As the subject line says. I have nothing against Mildred (in fact I normally love about anything Doris Roberts does), just wondering why the switch.
If a man speaks in the forest and no woman is there to hear it is he still wrong?
This is just a guess...the character of Bernice didn't add anything to the show (didn't really subtract either).
James Read, the actor who played Murphy, supposedly wasn't happy with the direction of his character and asked to be released from his contract.
Not sure why the replacement after Season #1.
I like the Doris Roberts episodes much better though.
They also changed the music in Season #2 during opening credits -- much more livelier & energetic.
If you have access to the DVDs - Michael Gleason explains it in the extras.
Basically - James Read did want out of his contract, not so much because he was unhappy with the direction of his character, but because he didn't want to be tied to the show and his character not have much to do other than deliver autopsy reports.
And Bernice did really have much to do either. By bringing in Mildred they had a character that could fill both roles and added an interesting dynamic to the storyline in that she didn't know about the whole Remington Steele "invention".
I did see that in the DVD and it makes sense (Bernice was totally expendable) but I still preferred the episodes with Murphy. I liked having him there to keep Remington just slightly unsure of himself and give him at least a little competition for Laura. Somehow having a mother figure like Mrs. Krebs in the office made things a bit more corny.
shareYes, much as I like Doris Roberts, I prefer Bernice and Murphy. I like that they know Steele isn't Steele. Mildred is too fawning. Murphy could get in a good jab here and there, and I liked his antagonistic relationship with Steele, with its hints of a mutual, grudging respect. I'd have liked to see those two work together a lot more. There was a lot left to discover in their relationship.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
http://www.46664.com/
I wish James Read had stayed on. He was unfairly overshadowed by Pierce Brosnan but Murphy was a total stud in his own right. Tall, blond, and very very cute. I liked how he provided such a good contrast to Steele's personality. The writers should have developed his character more and then maybe James Read wouldn't have left.
share> I liked having him [Murphy] there to keep Remington just slightly unsure of himself and give him at least a little competition for Laura. Somehow having a mother figure like Mrs. Krebs in the office made things a bit more corny.
Totally agree on Murphy. I liked that he came to have a grudging respect for Steele and that they saw each other as rivals for Laura’s affection. Bernice’s character was expendable but I much preferred her to Mrs. Krebs.
as I always understood it part of their characterization was being 'False romantic Leads' Murphy/Laura/Steele was a straight up Triangle, but Miss Fox also had the potential to be paired off with Steele
-- once they made up their minds that Steele/Holt were going to be 'THE Couple' there wasn't much for them to do; as cited, Read didn't want to be locked into the series and just be the 'autopsy guy'... so they were written off (and paired off?) and then both were replaced by Mildred who would do the Leg work and take messages... plus being clueless to Steele's history added a level of Comedy
As the first Season progressed, it seemed that the episodes mostly involved Remington and Laura working on cases together with Murphy making minimal appearances. Frankly speaking I preferred the episodes with less Murphy in them, although the one where he pretended to be Remington Steele was very funny. I also loved the dynamic between Mildred and Mr. Steele and when Mildred admitted in a later episode that she fawned over him like a faithful puppy, I really had a good laugh hearing her say that. Doris Roberts was also very funny and the delivery of some her lies was hilarious. I think that Doris Roberts and the character of Mildred was a great addition to the cast.
Because they stunk, especially Bernice. The producer said he wanted to merge the two roles after Read approached him about not liking the direction of his character on the show. So, the producer dumped them both, and replaced them with Doris, who in my opinion was fantastic!
share