, respectively, whose disagreements blossom into murder in "The Most Crucial... More Info about this DVD Director(s): Steven Spielberg DVD Release Date: Released the 08 March 2005 Usually ships in 24 hours
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Remington Steele's fusion of whodunit mystery and screwball comedy burst onto television in 1982. After struggling to get clients to hire a female detective, Laura Holt (sultry Stephanie Zimbalist) invents a fictional boss named Remington Steele, whose dashing manly name draws in work. But while protecting some South African jewels, Holt runs across a mysterious thief and con-man (an elfin, baby-faced Pierce Brosnan) whom her client assumes is the nonexistent Steele--and when the case is resolved, the accidental detective decides he likes the work and sticks around, infuriating Holt with his arrogant ways and tantalizing her with his dashing good looks. Murders may occur at a winery, an island sex club, or a college reunion, but just about every episode plunders plot elements from... More Info about this DVD Director(s): Michael Gleason (III) - Robert Butler - Seymour Robbie - Rocky Lang - Thomas Carter (II) DVD Release Date: Released the 26 July 2005 Usually ships in 24 hours
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