Reviews

I came here because I wanted to see who could write such drivel. Writing credits go to the creators. I just refuse to believe those who brought this show to life could also be the people intent on killing it. Apparently the detail they left out about season 4 is that Caroline has developed bipolar disorder and become increasingly unhinged as the season progresses. I don't know what was in their minds. Perhaps they were tired of the show and were trying to kill it off. If that was the plan, they are succeeding. It had such a great cast of talented and likable actors. They deserved MUCH better material to work with. I am sad 30 years too late.

Defying a subpoena can get you thrown in jail?! Bwhahahahahahahahahahahahahaha! How times have changed...This episode makes me sad because it points out how far this country has fallen. The rule of law is a joke at this point. Taking walnuts and football tickets can get you thrown out of Congress? Insider trading can't even get an eye blink anymore. It makes me nostalgic for a time when there were at least SOME standards for Congress. Obstruction of justice? Bwhahahahahahahahahahahahahaha! What is that? If Garland Merrick had been Attorney General, this episode couldn't have been written. I weep for this country.

I like this show. I honestly had never heard of it. With just 12 episodes it clearly didn't resonate with the public in its day. That's a shame. It spoke to important issues with wit and humor that made me laugh out loud. The cast for this show was great. The big mistake was writing out and/or replacing Valerie Mahaffey. She is good in anything she does. Julie Haggerty was not right for the role. The cameos by high profile actresses speaking about the reality of women's roles in Hollywood movies just made it obvious that too little has changed since the mid-90s. And while the show made me laugh, the message it sent coupled with the current reality made me sad.

Everyone worried about these two murderous kids more than the lawman just doing his job. I can't believe the lawman's wife was more torn up about the possible death of the boy than the fact that he's going to shotgun her husband. I guess there would be no story if the lawman had killed those boys in self defense as he would have in any other episode of this series. Everyone wants the lawman to let these kids go. Never mind that he's a dead man walking as long as these murderous kids are roaming free. This is just crazy. Robert Ryan did his best and is good with this ridiculous script. Not a very good script.

Still not as bad as Gang War due primarily to the strength of Jacqueline Scott's performance. She made a ridiculous part interesting. My least favorite episodes are the ones that focus on Betty. The writers always make her out to be an idiot. I really like Lee Meriwether but BJ did her no favors regarding the part of Betty. I hope it paid well. Hope she's still getting checks. The actor who played the psychopath also played Jessica Fletcher's nephew Grady on Murder She Wrote but I did not recognize him. He is much more likable as Grady than as a budding serial killer. The writers gave Michael Strong very little to do which is a shame because he's a very good actor.

So far season 6 scripts are just sad. Buddy Ebsen was showing his age at this point and was just plain tired. By this point the only viable show Quinn Martin Productions had was Barnaby Jones and they were desperate to keep it going. The addition of Mark Shera was obviously designed to bring in a younger audience and for a time it worked. Unfortunately, good actors can't always consistently overcome poor writing. I like Mark Shera. But he was miscast as Barnaby's nephew. If you listen closely you can hear that New Jersey accent slipping through. I like to watch old television shows and look up the cast on IMDB while I'm watching. I remain amazed at the level of training, experience, and talent many of these actors have who still have to toil in dreck to feed themselves and their families. Bradford Dillman called it being a Safeway actor-an actor who works to feed his family. Show business is a tough way to make a living and I have nothing but respect for people who can do it for any length of time and not lose their minds and their souls.

The most interesting thing about this episode to me was how much John Shea looks like Bradford Dillman. I never noticed the resemblance before. Shea was 20 years younger than Dillman but they look like brothers. I'm sure John Shea would like to forget this incredibly embarrassing turn. He, like Bradford Dillman, looks far too white collar upper class to pull this role off. As others pointed out, this episode is a mishmash of past incarnations of youth gone wild while portrayed by actors in their 30s. I admire any actor who works hard at his craft, but sometimes the end product is just terrible. The QM book I read blamed Marty Katz for a major decline in the quality of QM shows. I can see why.

