Hawkins

Jimmy Stewart is head-and-shoulders the reason to watch this series Pilot, starring as the titular small-town West Va. Attorney, a country boy, homespun & seemingly simple but deceptively so and actually always the smartest guy in the room (like Columbo), with a national reputation as one of America's best lawyers if you're hit with a murder charge.

That's what happens in the Pilot, when a beautiful but moody heiress (a very young pre-nose-job Bonnie Bedelia) is accused of a triple murder.

All the character development and acting is terrific. There's lots of clever dialog and Stewart brings his "aww shucks" rural charisma and intelligence to a juicy role with much nuance. There's a good collection of familiar faces as suspects, most especially the always shady Robert Webber as a "friend of the family."

The first hour is fine period entertainment with a singular acting talent, until the third act "twist" and courtroom finalé, which climaxes in pretty much the most clichéd Perry Mason melodrama groaner you could imagine.

The producers of this show originally wanted Andy Griffith, but instead made the very interesting choice of Jimmy Stewart. )We all know what Griffith did end up doing.) Stewart is one of the greatest movie stars ever; very few on his level ever ended up the star of a TV series, much less two. I'm not asking for the Stewart sitcom; I am asking for HAWKINS. The interplay between him and resolutely colorful Strother Martin was funny, the mysteries were satisfying, Stewart was just fine. Mystery series do well on DVD; Stewart movies do well on DVD. This would seem an obvious choice--but to whom do we complain? Does MGM (and probably therefor Warners) own the video rights, or does CBS?

Like Columbo, this series moves slowly, with Jimmy Stewart as the Matlock of the 70's. Okay, not as successful as Matlock, but the mysteries and their solutions show a progressive tread towards mature plots. The pace drags, unfortunately, and will probably be not much of an attraction in a cable revival. Nonetheless, Hawkins the lawyer is much better a detective than Matlock and the stories (each one is about 2 hours each) contain intricate mysteries well worth the watch for detective story connoisseur.

Jimmy Stewart in his second try at a television series was far better at playing Billy Jim Hawkins, defense attorney than he was doing that half hour situation comedy.

For reasons I don't understand he was not as successful at the same type of character as Andy Griffith later was with Matlock. He had that same folksy charm that concealed a mind as sharp as a steel trap. Juatice was inevitably done at the end of each episode.

Unlike Ben Matlock, Billy Jim was from West Virginia as opposed to North Carolina. He had Strother Martin who was a cousin and served as his general factotum. But he came from a large family, almost as if one of the Real McCoys went to law school. Cousins EVERYWHERE. Of course he'd be meeting relatives every so often with a problem. Billy Jim had the largest family on record, like the Kennedys.

Or maybe it was like Chill Wills who called everyone he met "cousin." Never was quite clear.

Nonetheless this forerunner to Matlock should have had a longer run. My guess is Stewart didn't want to be tied down to even a monthly mystery TV series.

It was our loss.