Sun 11 Nov 2012
A TV Review by Michael Shonk: HARRY O — Season 2, Part 2 (1976).
Posted by Steve under Reviews , TV mysteries[22] Comments
HARRY O — Season 2, Part 2.
HARRY O. ABC / Warner Brothers. Season 2, Part 2. Midseason 1976, Thursday at 10-11pm. Cast: David Janssen as Harry Orwell, Anthony Zerbe as Lieutenant. K.C. Trench, Paul Tulley as Sergeant Roberts. Created by Howard Rodman. Executive Producer: Jerry Thorpe.
For the rest of the credits and Part One of this review please click here.
In 1975 Fred Silverman left CBS and became the head of the programming department of ABC. His midseason 75-76 changes to the ABC schedule had been a surprising success, and for the first time in the history of television ABC had a real chance to become the number one network in the ratings. ABC’s success would not be good news for Harry O.
Meanwhile, Harry O began 1976 with one of my favorite episodes:
“Mister Five and Dime.” (1/8/76): A female classmate (Glynnis O’Connor) of Lester Hodges (Les Lannom) is arrested for passing counterfeit money and she asks him for help. Lester, of course, turns to Harry.
Robert C. Dennis script featured a far-fetched plot and was laugh out loud funny. The script had enough twists to please Chubby Checker. What made the story so much fun was how Harry continued to get Trench into trouble with one federal agency after another. Director Richard Lang added some nice comedic touches to the jail scenes.
“Book of Changes.” (1/15/76): Jamie (Joanne Nail), a twenty year-old employee of a gambling club, witnesses the murder of her boss, Kate (Barbara Cason) during a robbery. Jamie runs, but does as Kate had earlier instructed her and delivers a tape addressed to: Harry Orwell, 1101 Coast Blvd, Santa Monica. On the tape the now deceased Kate hires Harry (Trench had told her Harry was the best PI in the business) to find her book of names she had for protection and for Harry to destroy it.
An average Harry O story with little mystery, less logic, and made watchable by Janssen and Zerbe. Harry’s love life takes a twist as Jamie tries to get Harry into bed and Harry resists due to the age difference. Director Russ Mayberry adds a nice visual touch to the cliché TV fight scene at the end with an overhead shot that gave us a great look at Harry’s home.
Trivia: Before he destroyed the book, Harry teased Trench by (pretending?) to read the name of K. C. Trench in the book. This is the only time K.C. was used, until then we wondered if Trench’s mother had named him Lieutenant.
“Past Imperfect.” (1/22/76): After spending eight years in prison, a conman turned killer (Tim McIntine) is out and looking for his old suitcase he had left with his now ex-partner (Susan Strasberg). Not knowing the old suitcase was important, she had left it behind in San Diego when she went straight and moved to L.A. Two mob-hired killers (Granville Van Dusen and Edward Power) and a mysterious man (David Opatoshu) also want the suitcase.
One of the worse episodes of the series as it was one stupid illogical scene after another. In between pointless scenes of violence, Harry beds another client, this time rudely rejecting Sue (Farrah Fawcett-Majors). Trench nearly gets the client killed in the most inept stakeout in Harry O history. And the solution to the mystery of what is in the suitcase is obvious to any student of mysteries.
“Hostage.” (2/19/76): Richard (John Rubinstein) robs a liquor store where drug dealers were scheduled to purchase a large amount of heroin. But the buyers were late, and instead of the cash there is only drugs in the safe. To make matters worse, cops spot the hold-up and one of them is shot, creating a hostage situation that is televised live. Harry has to find Richard’s junkie girlfriend (Ayn Ruymen) before the young man starts killing the hostages: Trench, a rich politician’s beautiful daughter (Collen Camp), and the drug-selling storeowner (George Loros).
A serious social problem (drugs) turned into a simplistic TV melodrama made entertaining only because of the cast. Paul Tulley as Roberts has more to do than usual and does it well.
“Forbidden City.” (2/26/76): A friend of Harry’s, PI George Dillard (Jerry Hardin) phones Harry for help (interrupting Harry and Sue’s “quality†time). Dillard asks Harry to meet him in Chinatown but is killed before he gets there. Harry learns how difficult it is for an “outsider†to find answers in Chinatown.
