Simon & Simon

I really enjoyed this show, and watched it religiously when me and my family lived in L.A. in the eighties.

I think it was one of the last P.I. shows on the air when it was cancelled, as by that time the sitcom was taking over and action/adventure shows like this had fallen out of favour.

It had the same kind of sense of humour as Rockford and Magnum, and was just as entertaining as either one. (No real surprise as the series creator Philip DeGuere had worked with Roy Huggins, Stephen J. Cannell and Donald P. Bellisario, who gave us those other two classics.)

Stand out episodes include: "Ashes to Ashes, and None Too Soon", "Thin Air", "Pirate's Key", "The List", "Grand Illusion", "The Dillinger Print", "C'est Simon", "Who Killed the Sixties?" "Simon Without Simon" Parts 1 and 2, and of course, "May the Road Rise Up"

There are more but not enough room or time to mention them all.

Simon & Simon was a rare series in the 1980s. While crime dramas have risen in popularity over the last thirty years, this series was both entertaining and enlightening without being violent or murderous. For the first season, the Simon brothers are San Diego private detectives. They are more involved in kidnapping, robbery, burglary, etc. There is some mild violence but nothing serious. Gerard McRaney and Jameson Parker are believable as brothers. Their characters are developed to be solid and different. The series has quite quirky theme song to go along with it. Their mother is played by Mary Carver. The San Diego setting is different and ideal for cases. I never watched the series on television and believe it followed Magnum P.I. on CBS. I'm not surprised that it lasted eight seasons. This series was a smart show and I caught the first season on DVD by chance. I love the dog, Marlow, and I enjoy the humor as well. McRaney and Parker were smart performers who should have been awarded with Emmys as well.

This series took a staple element of the detective genre - mismatched partners, and added the twist that they were brothers. Instead of setting it in a classic location for a detective series (NY, LA, Chicago), they took the 90 minute drive down the coast to the beautiful city of San Diego. What they found was a gold mine. Instead of the tired cliche locations, they banked on the little seen but widely known attractions of San Diego (the Zoo, Sea World, the Beaches, and the close proximity to Baja California). The pilot was set in Florida, but the series was wisely moved to the West Coast; Rick Simon, the older of the brothers, was a former marine that was the braun, while buttoned down preppy AJ (the embodiment of preppies in the 80's) was the cultured, refined brother. With Tim Reid as a supporting character (Downtown Brown) and Mary Carver as their mother Cecilia, this series produced many memorable episodes that not only entertained, but taught about the viewer history (WW2, John Dillinger, etc.). Catch it in syndication if you can.

You know, I was too young in the 1980's to really appreciate the show...in fact, I don't recall having seen an episode during it's original run. I've just started watching the reruns at 4 AM (PST) on A&E and I'm amazed at just how fun a show it was. A lot the shows like this from the same era seem a bit dated today (Miami Vice, anybody?), but this remains fresh without showing it's age. Parker and McRaney are perfect as the brothers and hit the right combination of comedy and drama, just like a good show should. This is a new favorite for me.

I loved this series when it was on in the 80's, and was worried when A&E started showing it again (M-F, 12pm ET) that I'd be disillusioned by the actual quality of the show, as opposed to what I remembered it to be (as I have been for other series I've seen after 15 years).

I wasn't. The chemistry between Jameson Parker (A.J.) and Gerald McRaney (Rick) is still wonderful, the relationship they have developed is very believable, the dialogue is still great. Would that I enjoyed some series from the 90's as much as I love this classic from the 80's!!