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Banacek (1972-1974)
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Tue Feb 16, 2016 5:54 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

________________________________

I recently obtained copies of three Banacek episodes I hadn't been able to get earlier, and now there's only one of the seventeen total episodes left that I haven't gotten yet.

In one of the new acquisitions, Banacek and fellow insurance investigator Carlie Kirkland actually begin a love affair, confirming my suspicion that the producers wanted to turn them into a couple who investigated as a team, in the tradition of Nick and Nora Charles (The Thin Man) and recent versions of the concept like Hart to Hart. Moonlighting, and Remington Steele.

I think the unmade season three would have been quite a treat for fans of this shows.

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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
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Rocky Jones
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PostPosted: Wed Feb 17, 2016 1:19 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I seem to recall one episode on MeTV's late night reruns where they were romancing a bit. The network was kind enough to bring back one last week of Banaceks last month before changing their late night schedule to just Twilight Jone+Rockford Files. It's hard to strip program series without a sizable stock of eps, I suppose.
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orzel-w
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PostPosted: Wed Feb 17, 2016 3:36 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Rocky Jones wrote:
...before changing their late night schedule to just Twilight Jone+Rockford Files.

That's what I can tell my wife when I sit down for a marathon viewing: "I gotta get my Twilight Jones on." Very Happy
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Wed Feb 17, 2016 2:37 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Rocky Jones wrote:
I seem to recall one episode on MeTV's late night reruns where they were romancing a bit.

Forgive me for being too vague. When I said they began having a love affair, I meant Carlie and Banacek spent the night together after we see them go into a very passionate kiss and a fade out (which always means "hot sex we can't show the audience).



Carlie even says, after the first tentative kiss, "Hey, I'd forgotten how really nice that is." So, this wasn't even their first kiss.

And the next morning over breakfast they made several 1970s prime-time-appropriate comments about how great the hot sex was.

Carlie (with a lazy smile): "Good morning."



Banacek (with a cocky grin): "Well, the night wasn't too bad either." Wink



Carlie: "Wasn't too bad, eh? My, aren't we awfully poetic before lunch?"

Banacek: "Would you buy memorable?"

Carlie: "You're the last of the great romantics, aren't you?"

And then Banacek says something that suggests that the night before wasn't even their first time together.

Banacek: "Why do you think that when morning comes, we start sniping at each other?"

So, I think perhaps they went beyond just "romancing a bit." Very Happy

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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)


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Rocky Jones
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PostPosted: Wed Feb 17, 2016 4:45 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

orzel-w wrote:
That's what I can tell my wife when I sit down for a marathon viewing: "I gotta get my Twilight Jones on." Very Happy

Well, as long as you stay in the Rocky Zone, you'll be OK. Smile

Bud Brewster wrote:
...I meant Carlie and Banacek spent the night together after we see them go into a very passionate kiss and a fade out

Yes, Banacek seems to score in almost every episode in standard TV cut-to-commercial style. Apparently his cozy relationship with Carlie was brief, though. I recall some discussion of it in the ep where she becomes engaged to an associate.
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Wed Feb 17, 2016 11:38 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Rocky Jones wrote:
Apparently his cozy relationship with Carlie was brief, though. I recall some discussion of it in the ep where she becomes engaged to an associate.

Well, actually what was brief was the engagement.

The romantic encounter I described above was in season 2, episode 1, No Stone Unturned. And the engagement you mentioned was two episodes later, in episode 3, The Three Million Dollar Piracy.

But it didn't last, and by episode 4, The Vanishing Chalice, Carlie took a leave of absence from her insurance company and begged Banacek to teach her how to be as skilled as him at finding lost items.

Her real reasons were pretty obvious, and the handsome couple were soon sitting around his living room looking very comfortable with the arrangement.

_

By the end of the episode they were driving around in Banacek's vintage car, all cozied up and acting just like Nick and Nora in The Thin Man



— and that's what first gave me this idea that the producers wanted to eventually turn the show into Mr. and Mrs. Banacek. As I've mentioned, I really like the idea.

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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)


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Rocky Jones
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PostPosted: Thu Feb 18, 2016 9:54 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

You may be right about the third season plans. Personally, I don't think Christine Belford's character displayed quite enough charisma for that type of part, though. She was always a fine actress, but not really one for the center stage parts. IMDB lists her most recent appearance as 8 years ago after a long career of guest star parts and short series runs.
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Thu Feb 18, 2016 12:03 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Rocky Jones wrote:
I don't think Christine Belford's character displayed quite enough charisma for that type of part.

I agree that she's not the most gorgeous lady or the most accomplished actress they could have gotten for the role.

But in view of the fact the good old George basically just strolled around looking smug and smoking cigars, and comic relief/chauffeur Ralph Manza just drove the car, opened the doors, and waited for his obligatory moment to look like a moron by proposing a completely ridiculous solution to the mystery, I don't think Christine Belford had to stretch very far as an actress to fit in with the cast. Rolling Eyes

However, her strong point was her ability to act flustered when she felt threatened by George's casual brilliance, and that worked just fine with his perpetual "playing hard to get" attitude, which made all the girls swoon over him — which was George's strong point.

