After watching Roger Moore in "The Saint" for seven years, fans of that program (featuring often clever whodunnits with some genuine dramatic tension, danger, glamour, and sparkling wit) probably had a knee jerk reaction to how light-hearted and casual this nonetheless expensive series was.
The first episode "Overture" was probably the worst. Only the charisma of its stars carried it, as the plot was paper thin. Subsequent episodes got better, some quite good, with a few propelled by superb guest stars (like Joss Ackland and Nigel Green in "Read and Destroy," probably the best of the series).
It was a bit jarring at first to see how much weight Roger Moore had gained since he had left "The Saint" in 1969, not to mention his "groovy" long hair (the James Bond producers made him trim off both, much to Moore's chagrin, when he took the role of 007 in 1973). Tony Curtis, on the other hand, couldn't decide whether to keep his hair dyed dark brown, light brown with a touch of grey, or fully grey, and it fluctuates from episode to episode, sometimes radically. He was beginning to lose his hair at this point as well. But Curtis was in superb shape and quite athletic, as he frequently demonstrated in the series.
Not essential viewing, but there is some witty banter, nice chemistry between the leads, good locations, some good to great guest stars, but the scripts fail to hit classic status (though one or two make a good attempt).
The first episode "Overture" was probably the worst. Only the charisma of its stars carried it, as the plot was paper thin. Subsequent episodes got better, some quite good, with a few propelled by superb guest stars (like Joss Ackland and Nigel Green in "Read and Destroy," probably the best of the series).
It was a bit jarring at first to see how much weight Roger Moore had gained since he had left "The Saint" in 1969, not to mention his "groovy" long hair (the James Bond producers made him trim off both, much to Moore's chagrin, when he took the role of 007 in 1973). Tony Curtis, on the other hand, couldn't decide whether to keep his hair dyed dark brown, light brown with a touch of grey, or fully grey, and it fluctuates from episode to episode, sometimes radically. He was beginning to lose his hair at this point as well. But Curtis was in superb shape and quite athletic, as he frequently demonstrated in the series.
Not essential viewing, but there is some witty banter, nice chemistry between the leads, good locations, some good to great guest stars, but the scripts fail to hit classic status (though one or two make a good attempt).