So many great character actors in this episode. Parley Baer, Vic Perrin were veteran radio performers. Add Wright King to the mix. And Ted Knight. And Beau Bridges. You have to admire the combined talent of all these performers. Makes for an entertaining hour of newcomers like Stephen Brooks and Beau Bridges (and Clint Howard back when he was cute) and polished pros like Efrem Zimbalist, Parley Baer, and Vic Perrin. . I read a book about Quinn Martin that said he paid top dollar for talent and it shows. The script was not the best however. The ending seemed a little too convenient. And not particularly believable. Oh well. I enjoyed watching the pros at work.

This episode seems like something from another series. It's more like a Murder She Wrote episode than an FBI episode. It gave Stephen Brooks a chance to shine but the script was just not very good. I don't believe this story came from any FBI file. But having read a book about Quinn Martin I don't think any of the stories actually came from any of the FBI files. While it surprised me to read that I guess it makes sense. Eileen Heckart did a lot with a very small part. She was the best thing in this episode. I am watching the series out of order and just finished season 7 so going back to the very beginning has been a surprise because the early episodes are nothing like the later ones once the show found its groove.

The miscasting in this episode is epic. An Argentinian and two Italian-Americans playing Native Americans. Ridiculous. Alejandro Rey is gorgeous. Robert Blake's accent is all wrong and comes and goes. The first half of the first season is very different from later episodes: more humor and personal stories of Erskine and his daughter. Poor Stephen Brooks would see his part continue to shrink over time. No wonder he left after two years. He was a talented guy who never could get the roles he deserved. Back to this episode: full of attractive men but not a great story. The failure to cast real Native Americans is evidence of the bias found in Hollywood that exists until today. Hope it continues to improve.

The plot of this episode is weak with many gaps in logic. However, the talented leads, Nick Adams and Nancy Malone, demonstrate how good acting can strengthen mediocre writing. They are both gifted and experienced enough to draw the focus away from the flawed script and toward their dynamic personalities. Nancy Malone is one of my favorite actresses from the Golden Age of Television. I've never found her work to be less than the highest caliber. Nick Adams' work is of equally high quality. His authentic Jersey accent and athletic background served him well as a cynical fighter who has found the world a disappointing place. I have never seen Nick Adams give a bad performance. Regardless of the quality of the vehicle in which he was cast, his work was always topnotch. I am not science fiction or Outer Limits fan, but that isn't necessary to enjoy these talented performers. The episode ranks as good entertainment largely due to Adams and Malone's skill at their craft. Watch and enjoy.

This is an excellent movie. Andy Griffith in the lead role as easy-going, always well- meaning Will Stockdale is a joy to behold. Having played this part on Broadway, Griffith had a long time to hone his performance. His performance is delightful. Nick Adams, who did not have the benefit of a long Broadway run to develop his performance, is well able to keep pace with Griffith, exhibiting a fine sense of comedic timing that was rarely utilized in his future choice of roles (unfortunately). Myron McCormick, another veteran of the Broadway production, delivers an equally deft comedic performance. In fact, the entire cast, down to the smallest role, delivers high-quality performances that make this film entertaining to watch over and over again. I highly recommend this well-made film as an example of the happy result of the collaboration of talented professionals.

This episode features an excellent performance by Nick Adams as a young man addicted to gambling. The 90-minute format means it plays more like a movie than a television show. Nick Adams is in almost every scene and deftly creates a character that reflects the desperate and chaotic world in which an addict lives--lying to everyone around him, but most of all lying to himself. The drama is filled with top-notch actors who give Adams strong support. Virginia Gregg, a highly skilled and long-time radio and television performer, is particularly effective in the role of Adams's character's mother. Adams's and Gregg's scenes together as a dysfunctional family are powerful and it is a joy to watch talented professionals demonstrate their craft. Having said all that, a fundamental weakness of the series is its basic construction: the police work to catch a crook in the first half and in the second half a defense attorney works to free him. This creates disjointed story telling & undermines the cohesiveness of the narrative. I can see why the series did not thrive and how Law and Order's reconceptualization strengthened the narrative possibilities. I still think that this series in general, and this episode in particular, is worth watching because of the high caliber of acting talent it attracted.

