I just finished watching the 13 episode run (11 broadcast episodes and two work-prints). Coronet Blue had, with the exception of a couple of episodes, very good writing with great dialog -- so much so that you have to pay attention not to miss something said. The show also had wonderful guest stars -- Dick Clark, Susan Hampshire, Alan Alda, John Voight, David Carradine, Candace Bergen, Richard Kiley (the last four in one episode!) and others. Also the semi-regulars, Joe Silver as Max and Brian Bedford as Anthony, are very good, and have great acting chemistry with star Frank Converse, who puts in a moving performance. The series plays with how memory and reality don't always match, and also with the larger questions of identity and what does makes us who we are? There are word plays such as the club Max owns is called "The Searching I" -- which is exactly what Alden is doing -- searching for his Identity -- it also taken from "the Hungry I" - a legendary 1960s club in San Francisco. By the way, the New York locations are fun, 5th Avenue, Central Park, Hofstra University, and others. I believe I saw a handful of episodes in 1967 as a ten year old, the same summer that The Prisoner -- another series about identity -- came out.
It is interesting to watch Coronet Blue and then see Unknown White Male (2003), a documentary about a man in New York who completely lost his memory/identity and found himself on a subway.
Some people write Coronet Blue off because we never discover who Michael Alden (Converse) really is. After watching the series, I can say that it really doesn't matter that we don't find out. The stories are about Michael Alden finding himself through the journey, not the destination. In the 13th and final episode Alden says that he learned that he finds who he really is within himself, not through information from other people. Although the series didn't know it was ending, this last episode ends with Michael Alden sounding more at peace with himself than he ever had been. In that sense, it seems to me that it ended in a complete way. Bravo Mr. Converse & cast!
It is interesting to watch Coronet Blue and then see Unknown White Male (2003), a documentary about a man in New York who completely lost his memory/identity and found himself on a subway.
Some people write Coronet Blue off because we never discover who Michael Alden (Converse) really is. After watching the series, I can say that it really doesn't matter that we don't find out. The stories are about Michael Alden finding himself through the journey, not the destination. In the 13th and final episode Alden says that he learned that he finds who he really is within himself, not through information from other people. Although the series didn't know it was ending, this last episode ends with Michael Alden sounding more at peace with himself than he ever had been. In that sense, it seems to me that it ended in a complete way. Bravo Mr. Converse & cast!