So, Christine's evolution from "professional rival" to "eager bed-mate" was a nice story arc.

I watched that episode last night where she was engaged to the stuffed shirt business partner, and it turned out the whole purpose of the story was to show that Carlie Kirkland was rebelling against her desire to win Banacek's heart and join his live-by-his-wits lifestyle.

When Banacek sat down at a restaurant with her before Mr. StuffedShirt arrived for lunch, Banacek tortured Carlie by smiling casually while pretending to praise the well-ordered and deadly dull life she would be "enjoying" with her anal and unimaginative fiance'.

The episode seemed to solidly suggest that these two would eventually be united in matrimony and entertaining us weekly with their combined intelligence and their tempestuous wedded relationship.

Ah well . . . one can still dream about the things that should have been.
Sad
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)


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Krel.
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PostPosted: Thu Feb 18, 2016 1:13 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

As a kid, I always thought that Banacek did what he did for the joy of outwitting the criminals and fellow investigators, as much he did it for the money.

David.
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Thu Feb 18, 2016 3:19 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Krel wrote:
As a kid, I always thought that Banacek did what he did for the joy of outwitting the criminals and fellow investigators, as much he did it for the money.

Oh, that's absolutely correct, David!

Banacek just loves to get all the details of the mystery completely figured out and then present them to the enraptured crowd of folks involved in the case (including the ones who are about to be arrested).

That's the big pay off for all the less exciting parts — the knowledge that he's going to knock your socks off with the big solution at the end.

I watched The Three Million Dollar Piracy yesterday, and I loved the solution, despite realizing that if I'd worked just a liiiiittle bit harder to figure it out myself, I could have saved myself a dope slap at the end when Banacek spoon-fed it to me.

That episode is one of the best "mystery heists" of the series. It's also loaded with hot babe guest stars, including Arlene Martel (aka Spock's fiance') as a Hollywood sex symbol who is engaged to a rich Arab!

Miss Martel is charming, flirtatious, and hotter than August on the planet Vulcan! You gotta see this gal to to believe her . . .
Shocked








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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)


Last edited by Bud Brewster on Fri Mar 15, 2024 2:39 pm; edited 5 times in total
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Rocky Jones
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PostPosted: Thu Feb 18, 2016 3:53 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Bud Brewster wrote:
I watched that episode last night where she was engaged to the stuffed shirt business partner, and it turned out the whole purpose of the story was to show that Carlie Kirkland was rebelling against her desire to win Banacek's heart and join his live-by-his-wits lifestyle.

That was one of my favorite eps I've seen recently. The crime was a magic illusion I suspect Penn & Teller could admire. It was one of those where I knew approximately how it was done, but not the difficult details.
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orzel-w
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PostPosted: Thu Feb 18, 2016 4:00 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Bud Brewster wrote:
But in view of the fact the good old George basically just strolled around looking smug and smoking cigars, and comic relief/chauffeur Ralph Manza just drove the car, opened the doors, and waited for his obligatory moment to look like a moron by proposing a completely ridiculous solution to the mystery, I don't think Christine Belford had to stretch very far as an actress to fit in with the cast.
.....
So, Christine's evolution from "professional rival" to "eager bed-mate" was a nice story arc.

I suspect that her character's development was a move to make it easier to write engaging scripts. Banacek had to explain the solution to the crime by the end of the episode, but by providing a "sidekick" of comparable acuity, he could discuss the clues and compare hypotheses along the way with somebody for the viewer's benefit.
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Rocky Jones
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PostPosted: Fri Feb 19, 2016 9:50 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

orzel-w wrote:
I suspect that her character's development was a move to make it easier to write engaging scripts. Banacek had to explain the solution to the crime by the end of the episode, but by providing a "sidekick" of comparable acuity, he could discuss the clues and compare hypotheses along the way with somebody for the viewer's benefit.

That makes some sense now that I think about it. The one aspect of the series that kind of annoyed me is how Banacek would keep everything to himself until the final reveal. You might catch a clue or two along the way, but they wouldn't come from him. Albeit if you're a high paid, highly competitive freelance investigator you might have to keep things under your hat. Still, I think the audience would have appreciated a little more enlightened conversation that his light chat with the chauffeur.
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scotpens
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PostPosted: Sat Mar 12, 2016 1:44 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Bud Brewster wrote:
Miss [Arlene] Martel is charming, flirtatious, and hotter than August on the planet Vulcan! You gotta see this gal to to believe her . . . Shocked

Arlene Martel wasn't conventionally beautiful, but she had an interesting, offbeat look. I liked her better as a brunette.

The ears make all the difference.




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Pow
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PostPosted: Sat Apr 06, 2019 12:46 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Trivia } Christine Belford grew up in the house that became infamous for the Amittyville murders.

Her family owned the home prior to the real life murders.


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