Entertaining mystery but with few surprises.
“Victim.” (3/4/76): A woman (Cynthia Avila) hires Harry to prove two of her co-workers (Michael Lerner and Cal Bellini) raped her.
Predictable as it sounds, the only scenes worth watching feature Harry, Trench and Roberts, who does a great Trench impression.
“Ruby.” (3/11/76): Prostitute and one of Harry’s contacts, Ruby (Margaret Avery) asks Harry for help. She has changed careers to Nurse after she took in her nephew (Stanley Bennett Clay) when his father died. Now the nephew is in jail for stealing a car and killing a cop in a car accident. In a wasted Charles Dickens inspired twist, a mobster (Joe Ruskin) has a gang of poor young men stealing cars for him.
Typical TV drama with some terrible dialog and obvious twists, but the episode was a good example of how PI (hunch player) Harry and cop (just the facts) Trench worked together, with Trench handling the “by the book†procedural side and Harry doing the PI “without rules†side.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LmDZ0KqsZRg
“The Mysterious Case of Lester and Dr. Fong.” (3/18/76): Old rich man (Dean Jagger) gathers his family together to announce he has hired Harry to find out which one of them has threaten to kill him. He then dies…of natural causes. But one family member, Lester Hodges believes the old man was murdered. Lester convinces famous criminalist Dr. Creighton Fong (Keye Luke) to look into the death, and the good Dr. Fong finds evidence of poison.
Janssen had a reduced but important part in this backdoor pilot for a possible series featuring Lester and Dr. Fong. Trench was thrilled to work with the brilliant and respected Dr. Fong even if it meant having to deal with the aggravating Lester. Every time Fong found evidence that lead Lester to convince Trench to arrest a suspect, that suspect would die.
Lester and Fong were two supporting characters in need of a lead character strong enough to carry a series. By the end of this you will realize how much of the success of the characters Trench and Lester were due to Harry Orwell and David Janssen.
“Death Certificate.” (4/29/76): Young widow (Denise Galik) and her demanding mother (Ruth Roman) had filed a malpractice suit over the death of her husband. The widow had been beaten and ordered to drop the suit. They go to Harry for help. Harry finds little to help the malpractice suit, but all the threats and violence makes him (and Trench) wonder if the husband had been murdered.
As usual, we are more interested in what happens to Harry and those around him than the case itself. Harry’s car again fails him, this time with tragic consequences.
While David Janssen and the chemistry of the cast and characters are the primary reasons for us remembering Harry O as one of television’s best mystery dramas, the series had other virtues as well.
In Television Chronicles #10 (thanks again to Randy Cox for the copy), Ed Robertson quoted executive producer (who we today would call the series “showrunnerâ€) Jerry Thorpe about the different visual style of Harry O. “…I began to stage exclusively in forced perspective – that is, ‘up and down stage,’ as opposed to ‘stage left and stage right.’â€
This reduced the need for wide angles and master shots. It was a style Thorpe learned from Sidney Furie’s The Ipcress File (1965). Among the series directors, Richard Lang was the best at using the style and directed eighteen of the series forty-four episodes.
The writers, starting with Howard Rodman and followed by Robert Dozier, Michael Sloan and the rest understood the importance of David Janssen. They focused on how to exploit the talents of Janssen, and (in the Santa Monica episodes) the relationship between Harry and Trench by using a delightful mix of humor and situations hidden inside, at first Rodman’s darker nourish tales, then the ABC approved average TV melodramas. As a result, the series gave us two of TV’s most entertaining and memorable characters, Harry Orwell and K. C. Trench.
To the surprise of many, ABC cancelled Harry O at the end of the season.
Jerry Thorpe explained in Television Chronicles #10, “(Silverman) was looking for shows that he thought had the potential to be runaway hits. That was his philosophy. He didn’t want to settle for the ‘average.’ He wanted to take chances with shows that could really elevate the network’s standing-which was exactly what ABC needed to do at the time.â€
The article mentioned the series’ ratings had dropped by one point from the first season but was “still winning its time slot on a consistent basis.†It also noted Variety (April 1976) reaction that while Harry O was the best series of those cancelled, ABC felt Harry O’s ratings would not get any better.
