"McCloud" The New Mexican Connection (TV Episode 1972) Poster

(TV Series)

(1972)

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7/10
Rounded up and accounted for
bkoganbing20 May 2015
This one gets a bit complicated, but all the pieces come together for a satisfactory conclusion meaning the bad guys are rounded up and accounted for.

All this begins when Dennis Weaver spots the suspect in a bank robbery from back when he was in New Mexico on the streets of New York. Weaver arrests Gary Vinson and gets the pleasure of bringing him back to New Mexico. But while in his native Taos someone calls and says that girlfriend Diana Muldaur is being held until Vinson is released. And after racing back to New York Weaver finds Muldaur has been spending the weekend with rockstar Ricky Nelson and his manager Jackie Cooper on an interview.

This episode had a solid cast of performers in it. Besides those already mentioned Gilbert Roland plays a New Mexico sheriff, Murray Hamilton a liberal commentator who's ragging on the NYPD, and Sharon Gless in a small role as a policewoman.

Most of all there's Ray Danton playing the part of a very deadly hit- man who Sam McCloud has to go the extra mile to outwit.

So what's behind all this. Let's just say someone has a lot to lose if the whole truth came out.

I particularly enjoyed this episode because of the climax involving a fight between Dennis Weaver and the chief villain on top of a stagecoach in New York City. J.D. Cannon and Terry Carter trailing Weaver, Muldaur and the bad guy in the coach can't believe what they're seeing like it was from some western film.

In fact I remember the stagecoach well. It was part of the promotion of the Cattleman steakhouse and there were two of them in midtown Manhattan. They're gone now, but in the Seventies it was not uncommon to see them around in the early evening hours. I ate at the Cattleman several times and the food was great.

Glad to see this episode of McCloud preserved that piece of New York history.
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7/10
Glen Larson rides again!
profh-129 January 2018
Warning: Spoilers
While on a stake-out, Sam recognizes a man who took part in a bank robbery in his home town of Taos 3 years earlier. Before long, Clifford says he has good news and bad news. "The good news is, you're going home. The bad news is, you're coming back."

Back home on business having a reunion with his friends on the Taos police force, Sam suddenly receives a threatening phone call, made from Chris Caughlin's apartment, saying she's been kidnapped, and Sam must release his prisoner within one hour, or she'll be killed. Back in NYC, while Clifford has his men checking her apartment for clues, Chris returns home, confused, as she's spent the entire weekend in Connecticut interviewing a singer and his manager!

Glen Larson must have had my ideal dream job-- that of being both writer and executive producer. So he could very personally direct the characters of a show he'd work on, while leaving the heavy work to someone like producer Michael Gleason, who takes over this season from the departing Dean Hargrove (who went on to such series as MADIGAN, PERRY MASON, etc.). After having worked on the short 1st season in 1970, Larson went on to ALIAS SMITH AND JONES in 1971. I never quite made the connection before, as to why Larson was missing from McCLOUD's 2nd season, but there it was. Following the death of AS&J star Pete Duel, ratings fell, and the show eventually ended. Which left the door open for Larson to return to his modern-day western-of-sorts!

I'd watched the series practically from the beginning, and enjoyed it all the way. But THIS is where it really came together. The relaxed, laid-back feel of the previous season made way for a more urgent, fast-paced-- and funnier-- 3rd season. In addition to the 4 regulars all returning (Dennis Weaver, J. D. Cannon, Terry Carter & Diana Muldaur), this episode introduces 2 new recurring characters in the form of Grover (Ken Lynch) and Simms (Sidney Clute) who would be with the series from here to the end.

Among the guest cast this time out is Jackie Cooper (TREASURE ISLAND, SUPERMAN); Murray Hamilton (JAWS); Ricky Nelson (RIO BRAVO); Gilbert Roland (I remember him from episodes of THE FUGITIVE); Ray Danton (who soon switched from acting to directing); and a cute, young Sharon Gless (CAGNEY & LACEY).

Chief Clifford was still in his "reasonable" period here. Clearly annoyed when Sam wouldn't work through channels, yet smart enough to appreciate the results Sam keeps getting via instincts and playing long shots. I was also amused when Sam talks Joe Broadhurst out of a pleasant evening with his girlfriend (wife?) on the chance that by helping out, he might be in line for a promotion.

For half the story, there seem to be 2 plot-lines running parallel that have no connection at all. This is perhaps not-so-subtle foreshadowing on Larson's part, as in the 2nd half, one of the characters you've been wondering, what is this guy even doing in the story, suddenly reveals HE was involved in the bank robbery 3 years earlier.

Apart from the sequence where the hired hitman tries to kill Sam in Penn Station (well, that's what it looked like to me), the most memorable set-piece has to be the climax, where Sam and the main villain wind up getting into a fist-fight on top of a speeding horse-drawn stage-coach! "I'm not really SEEING this, am I?", asks Joe, as he & Clifford supply the color commentary.

Yes, Glen Larson returned with a BANG. And for the next couple years, McCLOUD only got better and better! It's no wonder it was my favorite show for most of the 7 years it was on.

ADDENDUM: 5-7-2024 I just watched this on the 2021 VEI DVD box set, and it's running at the WRONG SPEED, apparently having been made from a PAL copy. I hope the entire last 5 seasons aren't like this. I've already contacted the manufacturer. THIS is why I feel all movies & TV shows need to be issued on BLU-RAY. Encoded via a 3rd method different from NTSC and PAL, they run at the CORRECT speed in every country. I find it hard to believe that nobody noticed this when they ran the box set off. (Starting here, the later episodes had NEVER been available on disc before.)
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