The Thin Man

I also watched and loved this show when I was five. The dog's name was Asta. The show was based on Dashiell Hammett's novel, The Thin Man. A series of movies based on the book came out between 1934 and 1947, with William Powell and Myrna Loy.

The main draw of this show would be for fans of the excellent movie series. However, it suffers by comparison. Peter Lawford and Phyllis Kirk at their best couldn't hope to compete with William Powell and Myrna Loy, and I'm not sure we're getting their best in this show.

To begin with, the entertaining by-play in the dialogue between the two just isn't present in the TV show. In the movies, William Powell comes across as smart, both as a detective and in his turns of phrase. Peter Lawford only comes across as smart aleck. Myrna Loy's Nora has equally clever lines in the films, but in the TV show she is simply a pretty accessory.

The decision to format the show in 30 minutes guaranteed that the mystery plots would be "thin", the characters shallow, and every other element, most often, trite. I've never been a particular fan of Peter Lawford, and this series did not repair my opinion.

I was a child when "The Thin Man" was on television but for some reason, I remember it very clearly. I think I was completely captivated by the sheer sophistication of Nick and Nora Charles and the fact that they lived in an apartment in New York City. Growing up in a house and not in New York City, this was fascinating to me.

What I remember most is how beautiful Phyllis Kirk was and what glorious clothes she wore. Kirk and Lawford seemed a most glamorous couple, and I have a feeling their relationship colored my own ideas about an ideal marriage - rich and childless.

I purchased the series, and I have to say I still love it even though the stories aren't much. What I did pick up on right away is that Hart to Hart is an exact ripoff, right down to the car in the beginning, the lovey-dovey relationship, and the sophistication. Hart to Hart really doesn't copy the Hammett Thin Man series.

This show was an attempt by MGM to get into TV and capitalize on one of their properties, and it didn't make it. Many years later, I had a chance to see the wonderful movies on which the series was based. You really can't compare the shows to the films.

I remember this series so well. I was 5 years old. It seems there are no prints of this series. I think the dog was called Rusty. The show just had class and Peter Lawford, the star. Anyone with information please make contact

I agree with Alice. Why is no one putting out a DVD collection of this wonderful TV program? I am a devotee of the William Powell, Myrna Loy classics; this is to underscore that for me, the Peter Lawford, Phyllis Kirk re-working of "The Thin Man" requires no apologies for its contemporaneity. There were seventy-two episodes (twenty-four a season), far more than I had guessed. For those of my generation (these episodes ran during my junior high school years), there is doubtless a dear nostalgia for the time; but there is a smooth sophistication here which I am noting many much younger people are beginning to re-appreciate. The exigencies of DVD production has long made me wonder at the odd and inexplicable choices. Some awful turkeys show up both in single releases and in compilations, as fine productions are overlooked.