It is a shame that because of ABC sudden rating success there was no longer a place for Harry O, and we never again got to watch Harry drink the last of Trench’s coffee or hear Trench scream “Roberts!†as he followed Harry out of his office to question the next suspect.
Now if only Warner Brothers would release the second season on DVD.
Links to the rest of my series of Harry O reviews:
November 12th, 2012 at 11:31 am
From what little searching I’ve been able to do, I haven’t found any news suggesting that the second season will be coming out soon. Warner Brothers seems to release DVDs without much fanfare, though, so here’s hoping.
(Collector-to-collector copies of the entire series have existed and have been available for quite a while.)
November 12th, 2012 at 11:39 am
It was fun doing a review in multi-parts. It allowed me to show how the series changed over time, yet remain about the same thing – David Janssen as Harry Orwell.
In any series fiction the key to success is the characters. People must want to come back and see (or read) what happens next to the character. With TV the appeal of the character in a large part depends on the appeal of the actor.
I admit to becoming a Janssen fan late in life. I used to belong to the group of critics who thought he slept through parts. But I have since joined the other side and see his talent.
I think Janssen as Richard Diamond was the most believable PI TV has had. No knight like Marlowe or tough guy like Hammer or genius like Holmes, Janssen’s Diamond was just a guy who worked as a PI.
Then to compare Janssen’s Diamond to his Harry Orwell. Harry is less a PI and more an ex-cop. Harry was a man who lived to fight injustice. PI was never a job for Harry, he was a knight like Marlowe (where Rockford was more like Spade).
I wish the mysteries had been better, but the show was well written because it was never about who done it, but always about Harry Orwell trying to make it right.
November 12th, 2012 at 1:45 pm
Michael:
Without David Janssen we do without Harry. And not just Harry. It has always been my view that the film going experience, and that includes television and theater, is a lot less about the play and presentation than auteurists like to think. It is almost always about the leading actors and for reasons so obvious they should not require stating. I might add professional sport to this mix as well. The baseball of Ted Williams, Babe Ruth, Derek Jeter, Jackie…the football of Johnny Lujack. You know what I mean.
November 12th, 2012 at 2:53 pm
#3. As a former screenwriter (two un-produced but paid for screenplays), I have enough trouble sharing credit with the directors let alone the actors.
TV and film is group art where it takes the talents of more than one person. If I had to give credit to any one person for the series it would be Jerry Thorpe. He saw the humor of Janssen and used it better than anyone else had before.
Compare Janssen in the boring O’HARA US TREASURY and HARRY O and you can see how even the greatest actor need the kindness and talent of those behind the line.
The audience watched and enjoyed David Janssen because the writers, directors, co-stars, producers all gave him the opportunity to fully express his talents.
Janssen did run the show, ad libs between him and Zerbe were encouraged (something not all TV mysteries will allow, REMINGTON STEELE, for just one example, forced the actors to say the dialog exactly as written).
With TV/film too many hands mess with the product so I don’t buy the auteur theory even if applied to writers.
I wonder what Hitchcock would have said to you, Barry. 🙂
November 12th, 2012 at 3:06 pm
Michael:
Hitchcock’s films without Cary Grant or James Stewart are not nearly so successful. With Robert Cummings, Sean Connery or Rod Taylor they are of less interest. Admittedly The Birds works as an angry stunt. Psycho for reasons beyond my understanding. A cheap picture with some fine moments from Janet Leigh. Ah, the star. Screen writer or not Michael, everything works as a frame for the painting. A great actor.
November 12th, 2012 at 5:32 pm
I know what Michael means about film and TV being a group art. But I also know how important the actor often is in a film or TV series. For instance, Randolph Scott time and time again, elevates routine westerns and makes them enjoyable.
