Of all the romantic comedy/thriller shows of the 1980s (including "Remington Steele," "Moonlighting," and "Scarecrow and Mrs. King") "Hart to Hart" is by far the most conventional, perhaps because it was actually a product of the 1970s (albeit 1979).
Robert Wagner is Jonathan Hart, self-made millionaire married to Jennifer (Stephanie Powers), a writer. They and their major domo, gravelly-voiced Max (and their dog, Freeway) blunder into crime wherever they go. Sort of like "Murder, She Wrote."
The leads have experience in light drama, Wagner in "It Takes a Thief" and Powers in "The Girl from Uncle." Here they play a happily-married couple in early middle age, giving them a "Thin Man" ambiance, but Wagner is no William Powell.
It errs a bit on the serious side, not yet ready to let itself go whole-hog into comedy. The background music, for instance, doesn't have a light touch. As a product of the 1970s "Hart to Hart" more silly like "Charlie's Angels" than outright funny like "The Rockford Files," though Wagner was at that point in his career able to match James Garner at easy-going, laid-back smarm.
I never liked Lionel Stander (I can't stand gravelly-voiced actors, even George C. Scott) so that's a detriment going in. I hate the name "Freeway" for the pooch.
Otherwise, the two old pros Wagner and Powers play well together. And it's nice for a TV show to recognize that married couples can be romantic, too.
Familiar faces surround them. For instance, in the pilot we see Roddy McDowell and Jill St. John, who married Wagner after the death of Natalie Wood (who also makes a cameo in the pilot). Some episodes have less high-powered names but many faces are familiar right back to shows of the 1960s.
For me, the show would be improved by sacking Max and veering more into slapstick, but that wasn't quite the way of things at that time. And Stander has an impressive resume all the way back to Harold Lloyd.
Unlike the other romantic thriller comedies of the 1980s the Harts are already married, robbing them of that question of "When will they realize they're in love like we know they are from the get-go?" Still, it lasted five seasons on the Harts being just darling.
Robert Wagner is Jonathan Hart, self-made millionaire married to Jennifer (Stephanie Powers), a writer. They and their major domo, gravelly-voiced Max (and their dog, Freeway) blunder into crime wherever they go. Sort of like "Murder, She Wrote."
The leads have experience in light drama, Wagner in "It Takes a Thief" and Powers in "The Girl from Uncle." Here they play a happily-married couple in early middle age, giving them a "Thin Man" ambiance, but Wagner is no William Powell.
It errs a bit on the serious side, not yet ready to let itself go whole-hog into comedy. The background music, for instance, doesn't have a light touch. As a product of the 1970s "Hart to Hart" more silly like "Charlie's Angels" than outright funny like "The Rockford Files," though Wagner was at that point in his career able to match James Garner at easy-going, laid-back smarm.
I never liked Lionel Stander (I can't stand gravelly-voiced actors, even George C. Scott) so that's a detriment going in. I hate the name "Freeway" for the pooch.
Otherwise, the two old pros Wagner and Powers play well together. And it's nice for a TV show to recognize that married couples can be romantic, too.
Familiar faces surround them. For instance, in the pilot we see Roddy McDowell and Jill St. John, who married Wagner after the death of Natalie Wood (who also makes a cameo in the pilot). Some episodes have less high-powered names but many faces are familiar right back to shows of the 1960s.
For me, the show would be improved by sacking Max and veering more into slapstick, but that wasn't quite the way of things at that time. And Stander has an impressive resume all the way back to Harold Lloyd.
Unlike the other romantic thriller comedies of the 1980s the Harts are already married, robbing them of that question of "When will they realize they're in love like we know they are from the get-go?" Still, it lasted five seasons on the Harts being just darling.