You know what the drawback of watching Simon & Simon is? No, it's not the thing about old TV being finite. I'm fairly upbeat about that with S&S, given that it managed to last for the entire 1980s. It's the fact that they've twice had Henry Darrow guesting as a bad guy. In the first season he did the right thing in the end, but in the seventh season episode that I just watched the other night, he was not only spectacularly evil, but he got blasted to death with a machine gun. They don't kill people all that often on the show, so this is doubly unfair! And yes, okay, it was pretty thoroughly deserved, but he's Henry Darrow. I am on his side, always. Even when he tries to kill AJ Simon. (Sorry, AJ).
I'm sure I've said this before, but play nice, television. When you're killing people, Manolito Montoya is off limits.*
Speaking of television (when do I ever speak of anything else?!), I keep meaning to mention The Scarlet Pimpernel. It was horribly dull though, so I never bothered while I was watching it; but![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
liadt recently made me think of it again. Produced in the 1950s, this is a black and white show that co-stars Patrick Troughton (credited as Pat Troughton). It's roughly the same age as the likes of The Adventures Of Robin Hood (sometimes slow, but generally fun), and The Adventures Of Sir Lancelot (gloriously entertaining). Maybe the lack of "The Adventures" in the title should have been a warning?! It's bad. No, really. Given my frequent standards, if I'm saying it, then you know it's bad. The lead is a charisma-free zone, and although dear old Pat gives it his all in trying to jolly things along, it's a task comparable to trying to pep up wallpaper paste. I recommend avoiding this one. Although! The final episode does have a jolly good guest star. Sadly, it's one of the two episodes that the Trout isn't in, which is an example of Fate being a bitch. Because, bereft of his Beard of Evil, and in a rare outing as a hero, we have this fellow here:
Took me a moment to recognise him without the beard, I must admit! (Watching on YouTube has its downside). But then he smiled, and there was no mistaking him. Damned scriptwriters though. Couldn't they have known?! Somehow?! We could have had Patrick Troughton and Roger Delgado, together in the 1950s and creating a time paradox. But no. Instead there's just Marius Goring, being the dullest hero that ever badly failed at swashlebucking. Troughton and Delgado did actually appear in several of the same things, back in ye olde black and white days (including one serial, Queen's Champion, that even had a little Frazer Hines in it as well). The BBC thoughtfully lost that one though. And, in a twisted mirror of The Scarlet Pimpernel, Delgado was a regular in the 1960 series The Splendid Spur, which Troughton once guested on - in an episode that didn't feature Delgado. WTF, universe?! This is just cruel. They did a TV play together in 1956, which still exists, remarkably, but the BBC is sitting on it, so nobody seems to know if Delgado and the Trout actually had any scenes together anyway. It's a conspiracy, and life is harsh and cruel. Woe woe, etc and so forth.
So yeah, that's my bit of public service for the month. Avoid the 1955 TV adaptation of The Scarlet Pimpernel, lest you be sucked into a spiraling mire of boredom and despair. Older is not always best. (I do quite recommend the 1982 movie version though, even if it is about three hours too long, and doesn't have Malcolm Jamieson in it nearly enough).
Swashbuckling should never be done badly. It's mental cruelty, plain and simple.
* Yes, apparently I did. It was when they killed him in an episode of Hart To Hart, the unfeeling sods.
I'm sure I've said this before, but play nice, television. When you're killing people, Manolito Montoya is off limits.*
Speaking of television (when do I ever speak of anything else?!), I keep meaning to mention The Scarlet Pimpernel. It was horribly dull though, so I never bothered while I was watching it; but
liadt recently made me think of it again. Produced in the 1950s, this is a black and white show that co-stars Patrick Troughton (credited as Pat Troughton). It's roughly the same age as the likes of The Adventures Of Robin Hood (sometimes slow, but generally fun), and The Adventures Of Sir Lancelot (gloriously entertaining). Maybe the lack of "The Adventures" in the title should have been a warning?! It's bad. No, really. Given my frequent standards, if I'm saying it, then you know it's bad. The lead is a charisma-free zone, and although dear old Pat gives it his all in trying to jolly things along, it's a task comparable to trying to pep up wallpaper paste. I recommend avoiding this one. Although! The final episode does have a jolly good guest star. Sadly, it's one of the two episodes that the Trout isn't in, which is an example of Fate being a bitch. Because, bereft of his Beard of Evil, and in a rare outing as a hero, we have this fellow here:Took me a moment to recognise him without the beard, I must admit! (Watching on YouTube has its downside). But then he smiled, and there was no mistaking him. Damned scriptwriters though. Couldn't they have known?! Somehow?! We could have had Patrick Troughton and Roger Delgado, together in the 1950s and creating a time paradox. But no. Instead there's just Marius Goring, being the dullest hero that ever badly failed at swashlebucking. Troughton and Delgado did actually appear in several of the same things, back in ye olde black and white days (including one serial, Queen's Champion, that even had a little Frazer Hines in it as well). The BBC thoughtfully lost that one though. And, in a twisted mirror of The Scarlet Pimpernel, Delgado was a regular in the 1960 series The Splendid Spur, which Troughton once guested on - in an episode that didn't feature Delgado. WTF, universe?! This is just cruel. They did a TV play together in 1956, which still exists, remarkably, but the BBC is sitting on it, so nobody seems to know if Delgado and the Trout actually had any scenes together anyway. It's a conspiracy, and life is harsh and cruel. Woe woe, etc and so forth.
So yeah, that's my bit of public service for the month. Avoid the 1955 TV adaptation of The Scarlet Pimpernel, lest you be sucked into a spiraling mire of boredom and despair. Older is not always best. (I do quite recommend the 1982 movie version though, even if it is about three hours too long, and doesn't have Malcolm Jamieson in it nearly enough).
Swashbuckling should never be done badly. It's mental cruelty, plain and simple.
* Yes, apparently I did. It was when they killed him in an episode of Hart To Hart, the unfeeling sods.