November 12th, 2012 at 6:44 pm
#5 Barry, series TV is not a standalone movie. Movies usually need stars to “open” the picture, but even that is not always true, as proven by blockbusters THE AVENGERS and STAR TREK: THE REBOOT.
Sometime, the major reason for a TV series success is the actor such as David Janssen in HARRY O, James Garner in ROCKFORD FILES, Raymond Burr in PERRY MASON,etc. Sometime it is the writer/producer such as JJ Abrams, Joss Whedon, Aaron Spelling,etc
But it not just them. Every name I cited had major failures in television. James Garner could not make NICHOLS work no matter how hard he tried.
Even the star needs the right series to reach success. The cast is a vital part of the success of any show, but so is everyone else who works on the series. So I agree Barry that actors are important. As Walker says in #6.
But the key to the success of any series in any form is the character. James Bond lives not only due to the actor but because of the character. Sherlock Holmes is a success with a variety of actors.
The funny part here is HARRY O was a failure. In TV, at that time, 100 episodes were considered a success. HARRY O had 44 episodes and two pilot movies. It lost buckets of money in San Diego I doubt the production company ever made back. HARRY O ratings were at best ok and more due to its lead-in STREETS OF SAN FRANCISCO which was a hit for ABC for a short period of time.
CBS usually won Thursday night with its schedule of THE WALTONS, HAWAII FIVE-O and BARNABY JONES. ABC in midseason put major hit new series WELCOME BACK KOTTER, the successful near hit BARNEY MILLER, and the fading but still very successful STREETS OF SAN FRANCISCO, followed by HARRY O with its ratings more likely to fall than rise.
The series was a failure in every way but creatively and in the eyes of us fans.
November 12th, 2012 at 8:14 pm
Michael:
If you think anyone other than JJ Abrams is talking about JJ Abrams, or Aaron Spelling, you have to revisit show business 101. These people have to pay to get their name in the paper. We only talk about the stars and/or lead and the reason is that we watch people. Listen in on their private conversations. Doesn’t mean every step they take in the business is perfect or well timed. James Stewart defined the business: He said: “If you are good what you are giving people is tiny little pieces of time that they never forget.” The other things, Barnaby Jones and Hawaii 5-0 are equally part of the equation. So what. Harry was unsuccessful for a variety of reason, but David Janssen is the only reason to think of it. And, that might be good enough.
November 12th, 2012 at 9:50 pm
While on the subject of Barnaby Jones, can someone explain to me how that show could last for eight seasons when Harry O couldn’t even make it to three? Surely we are not saying Buddy Ebsen was a man of great charisma?
Barry, I’m going to respectfully disagree with your first point in item 8 above. I actually think the press, fans, websites, academia — all of the above — are talking about people like JJ Abrams and Joss Whedon all the time.
November 12th, 2012 at 10:07 pm
Michael, your screenplays — are we talking mystery genre?
November 12th, 2012 at 10:33 pm
BARNABY JONES was a success for a couple of reasons. It was like today’s NCIS, a nice simple story with likable characters we enjoy spending time with every week. And like an old friend there is a comfort with the same safe self-contained stories of series such as BARNABY JONES. Being on CBS also helped, it never would have survived long on ABC.
It is fun reading the media at the time quoting TV experts (usually working for advertising agencies) claiming HAWAII FIVE-O and BARNABY JONES were too old (at five) to last much longer. MASH was another approaching its fifth season thought too old to survive the loss of Larry Gelbart (something many of the cast expressed worrying about as well at the time).
I hinted how important of a time of change this year was. New series such as LAVERNE AND SHIRLEY, BIONIC WOMAN, and WELCOME BACK, KOTTER was getting high 30 shares and even into the forty shares. ABC was cleaning up with its early prime time series such as HAPPY DAYS and SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN.
From “Broadcasting” (4/5/76), “ABC-TV is emphasizing comedy, variety and tongue-in-cheek adventure in the 1976-77 prime time schedule.”
The “tongue-in-cheek adventure” show was CHARLIE’S ANGELS.
Notice what all those shows I mention have in common? They all appealed to young people. Yep, demographics head beyond the rural versus urban, poor versus to people with money, to now and the success of series aimed at the 18-49 age group. And Fred Silverman for awhile would have the golden touch with series aimed at the right demographic.
