Unlike British sitcoms (which aired on ETV, our educational network), for some odd reason, we would get British dramas syndicated on regular network TV.
Roger Moore's The Saint would air weekday afternoons for a while & The Champions came on too early Saturday mornings.
Don't recall when My Partner The Ghost came on, I think Saturday afternoons or somewhere there.
Left an impression obviously, because I recalled the theme and more of the adventures than I realized.
So I looked it up (thinking it was Ian McShane on the show) and was finally given the English title, Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased).
Just received the DVD set of thirteen episodes yesterday and this show was truly a delight.
What many don't seem to note is that the show didn't just go for Topper scenarios. HOpkirk couldn't touch anyone, so at best all he could do was tell Jeff things.
Yet many of these episodes show interesting setups for a ghost, much like Darren McGavin's Nightstalker would use spooks and legends from several cultures.
People under hypnosis can hear Marty Hopkirk, there is a soothsayer who thinks she is bogus and later learns she can contact the dead (much like Whoopi Goldberg would do in "Ghost"), a maid who simply always had 'the gift' can see Marty, animals can sense him, an exorcist can perceive him, then there is another ghost that only Marty can see, Jeff and Marty do a 'mind-reading' bit and several other setups.
Had the show continued, I imagine crazy people in the hospital or elderly folks with 'one foot in the grave' would see Marty as well.
The two actors in the title roles, Mike Pratt and Kenneth Cope, both totally unfamiliar to me, do the partner bit well, extremely well, as they really do seem like unlikely friends.
I imagine had the show had a decent run, in the end, Jeff would have had to marry Marty's widow. Perhaps it is good that didn't take place, some may say, but it is fun to think it did end happily ever after.
Roger Moore's The Saint would air weekday afternoons for a while & The Champions came on too early Saturday mornings.
Don't recall when My Partner The Ghost came on, I think Saturday afternoons or somewhere there.
Left an impression obviously, because I recalled the theme and more of the adventures than I realized.
So I looked it up (thinking it was Ian McShane on the show) and was finally given the English title, Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased).
Just received the DVD set of thirteen episodes yesterday and this show was truly a delight.
What many don't seem to note is that the show didn't just go for Topper scenarios. HOpkirk couldn't touch anyone, so at best all he could do was tell Jeff things.
Yet many of these episodes show interesting setups for a ghost, much like Darren McGavin's Nightstalker would use spooks and legends from several cultures.
People under hypnosis can hear Marty Hopkirk, there is a soothsayer who thinks she is bogus and later learns she can contact the dead (much like Whoopi Goldberg would do in "Ghost"), a maid who simply always had 'the gift' can see Marty, animals can sense him, an exorcist can perceive him, then there is another ghost that only Marty can see, Jeff and Marty do a 'mind-reading' bit and several other setups.
Had the show continued, I imagine crazy people in the hospital or elderly folks with 'one foot in the grave' would see Marty as well.
The two actors in the title roles, Mike Pratt and Kenneth Cope, both totally unfamiliar to me, do the partner bit well, extremely well, as they really do seem like unlikely friends.
I imagine had the show had a decent run, in the end, Jeff would have had to marry Marty's widow. Perhaps it is good that didn't take place, some may say, but it is fun to think it did end happily ever after.