"The Las Vegas Strangler" was a strong second season opener for STARSKY AND HUTCH, boasting the new, bouncier theme song, several standout guest performances, and a compelling whodunit mystery.
Setting the two-hour season premiere in Las Vegas did lend the series glamor. SANFORD AND SON's 1975 season opener was set in Vegas, as was the third season opener for CHARLIE'S ANGELS in 1977. A story set in Vegas seemed the thing to do and the place to go in the 1970s (even James Bond made the pilgrimage in his 1971 film DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER).
Okay, the premise for why Starsky and Hutch had to go to Vegas was a little wobbly. Lt. Cameron claims Vegas is so small a town where everybody knows everybody else that it's thus necessary to import a couple cops in to operate undercover. And Lt. Cameron's calling the boys "big city cops" rang hollow, as if the line were a leftover from an earlier draft of the script that set the story in Mayberry.
The popular Huggy Bear is relegated to one small scene, and a scene stolen wholesale by all-grown-up OUR GANG actor Stymie Beard, who outfits Starsky and Hutch with the snazzy threads everyone is wearing in Vegas (or was, circa 1946).
Once the latter-day Sky Masterson and Nathan Detroit hit Vegas they are supposed to lose their money gambling and get into a fight that lands them in jail. These best laid plans, however, spark a winning streak they can't break and allows for some lighthearted moments before the murder mystery begins in earnest. (Stumbling around the casino is a blitzed Foster Brooks, who enjoys little more than a cameo.) Eventually the boys land in jail, where Hutch meets an old high school buddy, Jack Mitchell. The meeting was no coincidence, but part of Lt. Cameron's plan to uncover the strangler. Jack is the primary suspect, with a record of psychological disorders and erratic behavior, not to mention the khaki pants and white shoes we earlier saw the strangler wearing.
Hutch gets defensive, insisting his friend can't be the strangler despite the compelling evidence. Hutch hasn't spoken with Jack in years, even though he soon begins referring to Jack as his "best friend." Hutch's judgment begins to be blinded by a misplaced loyalty, and it was refreshing when Starsky later calls him on it.
For much of the sprawling, two-part story it's easy to forget Starsky and Hutch are working on a case, but they're undercover and their job is to babysit Jack. They attend a party and Starsky finds himself falling for showgirl Vicky. And who wouldn't when she's played by Lynda Carter, moonlighting between first season episodes of WONDER WOMAN? Vicky unburdens her heart to Starsky, discussing her disabled daughter who requires costly surgeries. Vicky also has an abusive ex-husband who shows up as a red herring, one of several on the road to the big reveal of the strangler's identity.
The story is highlighted by its guest cast, headlined by Hollywood legend Joan Blondell as Mrs. Pruitt, spunky proprietress of a bustling drug store on the Strip frequented by showgirls. NAKED CITY and TWELVE O'CLOCK HIGH veteran Paul Burke plays Lt. Cameron, a good cop but one who ran afoul of Starsky and Hutch in an undisclosed past adventure, leading the boys to be real jerks in their dealings with him. George Tobias, best known as beleaguered husband Abner Kravitz on BEWITCHED, is virtually unrecognizable behind a bushy white beard. He makes the most of his few scenes as Ace, erstwhile barber to Ben "don't call him Bugsy" Siegel. Roz Kelly, who was playing Pinky Tuscadero on HAPPY DAYS the very week this episode aired, plays virtually the same character--a Brooklyn-accented tough chick named Iris Thayer, a brassy showgirl with stars in her eyes and a pair of pantyhose tightening around her neck.
By that time we know the strangler's identity and it's just a matter of running out the clock before he's captured or killed. The protracted gun battle and foot chase up, down and all around Circus Circus does drag a little, but has a satisfying finish. And eagle-eyed viewers will have guessed the killer's identity long before it's revealed (keep an eye peeled for tell-tale khakis and Pat Boone-issued white bucks).
I discovered the key to cracking the mystery lies with Converse. Frank Converse's appearance here was his first gig after two seasons playing sidekick Will Chandler on Claude Akins' trucker series MOVIN' ON (1974-76). Converse does a fine turn playing the increasingly unhinged Jack Mitchell. I suspect it was an inside joke, because it strikes me as more than coincidental that the name of Claude Akins' character on MOVIN' ON identifies the strangler.