This was the season that mid-size hit CANNON was cancelled. From “Broadcasting” (4/12/76), “CBS sources said CANNON’s demographics were levitating more toward low-income, rural men and women over 50 than towards the 18-to-49 year-olds that advertisers are more interested in.”
At the time of its cancellation CANNON was getting 30+ shares.
HARRY O was considered a hard action series when those were being dropped for more escapism and comedy. ABC did add one hard action series and it took HARRY O’s time period, MOST WANTED. MOST WANTED starred Robert Stack and two young actors (one a beautiful blonde) as a special police unit out to catch the “Most Wanted.” Produced by the hottest producer over at CBS Quinn Martin. Opposite of the comfortable BARNABY JONES (also by Quinn Martin), MOST WANTED barely lasted a season. YouTube has a sample of its theme song –lots of running, fast cars, and gunfire.
November 12th, 2012 at 10:51 pm
#10. David, my first was a horror film with a psycho clown (this was in the 80s before it became a cliche). Jessica Rains (Claude’s granddaughter) was trying to become a producer. I was going to Valley State College in L.A., studying film and trying to meet girls. One of my fellow student introduced us. I was hired to write a treatment, then wrote the script. The weekend before filming was due to begin the assigned director got a better job and left. They moved to the next project and by the time they got back to mine she had tried of horror and wanted to do coming of age (which like a young idiot I declined her offer to write a script–I hate coming of age stories).
The second happened while I was working at Tower Records in Northridge CA. A wannabe independent film producer hired me to produce and write the script. After I got my first paycheck, the earthquake of 94 hit and wiped out the guy financially.
Life on the creative side leaves one with great stories. My favorite is the night before I was to make my premiere as entertainment critic and expert on local (Louisiana) radio, the radio station burned to the ground.
Hopefully, Steve won’t notice I have brought him and Mystery*File my usual style of luck.
November 13th, 2012 at 12:32 am
Still here, Michael! And I hope you’ll hang around for a while, too. This series of posts on HARRY O has been one of the better things to have happened to this blog.
November 13th, 2012 at 11:12 am
Michael:
What you are saying boils down to — the reason we remember harry O at all is because of Janssen and Zerbe but…
David:
If we wnt around as Inquring Reporters we would quckly found out how many schoolchildren want to grow up just like Executive Producer JJ Abrams. My guess…? No one has even heard of him despite the promotion and advertising. A thought– Had David Selznick played Clark Gable’s part in anything…no one goes or cares. Selznick’s job, which he did well despite the self aggrandizement, was to present Gable not compete with him.
November 13th, 2012 at 12:12 pm
Barry, I do enjoy our discussions here. But there is a saying “Always is never right and never is always wrong.”
No one is arguing the actor is not important, and at times the most important element in TV and movies. But there are times when other people are more important.
REVOLUTION is an hit on NBC. How did NBC promote it? Can you even name any of the actors? In fact, the two criticisms of the show is its dumb premise and the actors. People tried it because of JJ Abrams. His past work has a cult following that will try anything his name is attached to. They stay because of the story and characters (even rooting for the death of the young child actor lead).
Barry, I respect your opinion and I will enjoy reading any response you might have to this comment. But I want to discuss HARRY O now.
November 14th, 2012 at 12:10 pm
For michael, in re #11:
Harry O‘s replacement on ABC’s Thursday night schedule was Streets of San Francisco.
SOSF‘s hour was taken by sitcoms starring Tony Randall and Nancy Walker,neither of which caught on.
Most Wanted, the Quinn Martin show, aired first on Saturday against Carol Burnett, then at midseason moved to Monday to fill part of the football slot.
Everything I’ve ever read indicates that ABC only put Most Wanted on at all to burn off the remainder of a long-standing deal QM had with them dating back to the Fugitive/FBI period; Streets also ended that season, the only one without Michael Douglas.
About Barnaby Jones:
The interesting part – ironic, really – is that the whole show was Fred Silverman’s idea in the first place.
