User Reviews

One of the McCloud episodes I remember best when they were first run was this one where Dennis Weaver goes to Oklahoma chasing after Leigh Taylor-Young who shot her old boyfriend and boss Gilbert Green because he was trying to kill her. Green is the president of a trucking company who's been dipping into the union pension fund and she witnessed the murder of an accountant.

I have to say that Chief Clifford was more obtuse than usual in this story. He assigns Terry Carter to stick to Weaver like glue and it nearly gets Carter killed. It also gets to Oklahoma sheriff's deputies killed and there's an equally obtuse sheriff in Richard Jaeckel who wants Weaver and Taylor-Young in dead or alive because he believes a fellow law enforcement officer did the deed instead of Green's hired goons Geoffrey Lewis and John Quade.

This one really has McCloud and his quarry running for cover. Not only is the Oklahoma law looking for him but also Lewis and Quade have their own army of truckers led by Vic Tayback on the lookout. With their CB radios and the fact that both the truckers and the goons can listen in on police calls it makes it a real interesting experience on those Sooner state highways.

Have to also give praise to Dennis Burkley who turned in a real nice performance as another of the truckers Big Mama. He gives quite an experience to the visiting J.D. Cannon from New York.

One McCloud to enjoy.

"Mcloud" as usual falls short of what it could be. That being said I really like this episode for the exteriors(what I love- cause I hate when a show only has people inside a room/ sound stage etc bickering for most of the show), 70's scenery clothes AND LOTS OF 70S CARS AND TRUCKS! Plymouth Fury vs Fury chase! Cool rare Jeep Pickup! Old pickups! Perfect for "Stoner Vision" Turn off sound and crank your fav 70s LP! OH YEAH! just what the doctor ordered. This episode is a gem of the CB era!!!!!

...Chester Goode, or McCloud (the series, not the character)?

As I get older I sleep less, and watch a lot of MeTV as I lie abed. (Weather Channel, too. Love "Prospectors".) Of the successful NBC "Mystery Movies" (the others being "Columbo" and "McMillan & Wife" -- what's this with Gaelic-American characters?), "McCloud" is far and away the worst, starting with the inane, ersatz-cowboy theme music. The composer (Mancini, I assume) probably dashed it off in 15 seconds.

The basic idea is a hoary one -- the fish out of water. But it doesn't hold water. The conflict between McCloud and Clifford (J D Cannon) seems arbitrary and contrived. Because neither character is properly fleshed out, we have no idea why there should be friction between two police officers (supposedly) working towards the same end.

The only legitimate gripe Clifford has against McCloud is his tendency to run off on his own -- without backup, and often at risk to his life. NO INTELLIGENT LAWMAN WOULD DO THIS. (See David Gerrold's thoughts about Captain Kirk.) Not even Chester Goode is that foolish.

Of course, this gives the "country bumpkin" the opportunity to show how much cleverer, abler, and braver he is than the stuffed-shirt city folk. This trope has pleased audiences at least since Ma & Pa Kettle.

"McCloud" is devoid of plausibility. I can believe Dennis Weaver as Chester, but not as McCloud. Unlike "Gunsmoke", where Weaver is continually playing a well-defined character (and doing it superbly), McCloud is little more than a handsome actor in attractive Western clothing, with an appealing drawl. (Talk about type-casting.) As a human being, McCloud is as vaporous as the object whose name he shares.

The series depends heavily on "get the characters into trouble, then get them out", the antithesis of good drama. "McCloud" is a stereotyped action program that gives us little reason to have any profound interested in its characters. *

This episode (with its archly cute title) is considered among the worst of the series (which is saying something, considering the general lousiness of the others I've seen). It's little more than a long and annoying chase, which wastes the talents of everyone concerned. And its "borrowings" are beyond annoying.

When McCloud and Broadhurst try to escape by hiding in a corn field, guess what happens? Just guess. That's right! And when truckers from the evil trucking company stupidly try to crush Bonnie and McCloud's car (do they really think they won't be noticed?), we're treated to a lame version of another Dennis Weaver movie. All this chasing about includes some of the worst rear-projection riding-in-automobile scenes I've seen.

It's notable that the Oklahoma police are portrayed as thugs, all-too-ready to believe that McCloud is a murderer. Hey, guys, he's white. How can he be a murderer?

It is this repeated lack of plausibility, and a continuing failure to develop interesting dramatic situations, that renders "McCloud" a waste of time. Who cares?

* There's an episode of "Car 54" in which Toody is looking for a gift for a retiring officer. In the 25 minutes it runs, we learn more about the characters and their relationships than from a dozen "McCloud" episodes.