This episode is simply superb. A talented guest cast, led by Nick Adams, delivers a psychological drama rather than a standard cowboy story. The only representative of the Rawhide cast in this episode is Eric Fleming in a small role.This episode belongs to Nick Adams. It is a shame that Emmy Awards were not given at this time for guest performers on series television because Nick Adams deserved one for his performance as an inexperienced and reluctant leader of rebellious soldiers. It is some of his finest work. John Drew Barrymore, in the role of the villain, provides strong support. I am not a Rawhide fan per se; nor am I a Western enthusiast. However, I thoroughly enjoyed this episode. Anyone who enjoys fine acting and a well written drama will enjoy it as well. Put it on your must see list.

Oh ...my....goodness. Darren McGavin is a talented actor. Nick Adams is a talented actor. While I think they did the best they could, this is simply dreadful. I sincerely hope their checks cashed because there cannot possibly be any other reason for agreeing to be involved in this cinematic disaster. One problem is that Nick Adams had very little to do. He can always be counted on to give a good performance but fiddling with some kind of dial for the majority of the picture is a misuse of his skill. I am not a science fiction fan so the story needs to be compelling to engage me. Sadly, this ain't it. I truly admire actors: they are the most underemployed group of people I know. So many talented people and not enough quality work for them. Darren McGavin lived to put this disaster behind him. He is fondly remembered for other, better roles. Sadly, Nick Adams did not live long enough to see his career turn around as well, which it very likely would have. So many actors have had second acts to their careers and he could certainly have thrived in supporting roles. I have read the other reviews and know that this film has a special place in some people's lives. Good to know. I will watch another episode of The Rebel or Saints and Sinners to see Nick Adams in a much more worthy vehicle.

A drama about a New York newspaper in the early 1960s, this show is wonderfully written and acted. I have no patience with those who say Nick Adams had no talent. They obviously have never seen his best work. Saints and Sinners was well written and acted. The guest stars were high caliber television and film stars. It is far better than a lot of fare offered today. Nick Adams had lousy luck with his television series. The Rebel was canceled for reasons that had nothing to do with his performance: it was network politics. Then Saints and Sinners didn't make it a full season because it had a lousy place on the network schedule. The only copies of this series are taken from broadcast television & their quality is only fair. I would love a remastered set of these shows. Fans of the Golden Age of Television will appreciate this show.

Previous reviews have explicated this film; therefore, I will not repeat their efforts. This film is disappointing because its leads are so badly cast. Peter Fonda delivers a performance that is best characterized as amateurish. Unfortunately, his leading lady is not strong enough to carry him. This film only comes alive during the scenes that include Nick Adams. In his early 30's when this film was made, Adams is clearly too old to be a college sophomore as the dialogue suggests he is. Moreover, the age difference between him and the delightful Deborah Walley strains credulity. Yet Hollywood has never found such pairings problematic: men are often cast against women far too young for them. Hollywood has always been a man's world. But I digress. To return to the film: the most interesting, entertaining and strongest scenes in this film are those with Adams and Walley. They display more chemistry and humor than either of the leads. It is clear to me from dialogue contained within the film itself and production stills found elsewhere that the two secondary leads had some of their scenes deleted. That is a shame. Credit for the best parts of this film belong to the supporting players and it would likely have been a better movie if their efforts had not been left on the cutting room floor. In his autobiography, Peter Fonda (understandably) has little to say about The Young Lovers. He mentioned he wanted Katherine Ross for his leading lady but was overruled. He also stated he learned the hard way what happens when you make a movie with too little money and rehearsal time. Clearly he was referring to himself; the pros on the picture (Adams, Walley, Throne, & Campanella) did good work. Unfortunately, Fonda and Hugueny are just dead weight.