He was still programming boss at CBS, and an hour had fallen open following Mannix.
Since Cannon was a hit for CBS with an offbeat leading man, Silverman suggested that a detective show with Buddy Ebsen might fill the hour as well as anything else they had.
Martin agreed, and Barnaby Jones was transformed from a one-shot guest appearance on Cannon into a full-fledged series, with no thought of anything really long-term.
Surprise, surprise, surprise!
Barnaby‘s long run has sometimes been attributed to the fact (rarely acknowledged even to this day) that the TV audience is by and large simply older, whether advertisers like it or not.
If you doubt that, stop and consider Fred Silverman’s career as a producer/supplier, after his network-running career ended.
Here is a partial list of Silverman’s hit shows:
Matlock
Father Dowling
Jake And The Fatman
Diagnosis Murder
In The Heat Of The Night
the Perry Mason revival movies
Now, what do the above-named shows have in common, genre aside?
(Come on, let’s not always see the same hands.)
Interestingly, Fred Silverman’s programming philosophy always seemed to change whenever he switched networks.
At CBS, he embraced the star system and programs for older viewers.
At ABC, he went for a youth movement, with action and hard comedy.
At NBC, he embraced demographics and quasi-prestige, bracketed by wild gimmickry.
As a producer, he went back essentially to the CBS model – and there he had the most lasting successes of his career.
Or so my theory goes.
Other things to stew over here; be back later.
November 14th, 2012 at 2:00 pm
#16. I am embarrassed again by the man with the “TV Guides.” MOST WANTED was originally scheduled at Thursday at 10pm, but schedules change before fall. I site the fact I commit this mistake only in the comments and never in the post itself as reason to have pity on me.
Wikipedia page for MOST WANTED makes it seem better than I remember. It quotes Robert Stack’s autobiography claiming the series was a Top 10 rating hit (#7) and was cancelled due to network politics.
Mike, I thought of you when I read that quote that CBS cancelled well rated CANNON because of demographics, that it appealed to too many rural, poor old people and not enough of the 18-49 group.
January 1st, 2013 at 4:33 pm
Update on #17. “Broadcasting” (4/25/77) lists the ratings and MOST WANTED was #59 out of 102, and trailed both NBC’s SATURDAY NIGHT AT THE MOVIES and CBS’ CAROL BURNETT.
April 19th, 2013 at 1:27 am
Supposedly,HARRY O had a 36 share at the time of it’s cancellation. Fred Silverman simply did not want to keep it. It’s been speculated that relations were always strained between the network and the show but when Silverman came along the show’s days were numbered. Zerbe and Harvey frand are on record about this. The bad blood between Silverman and Janssen may have gone back to O’HARA,U.S. TREASURY. These things are often about egos and politics.
April 19th, 2013 at 1:00 pm
#19. Dale, do you remember where you saw that 36 share rating? I read the ratings as reported by “Broadcasting” magazine and the ratings were average at best. The Nielsen’s I read had HARRY O numbers on the bubble but more importantly it was losing audience from lead in STREETS OF SAN FRANCISCO. CBS usually won the night.
It is not unusual for a new boss to replace the old guard with its own. I agree with showrunner Jerry Thorpe than this was the main reason.
O’HARA was another bubble show that could have gone either way. According to “Broadcasting,” runor claimed it was killed by Congress that attacked it for its violence. The numbers were not good enough to fight for.
Janssen was not pleased with either and his problems were not limited to Silverman but to all TV suits, as he never did another TV series after HARRY O.
There are usually more than one simple reason for any bubble series to get cancelled, so you could have a point.
December 28th, 2014 at 2:00 pm
Sorry,Michael – I had not seen your reply to my post. I certainly could be mistaken about HARRY O’s ratings. My information came from the 1989 book MURDER ON THE AIR by Ric Myers.It’s accuracy aside,it has quite an admiring chapter on HARRY O.
December 28th, 2014 at 9:07 pm
#21. Dale, hi.Thanks for visiting again. I long ago lost Myers book, but even correct it misses a point most people don’t understand about network TV. There are reasons to cancel a TV series beyond just the ratings.