Setting the two-hour season premiere in Las Vegas did lend the series glamor. SANFORD AND SON's 1975 season opener was set in Vegas, as was the third season opener for CHARLIE'S ANGELS in 1977. A story set in Vegas seemed the thing to do and the place to go in the 1970s (even James Bond made the pilgrimage in his 1971 film DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER).
Okay, the premise for why Starsky and Hutch had to go to Vegas was a little wobbly. Lt. Cameron claims Vegas is so small a town where everybody knows everybody else that it's thus necessary to import a couple cops in to operate undercover. And Lt. Cameron's calling the boys "big city cops" rang hollow, as if the line were a leftover from an earlier draft of the script that set the story in Mayberry.
The popular Huggy Bear is relegated to one small scene, and a scene stolen wholesale by all-grown-up OUR GANG actor Stymie Beard, who outfits Starsky and Hutch with the snazzy threads everyone is wearing in Vegas (or was, circa 1946).
Once the latter-day Sky Masterson and Nathan Detroit hit Vegas they are supposed to lose their money gambling and get into a fight that lands them in jail. These best laid plans, however, spark a winning streak they can't break and allows for some lighthearted moments before the murder mystery begins in earnest. (Stumbling around the casino is a blitzed Foster Brooks, who enjoys little more than a cameo.) Eventually the boys land in jail, where Hutch meets an old high school buddy, Jack Mitchell. The meeting was no coincidence, but part of Lt. Cameron's plan to uncover the strangler. Jack is the primary suspect, with a record of psychological disorders and erratic behavior, not to mention the khaki pants and white shoes we earlier saw the strangler wearing.
Hutch gets defensive, insisting his friend can't be the strangler despite the compelling evidence. Hutch hasn't spoken with Jack in years, even though he soon begins referring to Jack as his "best friend." Hutch's judgment begins to be blinded by a misplaced loyalty, and it was refreshing when Starsky later calls him on it.
For much of the sprawling, two-part story it's easy to forget Starsky and Hutch are working on a case, but they're undercover and their job is to babysit Jack. They attend a party and Starsky finds himself falling for showgirl Vicky. And who wouldn't when she's played by Lynda Carter, moonlighting between first season episodes of WONDER WOMAN? Vicky unburdens her heart to Starsky, discussing her disabled daughter who requires costly surgeries. Vicky also has an abusive ex-husband who shows up as a red herring, one of several on the road to the big reveal of the strangler's identity.
The story is highlighted by its guest cast, headlined by Hollywood legend Joan Blondell as Mrs. Pruitt, spunky proprietress of a bustling drug store on the Strip frequented by showgirls. NAKED CITY and TWELVE O'CLOCK HIGH veteran Paul Burke plays Lt. Cameron, a good cop but one who ran afoul of Starsky and Hutch in an undisclosed past adventure, leading the boys to be real jerks in their dealings with him. George Tobias, best known as beleaguered husband Abner Kravitz on BEWITCHED, is virtually unrecognizable behind a bushy white beard. He makes the most of his few scenes as Ace, erstwhile barber to Ben "don't call him Bugsy" Siegel. Roz Kelly, who was playing Pinky Tuscadero on HAPPY DAYS the very week this episode aired, plays virtually the same character--a Brooklyn-accented tough chick named Iris Thayer, a brassy showgirl with stars in her eyes and a pair of pantyhose tightening around her neck.
By that time we know the strangler's identity and it's just a matter of running out the clock before he's captured or killed. The protracted gun battle and foot chase up, down and all around Circus Circus does drag a little, but has a satisfying finish. And eagle-eyed viewers will have guessed the killer's identity long before it's revealed (keep an eye peeled for tell-tale khakis and Pat Boone-issued white bucks).
I discovered the key to cracking the mystery lies with Converse. Frank Converse's appearance here was his first gig after two seasons playing sidekick Will Chandler on Claude Akins' trucker series MOVIN' ON (1974-76). Converse does a fine turn playing the increasingly unhinged Jack Mitchell. I suspect it was an inside joke, because it strikes me as more than coincidental that the name of Claude Akins' character on MOVIN' ON identifies the strangler.
