Remington Steele

Remington Steele is one of my favorite TV series. It had everything: fun, romance, mystery, suspense, and three great leading actors, Stephanie Zimbalist, Pierce Brosnan and Doris Roberts. They were a winning combination. I would love to have the entire series on DVD. Although, I have some complete episodes on video tape, tapes wear out, and I'm hoping for a DVD set to preserve such a wonderful series for posterity.

Stephanie Zimbalist played Laura Holt beautifully. She was a character I admired, a woman striking out on her own, even though she initially had to use deception to get her business on track. Pierce Brosnan was charming as the mysterious con man. Who can forget the wild antics of Doris Roberts as Mildred Krebs, especially the time she was involved in the Steele, Inc. scheme to open a chain of Remington Steele agencies without the knowledge of Laura or Steele?

This is a series that MUST find a place on DVD shelves everywhere.

The 007 films are no doubt fun, but their attempts at comedy (which are admittedly not their focal point) are sad compared to the physical comedic ability and the facial expressions Brosnan exhibited on "Remington Steele." And Zimbalist was a great co-lead, as opposed to in other shows, where the female played second string. I believe this show's premise would still work today, tweaked a bit to satisfy those people still fighting for that one amendment - what was it? The main things that wouldn't work would be the hairstyles and the clothing - but those will probably come back in a decade or two. At any rate, this show is a classic.

Way back when TV shows actually told good mysteries and didn't just show "reality" we had a little gem called "Remington Steele." Starring Pierce Brosnan (pre-Bond) and Stephanie Zimbalist the show revolved around a detective agency. The twist was "Remington Steele" was a made up character in the show. Laura Holt (Zimbalist's role) invented him because a name like that on the door brought in the business. Of course when Brosnan shows up and sort of "becomes" Remington things get very interesting. The first season really has some great shows in it and the chemistry between the leads is wonderful. I highly recommend the show to all mystery and detective fans who like shows that make you think a little - and are fun too!

I loved Remington Steele back in the 1980s and videotaped many of the shows. I recently found those tapes again and have been watching them more critically this time around. I still love most of the shows, but now I think I understand why. Where else can you find a show nowadays where the star of a show is a bright, independent-minded entrepreneurial woman who finds a bright, warm, sensitive, and gorgeous man that pursues her more for her mind than her body? Where else can you find a show nowadays where the female lead deals with feminist issues and doesn't allow herself to be sexually exploited or even to take issues of sex and commitment lightly without being naive or a prude? Looking back on it, there was more romantic comedy than mystery or drama in most of the shows, but the main characters were very appealing, as was their dilemma. I'd love to see more shows like it on the air today.

The DVD release of this show has allowed me to go back and visit an old favorite. I had not seen the episodes since their very first run, so I was curious if I would still like the show and still derive the enjoyment from it that I remembered the first time through. Well, good news: the show was just as good as I remembered it, and had held up well for being 20 years old. Pierce Brosnan displayed the charm that made him one of my favorite TV stars, and his chemistry with Stephanie Zimbalist was still excellent. The shows themselves are extremely well-written. Unlike shows on TV today, this show didn't talk down to you; the characters were sophisticated and spoke like they were well educated, not like they hung out at the bar all the time. The wit hasn't been lost, either; I laughed through many of the episodes I watched. This was like catching up with an old friend. I can't wait to see the second season!