This thread is proof enough that all roads lead to Shatner.
And another thing, how come no one ever called the character "T.J."?
When I was a kid, I watched T.J. Hooker with a straight face. If I watched an episode now, I doubt I could stop grinning!
It was even more ridiculous to hear his ex-wife call him "Hooker" all the time. Even Lieutenant Columbo admitted in one episode that his wife does use his first name!
I saw this episode only once, during it's original airing. I was only a kid, but to this day, I remember the ending. Not much of the rest of it, but those last seconds really bugged me.
There is no such thing as a "little" sledgehammery for something like that. And what it had to do with the work of a forensic pathologist which was supposed to be the premise of the series is the bigger question. I can live with that kind of message in a show devoted to police work procedure like "Dragnet" or "Hawaii Five-O" but not in a show where these issues should not be the engine for driving the stories. That is what "Quincy" IMO more inexcusably got away from over time and it's not the mark of good TV writing when that happens.
Granted there are other shows that don't always stick to their premises as first conceived. "Switch" for instance started out with the gimmick of "conning the cons" in reverse, but after a bit they were just out of ideas and had to make it more standard P.I. stuff with the gimmick in the backgrounds of the partners, but at least that was an understandable adjustment that could still work. But "Quincy" just made his job totally incidental more often than not.
A better gimmick would have been having Tony Randall as a guest villain.
Okay, now that Quincy is back on the fast track for DVD--season four is out and five comes out in March--hopefully all the denizens of Danny's will reconvene to discuss the show again.
Maybe we can change the thread title to make it a bit more "timeless."
I hope that Shout Factory hasn't "dropped the scalpel" on completing the release of Quincy, M.E. onto DVD, as seasons seven and eight have yet to be announced. Season six was released in July 2013.
BTW, according to IMDb, Quincy, M.E. star John S. Ragin died on April 14, 2013.
All I could find in terms of an obituary was this:
That is very sad news about John S. Ragin. He was a tremendous asset to that show; Klugman always singled him out for special praise, and deservedly so. He was, not coincidentally I think, the only supporting cast member whose role got bigger as the seasons wore on.
That is very sad news about John S. Ragin. He was a tremendous asset to that show; Klugman always singled him out for special praise, and deservedly so. He was, not coincidentally I think, the only supporting cast member whose role got bigger as the seasons wore on.
Dr. Asten was also the character with a couple of character references or storylines that I wished they'd followed up on: his wife, who vanished, and the child they adopted early on in the series. He also mentioned that he was a U.S. Army Ranger after having dispatched some thug in an episode. Of course I couldn't really expect them to continually build backstory for any of the supporting cast, what with the episodic nature of 1970s-'80s TV.
His wife was around throughout the years, but always a different first name and a different actress. (Monahan's wife was only seen once I think, but her name did keep changing...)
His wife was around throughout the years, but always a different first name and a different actress. (Monahan's wife was only seen once I think, but her name did keep changing...)
IIRC, the one time we saw Monahan's wife was when he was stuck home pending his shooting investigation. Then a couple of episodes later over at Danny's, Monahan's ogling some women at the bar and asking Quincy to throw some dames his way!
Yes, both times! And then in a later episode, a surgeon asks Quincy how "Claire Monahan" is doing, but then when Asten's wife is hospitalized, Monahan promises that "Barbara and I" will be over to visit. Either Monahan and Asten were serial grooms, or continuity was not the series' top priority.
Speaking of John S. Ragin, I'm Currently making my way through season four and in the episode "Even Odds", Ragin, as well as Garry Walberg and Robert Ito give excellent performances when their characters have to deal with a gravely injured Quincy. This program had one of the great supporting casts of that era.
Speaking of John S. Ragin, I'm Currently making my way through season four and in the episode "Even Odds", Ragin, as well as Garry Walberg and Robert Ito give excellent performances when their characters have to deal with a gravely injured Quincy. This program had one of the great supporting casts of that era.
A terrific episode and all three of them do a marvelous job. Asten's frustration at bureaucracy is just one of the great moments in that one. I believe that the story idea for that one sprang from Klugman, which was rather generous of him. It also has Joseph Roman's one real acting moment in the series, for the flashback to him in the weight room.
S4 is really the only remaining one I would love to see make it to DVD since it has Jessica Walter's great villainess, dual-role where she kills her identical twin sister newscaster and assumes her identity and Quincy has to prove she's the phony.
Nice touch that Jessica's Emmy win photo for "Amy Prentiss" is on the wall of her character's dressing room. Look fast for the boom mike shadow in one of those scenes, too...
Can anyone confirm there was a Quincy-B.J. and the Bear crossover episode? John S. Ragin is credited as Dr. Robert Astin[sic] in the 1980 B.J. and the Bear episode "The Girls of Hollywood High." What exactly was the extent of Ragin's role?
Can anyone confirm there was a Quincy-B.J. and the Bear crossover episode? John S. Ragin is credited as Dr. Robert Astin[sic] in the 1980 B.J. and the Bear episode "The Girls of Hollywood High." What exactly was the extent of Ragin's role?
I haven't seen the episode, but my understanding is that it was a backdoor pilot for another Glen Larson series. Ragin and Robert Ito briefly appeared in character.
I haven't seen the episode, but my understanding is that it was a backdoor pilot for another Glen Larson series. Ragin and Robert Ito briefly appeared in character.
It may be a stretch to say so, but given NBC's ratings troubles circa 1978-1983, I have to wonder if it was a desperate crossover ploy! Obviously Quincy and B.J. and the Bear are as different as can be but NBC only had Diff'rent Strokes and perhaps a few others--I don't think Quincy was ever a ratings success though it probably won its time slot--during those years.
Much like today, a borderline success in those years was a top hit for NBC. Quincy was never a blockbuster, but for NBC it was a relatively high performer. I'm sure NBC didn't mind the crossover, but I suspect the impetus for it was from Glen Larson, who was the creator/executive producer of BJ, the backdoor pilot and, until Klugman had him banned, Quincy. His relationship with Ragin and Ito must have been smoother and they agreed to appear.
