05-07-2006
Steele Trying
Here is a new music video from Steele Trying.
The original episode, that takes place in San Francisco, contains
various scenes with Tony Bennett's songs but unfortunately the DVD
version does not include all of them. This clip has been made with the
song "Isn't it Romantic". Right click and "save as":
High Resolution (19,2 Mo)
Low Resolution (8,6 Mo)
05-06-2006
Old Article From The Chicago Tribune
The article below comes from the Chicago Tribune. It was published
in February 1986 when Remington Steele was in the middle of the fourth
season. It's about couples in TV series.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SEXUAL TENSION TEASES STARS AND VIEWERS
By Noel Holston,
Orlando Sentinel
Sunday February 9, 1986
Private eye Laura Holt said it in the final scene
of the first "Remington Steele" episode, and it can be taken as the
unofficial motto of a new generation of series built on the premise of
attractive opposites resisting the magnetic tug of romance.
When her secretary asked her how she felt about
her mysterious and debonair new partner, Laura smiled suggestively and purred
one word.
"Itchy." The itch is all over prime time
now, rampant but seldom scratched.
In the beginning, there were Laura (Stephanie
Zimbalist) and Remington (Pierce Brosnan) on "Remington Steele" and
Diane Chambers (Shelley Long) and Sam Malone (Ted Danson), the barb-tossing
barmaid and bartender of "Cheers." A season later, in 1983, along
came "Scarecrow & Mrs. King," where in spy Lee Stetson (Bruce Boxleitner)
and his homemaker helper, Amanda King (Kate Jackson), share cases and
occasional longing looks but never a bed. That same season brought the premiere
of "Hotel," where in the sexual tension between manager Peter
McDermott (James Brolin) and his assistant, Christine Francis (Connie
Sellecca), has been tightening ever since.
"Who's the Boss?", which throws
together businesswoman Angela Bower (Judith Light) and housekeeper Tony Micelli
(Tony Danza)), arrived in 1984. The spring of 1985 brought
"Moonlighting," wherein supercool do-wop detective David Addison
(Bruce Willis) lusts openly, if jokingly, after his icy boss, former model
Maddie Hayes (Cybill Shepherd). Maddie can't decide whether she'd like to jump
in the sack with David or put one over his head.
Lovers who wonder are the hottest non-items in
prime time. Even Mary Tyler Moore's recent return to sitcomedy on
"Mary" came complete with a boss (played by James Farentino) to whom
she's attracted against her better judgment.
The creators of these series don't profess to
know what's behind the popularity of their noncommittal couples, but in a
series of telephone interviews, they were willing to take a flyer.
"Maybe America's
in the mood for romance," said "Cheers" co-creator Glen Charles. "There was an absence of it for quite a long time."
Michael Gleason, who created "Remington
Steele" with Robert Butler and remains its executive producer, attributes
the popularity of indecisive romantic couples to "the way movies have gone. They show everything. They tell
everything. Nothing is left to the imagination. People say hello, and they're
in the sack after five minutes."
"The audience
subconsciously was looking for the cleverness that writers used in the '30s and
'40s motion pictures, when the production code was in effect, when you had to
find ways around the censor to show that people wanted to go to bed with each
other,"
Gleason said.
Several of the producers acknowledged a debt to
movie comedies such as "Woman of the Year" (1942) and "Adam's
Rib" (1949), with Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn, and "His Girl
Friday" (1940), with Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell. Charles said the
"Cheers" creators looked for a Tracy- Hepburn chemistry when they
cast their leads. Gleason and "Moonlighting's" executive producer,
Glenn Caron, got themselves in the creative mood by screening "Bringing Up
Baby" (1938), "Monkey Business" (1952) and other screwball
classics by director Howard Hawks.
Caron, who wrote several early
"Remington Steele" installments before moving on to develop
"Moonlighting," suspects that the appeal of such series "has something to do with the love and
affection being unrequited. Dramatically, this has always been a strong thing
to play. There's a sense of destiny about the relationship, yet the destiny at
the moment that we peek in on it is unfulfilled."
