1. Guessing Game - a psychic helps the Simons stop a serial killer.
2. Sometimes Dreams Come True - a woman (Lisa Eilbacher) has nightmares that her twin sister is in danger.
3. Murder Between the Lines - the Simons protect a writer (Ray Walston) from a killer who copies murders from the writer's book.
4. Thin Air - a man disappears seemingly into "thin air" and his wife is accused of his murder. This plot may have been borrowed from a ROCKFORD FILES episode called "Sleight of Hand" (a very good episode).
5. The Last Time I Saw Michael - a friend of Cecelia's (June Allyson) thinks she's seeing her long-lost husband.
Thanks for sharing your list. I have seen a few more season 2 episodes on Hulu since my original post. I didn't mind 'Guessing Game.' But I enjoyed 'Sometimes Dreams Come True' a lot more. The scene where she opens the bathroom closet was great. And there were a lot of good stunts, where they crashed down through the roof of the guy's house.
I disliked the Ray Walston offering. It felt as if they had written the script without it being a dream, then realized it made no sense, so it had to be a dream and added the part with A.J. dozing off at the beginning.
I liked 'Mike and Pat' the one that was filmed mostly at Sea World. It borrowed heavily from the motion picture DAY OF THE DOLPHIN, but it was still entertaining.
I thought the ending of 'Art for Arthur's Sake' was very good. Another one I enjoyed was 'The Ten Thousand Dollar Deductible.' I figured it out during the opening scene, but it was fun to see A.J. responsible for something going wrong.
Sort of have a mixed opinion about 'The Rough Rider Rides Again.' Obviously, Stuart Whitman was playing a character based on Clayton Moore as the Lone Ranger. Several cute scenes helped, and Bridget Hanley was excellent as a villainess.
'Psyched Out' was kind of silly. It was still entertaining, but very implausible. I discussed 'Pirate's Key' in another thread.
'Fowl Play' had some fun guest stars. Henry Gibson was great. It was interesting to look at 'Thin Air' and compare it to the Rockford Files episode, where Jim was more directly involved with the case than the Simons were in the remake. The comic relief in the Simon & Simon version was very good-- loved the scene with Cecilia and her boyfriend in the dark.
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ringfire211
8 years ago
Actually I really love that about the Ray Walston episode - that it was a dream. I thought it was a great twist which I sure didn't see coming. As we got on with the story I forgot all about A.J. dozing off at the start.
I liked the others you mentioned too - Mike and Pat, Deductible, Fowl Play. Didn't care for Rough Rider either.
Connery, Moore, and Brosnan! Accept NO substitutes!
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jarrodmcdonald-1
8 years ago
Thanks for the comment ringfire. My season 4 discs did arrive, but I think I am going to finish watching the rest of the season 2 episodes first, on Hulu.
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tenement-funster
8 years ago
Good choice! Although it's true that the series matures as it goes along, and in some ways season four is better than two, there's still a lot to recommend the second season.
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I find concussion quite invigorating.
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jarrodmcdonald-1
8 years ago
Although it's true that the series matures as it goes along, and in some ways season four is better than two, there's still a lot to recommend the second season.
Last night I watched 'The Club Murder Vacation' and gave it a 9 on the IMDb rating scale. It seemed like the reverse of Season 3's episode where Cecilia and Rick vacation on a cruise ship. This time, Cecilia was at a resort, and A.J. joined her. He sees a murder occur and nobody believes him. I thought the comic relief with Cecilia and her new beau was perfectly played. The stuff with the coroner friend and the body on the table in the hotel room was hysterical. But the story also had an excellent bad guy (Gregory Sierra) and an interesting plot about marijuana growers.
I also watched 'The Skeleton Who Came Out of the Closet' and gave it an 8. Some of it was a little too broadly played, and I didn't understand why they delayed showing the mother. I expected her to be some sort of deranged woman, or at least someone that would be more memorable than she actually was. Guest stars Ed Winter and Dean Stockwell were good, and so was the guy who played Mark, the unstable mental patient. But in some ways, the story was full of stereotypes about mentally ill people and kind of a let down.
There were two great scenes, however. The one where A.J. was in the van with Mark, and Rick tried to stop the van, with both the Simon boys being thrown out on their butts. And I also thought Gerald McRaney did a fabulous job with the scene where Rick had to break free from his confinement in a straight jacket. Most of it was done in one lengthy take. I am sure he practiced that routine considerably before they filmed it. Anyone who says McRaney is a not a good performer need only watch his scene from this episode to change their minds.
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tenement-funster
8 years ago
Both favourite of mine. "The Skeleton..." does look a little clunky these days I suppose, but in the eighties everybody was doing psychiatric hospital related storylines! This one is a good example of the breed. Another favourite of the era was the (almost inevitable) schizophrenia storyline. S&S did their take on that one as well, in "The Dark Side Of The Street".
I think "The List" is my favourite from season two, but it does tend to change.
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I find concussion quite invigorating.
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jarrodmcdonald-1
8 years ago
"The Skeleton..." does look a little clunky these days I suppose, but in the eighties everybody was doing psychiatric hospital related storylines! This one is a good example of the breed. Another favourite of the era was the (almost inevitable) schizophrenia storyline. S&S did their take on that one as well, in "The Dark Side Of The Street".
I haven't seen 'The Dark Side of the Street.' But the 'Skeleton' episode does seem to borrow from ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST. There were other stereotypes in this particular episode, besides how mentally ill people were depicted-- namely, the scene on the road involving the Mexican family. I don't think Simon & Simon's writers are exactly harmful with the use of stereotypes in these types of stories, but they definitely could have gone deeper and fleshed these characters out more as real human beings with unique challenges.
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tenement-funster
8 years ago
Yes. But, for the times, for the most part they did very well. Female characters are represented very well on S&S, certainly compared to shows of similar vintage. I'm also often impressed at how gay issues are handled. Most shows in the eighties used homosexuality as a joke (smirks, comments, floppy-wristed caricatures, etc). In S&S it's mentioned in passing as a normal part of life.
And look at Cecilia Simon! An older woman, with an active sex life, happily enjoying her retirement. That's vanishingly rare now, let alone then.
So yes, there are things that they could have done better. It's no real surprise that they didn't, given when the show was made, but they still could have done better. They did a lot better than many other shows though, including shows still being made now. I love "The A-Team". It's nonsense, I know, but it's so enjoyable! S&S is streets ahead of it though, despite them being exactly the same age. Look at "The A-Team"'s depiction of women, for starters!
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I find concussion quite invigorating.
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jarrodmcdonald-1
8 years ago
I would agree. Simon & Simon did try a little harder than most action/crime dramas of the 80s to present minorities in a positive light. When Rick speaks Spanish, he's sincerely working to bridge the communication gap with hispanic characters. The third season episode where a blind guest star was used is another example-- they could have hired someone to play blind, but they actually had a handicapped actress in the role. And as you indicated, Cecilia is shown as a vital and yet still respectable woman, not a stereotypical older mother character we've seen on so many series.
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