I wish there was a term that distinguished a series of television movies from tv shows. The Love Boat, Dallas, and M. A. S. H. were tv shows. McMillan and Wife, Columbo, and McCloud were a lot more. I remember as a kid looking forward to which one was going to be the Mystery Movie as the three shows rotated airing each week.
The chemistry among the cast of McMillan and Wife was perfect. There was no awkward outsider among the four main characters: the Commissioner, his wife Sally, the housekeeper Mildred, and the right-hand man Sgt. Enright. They were comfortable together and believable, though not so much with the stories. The number of kidnappings and attempted murders of Mac and Sally was truly alarming. It was not as obvious seeing the show once a month as opposed to binge watching them today though. Mac also did not hesitate to include Sally in classified information and operations even from his former CIA days.
None of that really mattered though. The movies were well written and acted. They have stood the test of time; still enjoyable to watch today, nearly a half century later.
My compliments to Rock Hudson, Susan Saint James, John Schuck, and Nancy Walker for sharing their talents with the viewing public and brightening up Sunday evenings.
WARNING. SPOILERS AHEAD.
With that said, season six was quite different. Though Schuck still made minor appearances, Rock Hudson was really the only common denominator with the previous seasons. It was still a good show but not as good as it was. Hudson smoked often in the last season, but rarely in the earlier ones remarking at times of when he "used" to smoke.
The exception to this was in episodes Terror Times Two and Cross & Double Cross in season 2 and 3 respectively when Hudson also played his doppelganger, the heavy smoking sleazy wise guy Cladio Manton. The whole sixth season I could not get the image of Claudio out of my head seeing Mac suavely smoking around the ladies.
The chemistry among the cast of McMillan and Wife was perfect. There was no awkward outsider among the four main characters: the Commissioner, his wife Sally, the housekeeper Mildred, and the right-hand man Sgt. Enright. They were comfortable together and believable, though not so much with the stories. The number of kidnappings and attempted murders of Mac and Sally was truly alarming. It was not as obvious seeing the show once a month as opposed to binge watching them today though. Mac also did not hesitate to include Sally in classified information and operations even from his former CIA days.
None of that really mattered though. The movies were well written and acted. They have stood the test of time; still enjoyable to watch today, nearly a half century later.
My compliments to Rock Hudson, Susan Saint James, John Schuck, and Nancy Walker for sharing their talents with the viewing public and brightening up Sunday evenings.
WARNING. SPOILERS AHEAD.
With that said, season six was quite different. Though Schuck still made minor appearances, Rock Hudson was really the only common denominator with the previous seasons. It was still a good show but not as good as it was. Hudson smoked often in the last season, but rarely in the earlier ones remarking at times of when he "used" to smoke.
The exception to this was in episodes Terror Times Two and Cross & Double Cross in season 2 and 3 respectively when Hudson also played his doppelganger, the heavy smoking sleazy wise guy Cladio Manton. The whole sixth season I could not get the image of Claudio out of my head seeing Mac suavely smoking around the ladies.