Die Schnüffler

In my opinion this is Stephen J. Cannell's greatest creation. The series was kind of a -What if Jim Rockford split in two? The shy, dream-laden private-eye want-to-be and the accomplished con artist team up to solve various mysteries. Goldblum and Vereen are cast perfectly. This was television fun at it's best with the homage to the pulp detectives and the MacGyver of disguises. The villains were typical Cannell with mobsters to motorcycle gangs, but these two heroes made the endings, for me, much more satisfying because of the clever characters. Saddest is how this series was miss-scheduled by ABC and destroyed in the ratings by CBS.

You'd think that a series with two accomplished actors would be available on DVD based upon the current offerings of 70's and 80's material. Conceptually, I think this could work as a current movie vehicle. I think the comedic chemistry between Goldblum and Vereen was great. I never knew of the Simon and Simon or the Moonlighting link. Upon hearing that knowledge, I can reflect that I liked those shows as well. Once again, writing in the category of "things which will never happen", those are two other shows which I'd like to see published on DVD. I suppose Moonlighting perhaps has enough of an appeal and following where it may be available.

Why doesn't A&E, or Lifetime, ever show this? Jeff Goldblum's only foray into series TV as a regular demonstrates that he should have done it much more often. His naive, karate-chopping ex-stockbroker private eye-wanna be is probably one of the most unique characters to be seen on TV. Ben Vereen is more your typical con-man type (which Stephen Cannell re-visited a few years later in "Sonny Spoon"), but Vereen makes the part entirely his own.

Mix with goofy, homage plots (they did Maltese Falcon twice), and you have Moonlighting without the ego trips.

-----

Revised: Well, the series is now out on DVD, and obviously Jeff Goldblum has gotten a new series in the intervening years. Having fully watched a few episodes, I won't say that the memory cheats. But the first couple of episodes are rather complex, and not in a good way. The plots tend to meander along and new characters are introduced late in the game and you're left wondering who they are. "Robin Tucker's..." makes a big ado about being at the Robin Tucker Ballroom... and then the ballroom really has nothing to do with the case. The main characters are still endearing, and Goldblum has some very odd mannerisms (like hopping over a hedge to confront a bad guy). But the voice-over in the early episodes goes on quite a bit, even for a parody/homage. Goldblum sometimes goes over the edge from endearing to obnoxious, or just idiotic. Like when he drops his gun and kicks it along trying to pick it up. Lionel is naive, not stupid. Still, it's better than a lot of shows of the era... and a lot since then.

I too remember this show from a very young age. I wasn't even five years old when it premiered on ABC, yet I can vividly recall the theme song. They actually showed reruns of it back when I was in grammar school, and I never forgot it. Well,according to Amazon.com, "Tenspeed and Brownshoe: The Complete Series" will be released on DVD in March of this year! I'm ordering my copy ahead of the release date so I suggest you guys check it out. At the price they're offering I doubt there'll be any extras but that's fine with me. It's true that the chemistry between Jeff Goldblum and Ben Vereen was easy and natural. Because the actors liked each other, their character's friendship seemed genuine. They were so mismatched and from totally different backgrounds, and yet they worked so well together. I was such a sucker for private eye novels and TV shows, and I loved how Stephen J. Cannell played with that genre's conventions on this show in particular. Neither of them had law- enforcement backgrounds; one of them had been on the wrong side of the law most of his life and the other one was as straight-laced as could be. Yet they were legitimate private eyes, combining their unique talents to solve the mystery while making us smile along the way. I loved how they went back and forth with each other; nowadays, this type of banter is par for the course, but in 1980 it was so ahead of it's time. Anyway, just wanted to let my fellow fans know the news.Thanks!

A too short series that was pure Stephen J. Cannell at the height of his television career.

The hardboiled private eye excerpts from a series of mysteries that had Cannell's photograph on the back; the peculiar and wonderful relationship between the main characters; the longing for a different life; it all added up to a wonderful series that should have lasted for much longer.

Jeff Goldblum was wonderfully befuddled, yet earnest in a most endearing way. Ben Vereen was tolerant and amused, drawn to this most unlikely private investigator.

The humor was unusual and the scripts did not pander to the lower level. It was a most wonderful year that ended way too soon.

An email from SJC himself states that he hopes to release it on DVD...someday. I think someday has arrived, boss. If you can release Renegade, you can release this one. Please?