I'm sorry for all the fans of the Scarecrow show, but there is no comparison between the two shows. I had to write a paper on Remington Steele and I chose to compare it with Scarecrow and my personal opinion is that Remington Steele wins hands down. Laura and Steele have chemistry, they are clever, the cases -most of them - are interesting, Mildred is a unique character, the romance is better, you can feel that he loves her and she loves him, there are some episodes that are wonderful regarding their feelings. I know there were problems between them but they were professionals and rarely-in the last season- they showed it.
There were also some memorable characters like Daniel,Mulch, Murphy... Personnally I hate the episodes with Roselli and Felicia but as someone who had to see the episodes-all of them- twice in three months, I can tell you that it's a great show. It didn't bother me at all, I dare say that the second time it was even better, they are wonderful actors all of them.
To compare it with Scarecrow I also saw all the episodes, but it lacks so many things. I'm sorry but Amanda sometimes is so annoying, it becomes difficult to follow her. Her voice is annoying, her manners are so unnatural, with Melrose or Lee. How many times you can say Thank you? I stopped counting. The only time I like her is with her mother or her children. And the problem is we don't see Lee behave like a normal person. We have the impression that he's not natural as he is with Francine for exemple. I used the "we" because although this is exactly my opinion on the show, the participants were thinking the same thing.
I gave to 40 persons who had never seen any of the shows,-ages fron 15 to 50- men and women to see 10 episodes each - 5 from each show- and note their remarks about the acting, the scénarios, the characters. After that I asked them to answer a 100 of questions about the shows and finally to choose their favorite one.
None of them picked Scarecrow. Women and men chose Steele and although someone would think that it was because of Steele (Brosnan)80% claimed to prefer it because of Laura and her character- almost same percentage between women and men- 70 % because of Steel with Laura and their relationship -more women than men- and 70% because of Mildred.
First reason to dislike it, 90% because of the last season.
On the other side the first three reasons to eliminate Scarecrow was the silly scénarions 80%, the character of Amanda 60% and the lack of chemistry between the two 50%.
First reason to like it Lee Stetson )90%.
I have to say that they could pick three answers, that's the reason the sum is more than 100%.
An interesting fact. They were surprised to find out that there were some problems between the actors. It shows that they had some talent.
Of course I respect people who thing Scarecrow is better, but I wanted to share with you my experience.
I apologize for my English, I don't use it frequently.
Bottom line is that even if I prefer Steele, I find Scarecrow a lighthearted show which deserves its popularity.
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mrwiseman-1
11 years ago
Nope, I am going to give Scarecrow and Mrs. King the top prize for being a far more satisfying show.
Remington is one of my favorites too and could be incredibly witty and fun, but absolutely stunk in the "will they or won't they" romantic see saw. It is my best example of how to leave an audience annoyed. The off an on again on Remington, the introduction of roadblocks (Tony!!! to name one)...ugh! That part was stupid then and now.Heck it led to the lower rating during its final seasons. The audience got tired of Laura's excuses (they were saved at the last minute by Summer reruns). I love individual episodes of RS, but as a whole they suffer because their is no natural flow to the romance. I would also argue it was hard to identify with the characters on RS. They seemed to be outside my reality as a kid growing up. Nothing wrong with that, but not nearly as fun as Scarecrow and Mrs. King.
Scarecrow and Mrs. King is one of the best shows ever...often overlooked because it was never the "it" show. It is consistently fun. The romance flows pretty naturally. I can tell you what episodes they became friends, partners, in love, engaged, married. The 4 seasons feels like one whole story. Only incomplete because Kate's cancer led to her limited appearances in the final season..and cancellation.
I totally ID with Amanda. Here she was in the fantastic world...and she sometimes did/said the wrong thing...like may of us would. The audience could imagine being in Amanda's shoes...practical Nikes...
All the best!
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mistymturnerhustad
8 years ago
That's quite an experiment but I have to say I wonder how non bias it was since you picked the episodes. Could it be you picked the 5 weakest episodes of Scarecrow and 5 of the best Remington Steele. Don't get me wrong I love Remington Steele, but I love Scarecrow too. As far as the couples go I think there was more chemistry between Remington and Laura, but to me there was more a feeling of genuine love between Lee and Amanda. Lee and Amanda had a real friendship and in my opinion deeper bond while as Remington and Laura were still at the will they won't they stage right up to the end. They never made a real commitment to each other and even in the last episode say they care about each other but don't say they love each other. The closest either ever come to saying it is love is once while Remington is hallucinating he sees Laura and she asks him if he loves her, and he says I think so. Maybe I judge Remington and Laura's relationship a little harshly but as devoted follower of the show I always felt a little ripped off that there was never any declaration of undying love.
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