TV GUlDE OCTOBER 30, 1971

LONGSTREET

REVIEW by Cleveland Amory

Writers seem to have a thing for violence happening to blind 
people. The Broadway play "Wait Until Dark" was a particularly 
frightening example. Frankly we don't happen to like it -- but 
then, we would have said we didn't much like the idea of a 
detective in a wheel chair, and by now surely you know what we 
think of Ironside. In any case, this new series stars, as 
insurance-investigator Michael Longstreet, Mr. James Franciscus -- 
a man you may remember from the fine job he did several years ago 
as the school teacher in Mr. Novak.

Longstreet's misfortunes began in the TV movie which begat this 
series. At the beginning of the movie he was a recently married 
insurance investigator. At the end, it bombed -- or rather, there 
was a bomb. And when the smoke cleared away, his wife was dead and 
he was sightless. He was understandably bitter for quite a while -
- and, as a matter of fact, Mr. Franciscus plays the part so 
coolly that he could be accused of coldness. But he is good, and 
he also has two very good things going for him. One is a fine 
executive producer and chief writer named Stirling Silliphant and 
the other is scripts which don't sound as if they were -- well, 
scripts. These are no small virtues, and they succeed in 
overcoming our initial negative feelings about the premise of the 
series. If the credits go to Silliphant, to story editor Mark 
Rodgers and to producer Joe Rogosin, the benefits go direct to 
you.

The premier episode was a good example of these virtues. It 
started with Longstreet getting a brutal beating from the leader 
of a dock gang and two accomplices. It ended, after he had learned 
"jeet kune do" (look it up; a word looked up is a word 
remembered), with his beating up his beater-upper. If this sounds 
trite and untrue, it wasn't, not only because of a fine script but 
also because of some tried and true acting by Bruce Lee, as a 
Chinese jeet kune do-er. In another episode, Longstreet learned to 
shoot a gun. In the end, he had it out with the bad guy in a 
garage and, shooting to the sound, managed to get his man to call 
it quits. It sounds awful, doesn't it? But it wasn't, because the 
script was a well-rounded and well-charactered story which gave 
realism to a variety of robberies and, wonder of wonders, even 
managed a fine satire of a rich cocktail party without letting the 
story get away.

Mr. Franciscus also has some fine scenery here. And all of it 
isn't New Orleans either‹although it's a fantastic city and a new 
and different place to shoot a show. At least part of the good 
scenery is Marlyn Mason. She plays understandingly -- but not too 
understandingly -- Longstreet's girl friend, Nikki. Then there is 
Longstreet's friend and business associate, Duke Paige (Peter Mark 
Richman). He also is understanding, but only up to a point. 
Finally, there is Pax. Who is Pax? We'd like to tell you, but we 
can't. If we did, some sorehead would write in and say the only 
reason we like the show is that Pax is in it.

[Note:  Cleveland Amory is an author whose works include "The Cat 
Who Stayed for Christmas."]

The television listings for Thursday November 4 at 9:00pm read:

LONGSTREET -- Crime Drama (C)
Join Longstreet on the trail of a stolen Rembrandt.  Your only 
clue:  a ski mask found at the scene of the crime.  Longstreet:  
James Franciscus.  Duke:  Peter Mark Richman.  Nikki: Marlyn 
Mason.  (60 min.)

Guest cast
Dr. Franklin............Tim O'Connor
Marianne Franklin....Shelley Fabares
Mrs. Franklin.............Nan Martin
Casey...................Michael Bell