moriarty@fluke.UUCP (The Napoleon of Crime) (09/26/84)
In most TV shows seen over this country, I usually observe, after watching fifteen minutes, a lousy concept done with inept handling. Occasionally you see an interesting concept with lousy handling. But the new NBC program HOT PURSUIT (at least in its pilot) is one of the most infrequent of all creatures, a program that is produced with real flair and style, but has a concept that just does not keep one tuning in. And this is a real shame, as Kenneth Johnson, the producer, director and writer of the pilot (and presumably someone who will have much influence on the rest of the program) does a very good job in handling the small talk, side details and characters, and the interesting cinematography. He's done very well in his other attempts, the original 'V' movie (which I enjoyed very much), and The Hulk series. The latter I never watched much, but if I did happen to walk in on the last few minutes, I always enjoyed it -- that scene with Bill Bixby walking down the lonely road, another TV victim of man's insatiable wish to screw up his own biology (why couldn't you have just eaten junk food, Bill?) -- it always worked for me; and it's a compliment to Johnson to be able to make us feel pity for a guy who can wipe out The Miami Dolphins when he gets angry. But this program suffers the same problem The Hulk did. The first hour is great -- total paranoia as a brilliant engineer is framed for murder (at this point I'm supposed to say "ala The Fugitive", but I never saw that program; c'est la vie), and her husband, a veterinarian, is the only one who stands by her. However, he spots (after she has been convicted of the murder) a double of her walking down the street. Well, this druggie who looks just like his wife was hired by one of those made-in-Beverly-Hills TV bitches to pull a frame-up, and now the druggie is running from both the husband (vet) and wife (engineer) team (he broke her out of prison -- I mean, he's a vet, right?), and the bitch's henchman (an ugly fella with a glass eye and a menacing British accent). And that's how every episode from now on goes... everyone looking for the druggie, while hubby and wifey are also pursued by police (not to mention heavy). Which is, for me, the problem. The actors playing the couple are OK (though too steamy-passionate... and every time they see kids, they look longingly at them; it is not too good of an idea to get pregnant while you're on the lam), especially the vet. The details (the cops tracking them, the people they meet along the way) are very nicely done, with good dialogue. But I'm impatient; I want to see them cleared, and the bitch thrown out of her Gucci's and into the slammer, and the husband going into the judge who sentenced his wife and going "Nyahh!" But the more I watch, the better the ratings. And the better the ratings, the longer the show goes on. And the longer it goes on... (Ding! Ding! Infinite Loop!). I sure hope they don't just cancel it with no wind-up episode... So, in other words, I'm going to skip all but the concluding (if there is one) episode. PS for those of you who saw it: How does the vet keep that beautiful house so clean with rabbits running freely all over it? "Let's show this prehistoric bitch how we do things downtown!" Moriarty, aka Jeff Meyer John Fluke Mfg. Co., Inc. UUCP: {cornell,decvax,ihnp4,sdcsvax,tektronix,utcsrgv}!uw-beaver \ {allegra,gatech!sb1,hplabs!lbl-csam,decwrl!sun,ssc-vax} -- !fluke!moriarty ARPA: fluke!moriarty@uw-beaver.ARPA