by 007hertzrumble | Sep 6, 2016 | Remington Steele
For the last two volumes of #SteeleTweet I had to carefully weigh my episode options. For the last live tweet I went back to rewatch contested episodes because I couldn’t quite decide. Not so with Volume 4. These two episodes stand out so strongly in my memory that I really had no choice in the matter. These episodes chose me. Sure, I’d like to live tweet the episode with Steele and Holt pretending to be an alcoholic married couple… but I’ll leave that to you as homework. It’s episode 14, by the way, “Hearts of Steele.” Highly recommended… but not quite as highly recommended as the following two episodes of Remington Steele goodness.
“A Good Night’s Steele” is an irrefutable series classic. Laura and Steele slip into a sleep clinic as physician and patient to identify a morphine thief. All you need to know about this episode is that Remington Steele becomes increasingly loopy as sleep deprivation sets in. Brosnan again gets to showcase the foppish, comedic side of the character. You’ll also note Paul Reiser in a guest starring role.
For our second episode of the evening, I’m tapping “To Stop a Steele” which pits Laura against Remington on opposite sides of a jewel heist. Laura has been hired by the jeweler to locate a priceless diamond while Steele has been hired by the thief who tried to steal the diamond but found the vault empty. Now they’re both trying to find the hot rock from opposite sides of the law.
Join us Wednesday, September 7th @ 9pm ET for #SteeleTweet Vol. 4. Embeds for the episodes will be provided. Follow #Bond_age_TV, supplement with #SteeleTweet to let all the squares know what we’re doing.
by 007hertzrumble | Aug 1, 2016 | Remington Steele
My anticipation for each of these Remington Steele live tweets has been growing with each new episode double feature. I wanted to start with a heavy dose of early Steele episodes because they showcase the development of showrunners’ growing confidence with the characters. Consequently we’ve viewed four of the first five episodes through the first two Volumes. For Volume 3, we’re going to jump ahead to Episodes 9 and 10. Not because I dislike anything in between, but because Remington Steele begins to hit its stride during these middle episodes of the first season. If you want to go back and view other episodes I strongly considered, check out Episode 6 – “Steele Belted” – Remington Steele has to team up with Murphy to solve the case and it’s a bit like the Seinfeld episode where Elaine and George have to hang out without Jerry. Also check out Episode 8 – “You’re Steele the One For Me,” which is one of the more outlandish early episodes as it involves Remington Steele and Laura clashing with the Yakuza. Nice. Now you have some homework.
For our live tweet purposes, however, it’s Episodes 9 and 10 and I’m sticking with those picks. Episode 9, “In the Steele of the Night” was actually an episode I’d forgotten about until Pam (@fallonthornley) mentioned it in one of our programming discussions. Laura and Murphy attend a professional reunion, and Steele tags along. When the host turns up dead, the party attendees turn to Remington Steele to solve the whodunnit. Except of course that Remington has no idea how to conduct a proper investigation and has to secretly turn to Laura, the proper PI, for help.
The perfect Laura Holt #facepalm from “In the Steele of the Night.”
Episode 10, “Steele Trap,” contains a similar set up and therefore functions perfectly as the second half of this double feature. Steele and Laura attend and island party thrown by a magazine publisher to investigate why a client committed suicide. One by one, the host and his guests turn up dead. The episode is also notable because Steele attempts to tell Laura more about himself. I’ll let you see how this turns out, but it’s an important statement by the series about how it’s going to approach the mystery behind the character of Remington Steele. Also, good luck keeping up with the cinematic references in this episode.
Join us Wednesday, August 3rd @ 9pm ET for #SteeleTweet Vol. 3. Embeds for the episodes will be provided. Follow #Bond_age_TV, supplement with #SteeleTweet.
by 007hertzrumble | May 31, 2016 | #Bond_age_TV, Remington Steele
On Wednesday, June 1st, #Bond_age_TV welcomes a new show into the family. If you’ve been following our dialogue on Twitter for any amount of time, you probably know that this has been a long time coming. After giving good twatter to the Pierce Brosnan Double Feature of Taffin and Tailor of Panama a couple weeks ago, I realized that I needed more Fluffy in my life. So I went ahead and booked Remington Steele for our first open Wednesday.
