Granted, David Janssen was a good (but not great actor) and was memorable in his "Harry O" role, although evidently his previous, short-lived series "O'Hara, U. S. Treasury" didn't garner much praise or success (why the title similarities, I wonder?).
A few things that bugged me, however, was why the producers of "Harry O" believed that viewers would buy the notion that gorgeous twenty-somethings (including the awesome Farrah Fawcett, no less!) would find Harry's hang-dog, snarling, downbeat persona attractive in any way whatsoever.
C'mon, I mean, the man was twice their age, broke, drove a heap, rarely smiled, indeed never once laughed throughout the entire series that I remember! ("Sugar daddy?" Gimme a break!) Farrah (here playing a stewardess) ought to have stopped throwing herself at Harry, found herself a young, high-salaried pilot, and moved on to better things (which, presumably, she eventually did).
Then there was poor Henry Darrow (as Lieutenant Quinlan) who was unceremoniously killed off from the series and replaced by the mostly abrasive, annoying, and eternally sarcastic Anthony Zerbe as Lt. Trench. Zerbe, I think most will agree, was much better suited playing the criminals and other heavies he often did during his career.
No matter how often Harry's detective work and crime solving outshone the police in their investigations, Lt. Trench seemed determined to maintain an ungrateful, almost nasty attitude toward him that seemed to be beyond jealousy. I kept hoping that Harry would just once give Trench a verbal blast and even throw a punch at him once in a while, saying, "Look, Lieutenant...I solved the damn case...and YOU didn't!".
Finally, having Harry drive (or TRY to drive) a virtual wreck of a car became a ridiculous and even tiresome gimmick that was presumably only used to include his jive-talking, black mechanic in the cast--although I did consider him delightful as the comic relief.
Doesn't crime solving with its frequent live-and-death situations require you to have reliable mobility when you need to get from place to place in a hurry? Even Kolchak drove a well-maintained Mustang in his Night Stalker series, but then Lt. Frank Columbo drove a crappy car. Go figure!
David Janssen - R. I. P.
A few things that bugged me, however, was why the producers of "Harry O" believed that viewers would buy the notion that gorgeous twenty-somethings (including the awesome Farrah Fawcett, no less!) would find Harry's hang-dog, snarling, downbeat persona attractive in any way whatsoever.
C'mon, I mean, the man was twice their age, broke, drove a heap, rarely smiled, indeed never once laughed throughout the entire series that I remember! ("Sugar daddy?" Gimme a break!) Farrah (here playing a stewardess) ought to have stopped throwing herself at Harry, found herself a young, high-salaried pilot, and moved on to better things (which, presumably, she eventually did).
Then there was poor Henry Darrow (as Lieutenant Quinlan) who was unceremoniously killed off from the series and replaced by the mostly abrasive, annoying, and eternally sarcastic Anthony Zerbe as Lt. Trench. Zerbe, I think most will agree, was much better suited playing the criminals and other heavies he often did during his career.
No matter how often Harry's detective work and crime solving outshone the police in their investigations, Lt. Trench seemed determined to maintain an ungrateful, almost nasty attitude toward him that seemed to be beyond jealousy. I kept hoping that Harry would just once give Trench a verbal blast and even throw a punch at him once in a while, saying, "Look, Lieutenant...I solved the damn case...and YOU didn't!".
Finally, having Harry drive (or TRY to drive) a virtual wreck of a car became a ridiculous and even tiresome gimmick that was presumably only used to include his jive-talking, black mechanic in the cast--although I did consider him delightful as the comic relief.
Doesn't crime solving with its frequent live-and-death situations require you to have reliable mobility when you need to get from place to place in a hurry? Even Kolchak drove a well-maintained Mustang in his Night Stalker series, but then Lt. Frank Columbo drove a crappy car. Go figure!
David Janssen - R. I. P.