How to keep relationships
interesting and honest is the trickiest element of producing a continuing
series in which romantic tension is a critical element, the producers agreed.
In his Oscar-wining movie
"Annie Hall," Woody Allen observed that a relationship is like a
shark--it has to keep moving or it dies. The repetitious relationships in
series such as "Moonlighting" and "Scarecrow & Mrs.
King" run the risk of becoming contrived and coy. On the other hand,
commitment would fundamentally alter the relationships, perhaps destroying what
made them popular.
More than one producer brought up
the case of the 1970s sitcom "Rhoda," whose blockbuster-level early
ratings started slipping as soon as the title character (played by Valerie
Harper) got married. A divorce put Rhoda on the rebound but not the show's
Nielsen numbers.
In some viewers' eyes,
"Cheers" lost its snappy first-season stride when Sam and Diane
consummated their relationship in the second season.
"We've been very careful," said "Remington
Steele's" Gleason. "There were
certain people at the network (NBC) who wanted them (Laura and Remington) to go
to bed the first year--for the November ratings sweeps. I said, 'Wait a minute.
Once they're married, or once they've made love, what do you do with them?'
"
"The last thing we want to do is trivialize the idea of sex,"
said "Hotel" producer Geoffrey Fischer.
Noting that "Remington
Steele" is in its fourth season, Gleason indicated similar changes for
that show: "There does come a point
when you have to commit (yourself) one way or another. And without giving away
any trade secrets, I think the end of this season will take us a long way to
some sort of resolution."
Blake Hunter and Martin Cohan, the co-executive
producers of "Who's the Boss?", would like to sustain the sexual
tension in their second-year sitcom for at least another season.
"Moonlighting's" Caron is unworried
about trying viewers' patience with David and Maddie's hot and cold-running
hormones. The series has the luxury of being new, as Gleason pointed out, but
Caron insisted that a teasing relationship is risky "only if you're calculating about it."
Although the relationship between Amanda and
Lee has warmed this season on "Scarecrow & Mrs. King," the show's
executive producer, George Geiger, is in no hurry to take it further.
According to Geiger, there are no risks in
altering the status of romantic characters.
"There are
consequences,"
Geiger said. "Good and bad
consequences."
[Source: David & Maddie]
05-03-2006
Seasons 4 & 5 DVD release
Good news: seasons 4 & 5 will be
released on DVDs (region 1) on August 15!!! We don't have to wait for
too long, finally... Here is the list of special features:
- Steele Fanatics (is it made with the interviews of fans recently shot in LA?)
- Steele Stars
- Steele on the Road
- Steele on the Air commentary by John Sakmar and Kerry Lenhart
- Beg, Borrow or Steele commentary by Michael Gleason, John Wirth, Brad Kern and Jeff Melvoin
- Bonds of Steele commentary by Michael Gleason, John Wirth, Brad Kern and Jeff Melvoin
- Steele Farewell
I wish there was an episode commentary by both Pierce and Stephanie...
[Source : TV Shows on DVD]
05-01-2006
Steele in Progress
Steele Here meets technolgy!
- On the right, you'll find a radio with a playlist
of songs that are more or less related to the series. You just have to
click on the player and a new window will open, then click on the
song you want to listen. I hope you'll enjoy two songs by Tony Bennett
that are played in the episode Steele Trying, or three themes
from the series, or maybe songs from my music videos, or even other
songs that make me think to the show (try "Still Here" by the Goo Goo
Dolls, it will certainly be in a next clip!). Do not hesitate to send
me titles you'd like to listen on the blog.
- On the left, a small window offers you some quotes from
the show. Once again, feel free to send me an email with quotes you
find funny or moving, and do not forget to give the episode titles. I'd
be glad to add them here!
You can contact me by clicking on the link "contact the author".