Introducing the newest #Bond_age_TV live tweet series: Remington Steele.
I remember rather vividly staying up to watch Remington Steele with my parents. This would have been 1983. I can date this quite precisely because my first prime time television memories are Remington Steele, The A-Team and Mr. Smith. If you need a refresher about Mr. Smith, I don’t blame you. Mr. Smith was a sitcom about a talking orangutan that first aired during NBC’s fall season of 1983. It lasted only 13 episodes and was cancelled by the end of the year. It will live in infamy as a famously terrible show, but I found it hilarious. I was 5. Talking orangutans are funny. Maybe one day we’ll live tweet Mr. Smith. (Don’t hold your breath.) That these shows have been inextricably linked in my brain probably has nothing to do with Brosnan’s hair. Probably.
Remington Steele meanwhile first aired on October 1st, 1982 and starred the dashing young Bond-to-be Pierce Brosnan and Stephanie Zimbalist, daughter of American TV actor Efrem Zimbalist, Jr. who also popped up in a recurring role on Remington Steele. (We’ll be seeing him shortly.) The show concerned Laura Holt, a licensed private investigator, who struggled because clients refused to hire a woman. To solve her problem, Laura creates a fictitious male boss to sell to potential clients. An unnamed con man discovers her secret and assumes the role of Holt’s boss, Remington Steele.
As you’ll see if when you revisit the series with #Bond_age_, the show has aged very well. Unlike many shows from the era, RS‘ blend of comedy and crime procedural still feels fresh. Part of that is due to the timeless charm of a 29-year-old Pierce Brosnan, but it’s also due to the show’s ties to classic Hollywood. The creation of Robert Butler (longtime Emmy-winning TV director) and Michael Gleason pays homage to the classic screwball comedies, film noir and detective stories of the 30’s and 40’s. Furthermore, the show subverts the homogenous, male-centric TV detective genre by telling its stories from the point of view of a young, professional woman. Remington Steele is also credited with pioneering the now-standard “will they or won’t they” romantic subplot that has buoyed television drama of all genres.
On Wednesday, June 1st #Bond_age_ live tweets the premiere episode of Remington Steele called “License to Steel” and the 2nd episode “Tempered Steele” — these fist two episodes combine to establish the series’ premise. After that I’ll handpick episodes based on crucial narrative developments and/or choice guest stars. I’m going to be using Pamela Fallon Thornley (@fallonthornley) as a special consultant for this series of live tweets because she is a certified Steele fanatic. 🙂
Join us! Wednesday @ 9pm ET. Follow #Bond_age_TV hashtag. Scatter #Steele in there for good measure. Embeds for each episode will appear on the website the day of the live tweet.
by 007hertzrumble | May 11, 2016 | Uncategorized
Note: The Spider player often does not play the video until it has been fully loaded. Press play before start time to allow the video to load. THE VIDEO WILL EVENTUALLY PLAY!
9pm: The Avengers – “The Master Minds” (#Bond_age_TV)
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10pm: Hawaii 5-O – “Twenty Four-Karat Kill” (#Bond_age_TV)
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For the last two volumes of #SteeleTweet I had to carefully weigh my episode options. For the last live tweet I went back to rewatch contested episodes because I couldn’t quite decide. Not so with Volume 4. These two episodes stand out so strongly in my memory that I really had no choice in the matter. These episodes chose me. Sure, I’d like to live tweet the episode with Steele and Holt pretending to be an alcoholic married couple… but I’ll leave that to you as homework. It’s episode 14, by the way, “Hearts of Steele.” Highly recommended… but not quite as highly recommended as the following two episodes of Remington Steele goodness.
