MovieChat Forums > Simon & Simon (1981) Discussion > This show is easy to watch

This show is easy to watch

posted 7 years ago by jarrodmcdonald-1
7 replies | jump to latest

I have to comment on how 'easy' it is to sit down and enjoy episodes of Simon & Simon. I watch a lot of British TV. And yesterday after finishing a 90 minute episode of the BBC program Inspector Lewis, I decided to check out a few more episodes from S&S' fourth season. The difference is like night and day. Not sure if this has to do with how American television was made in the 80s, opposed to how more recent British TV is made.

The Inspector Lewis episode was very elaborately plotted (most of them are)-- and quite frankly, though it was certainly great and held my interest, I nearly had a headache when it was over. The complicated murder plots require a lot of focus just to keep track of all the intersecting storylines, characters and relationships. It's almost like the British crime dramas are over-done in a way.

But then I go back to something like Simon & Simon, where the plot is rather simple and straightforward, and there's a fair amount of humor to relieve the tension. It's like being in a completely different world of television. I guess I don't have to work as hard to watch Simon & Simon. I appreciate that, especially when I just want to be entertained-- not forced to think hard or keep up with the demands of a labyrinthine story.

[–] tenement-funster 7 years ago

More modern vs older than American vs Brit, I think. If you were to try some more comparatively vintage British TV ("Dempsey & Makepeace", say, or "The Professionals"), I think you'd notice a big difference! Plus "Lewis" is a drier, less humorous affair over all anyway.

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I find concussion quite invigorating.

[–] jarrodmcdonald-1 7 years ago

If you were to try some more comparatively vintage British TV ("Dempsey & Makepeace", say, or "The Professionals"), I think you'd notice a big difference!

Gosh-- it's been years since I've seen Dempsey & Makepeace. I'd forgotten all about that show! TV crime shows (on both sides of the pond) have "evolved" considerably.

[–] pacwarbuff 7 years ago

Despite it having run for eighteen years, it was only this year that I discovered A Touch of Frost, a British series which combines intense drama with more than enough tension-easing humor. I was familiar with the show's star, David Jason, from his Britcom roles in Open All Hours and Only Fools and Horses, but I feel that his career-defining role is as Inspector Frost. Those in the UK will no doubt feel differently, but this American viewer associates David Jason with this role, where his comedic background serves the role, and the series well.

[–] jarrodmcdonald-1 7 years ago

Despite it having run for eighteen years, it was only this year that I discovered A Touch of Frost, a British series which combines intense drama with more than enough tension-easing humor. I was familiar with the show's star, David Jason, from his Britcom roles in Open All Hours and Only Fools and Horses, but I feel that his career-defining role is as Inspector Frost. Those in the UK will no doubt feel differently, but this American viewer associates David Jason with this role, where his comedic background serves the role, and the series well.

British shows don't usually last 18 years, do they? I'd say the phrase 'tension-easing humor' is key here. And that's why I think Simon & Simon works so well. Their various antics (shtick) help balance out the more intense dramatic developments. Like you say about David Jason's comedic background, I think Tim Reid's experience on WKRP helps in a similar way-- his skills in comedy serve the character of Town and lighten the interactions the Simon brothers have with the police while working on the cases that come their way.

[–] jarrodmcdonald-1 7 years ago

Another thing I wanted to add to this thread-- not only is this show easy to watch, it's just as easy to re-watch. The episodes don't seem to grow stale, so even when I look at them again, they're still as much fun as they were the first time around.

[–] pacwarbuff 7 years ago

I've just started a season five rewatch and I watched the season five premiere, "Love and/or Marriage" twice back-to-back. It's my favorite episode of that season but I almost never watch anything twice in succession, so it's something special (to me, at least).

[–] jarrodmcdonald-1 7 years ago

I'm glad to hear the show is still great in season 5. I've given several of the fourth season episodes perfect tens. Usually when I'm done watching a season of any program, I go back and note how many were 9's and 10's. I'm pretty tough when I analyze TV shows, so if something gets a high score from me, it's got to be very good.

As I said in another thread, I loved the Christmas episode, but at this point, I think my favorite one from S4 is the comic book story, where the boy wants the Simons to find out who murdered his grandfather. I just thought the murder plot was very clever and different.