Tempo quente

We have seen detective and pi series over and over, but this one has a certain wit to it. Just don't take it too seriously.

What I was familiar with this show gave me the sense that this Stephen J.Cannell-produced show--created hard on the heels of past successes such as "Rockford Files" and "The A*Team"--was supposed to be somewhat of a expansion of the "LAid-back Vietnam Vets become P.I.s in Warm Climes" dynamic that was first floated out by the much more successful "Magnum P.I.". As such,it was an easy to watch(though not particularly an improvement upon the much more viscerally satisfying "A*Team")hour of TV that didn't,alas,register as strong as the show(or shows)it was cribbed from. The trio of vets(Joe Penny,Perry King and Thom Bray,all securely locked into careers now as guest stars and/or TV-movie staples)live by a Marina,operate a helicopter and take on varying cases. I'm figuring this show will pop up on TVLAnd before too much longer,assuming it hasn't already.

I remember this show when was around 12 years old. I loved the Screamin Mimi helicpoter and the robot that Murray created/manned. I also loved the characters of Nick and Cody. It was definitely on par with Magnum PI and Simon & Simon. Every week they would have a challenging case to solve, of course with the help of Murray and his robot. One of the first TV shows to include a robot/computers. Too bad it only lasted two seasons. I loved the premise of this show. The actors went on to other TV shows (Jake & the Fatman, Melrose Place, etc.) It's too bad Murray (Thom Bray) didn't have much of a career after the show ended, aside form the occasional movie of the week...

In the 80's private investigators ruled the airwaves. Magnum, Simon&Simon, Remington Steele, Matt Houston and even Knight Rider could be considered a detective show, but this was the best of the era. The characters of Nick Ryder played by Joe Penny, Cody Allen played by Perry King, and Murray Bozinski played by Thom Bray were huge role models for me. I was in my mid teens when this show was on {3 seasons on The NBC network Jan. 84- Aug of 86} The friendship these guys shared from serving in Vietnam to working together in their own private investigator business was something that everybody wanted, lifelong friendships. The show performed very well in the ratings it's first two seasons Tuesday nights at 9:00 pm following The A-Team, but was killed by Moonligthing in the 85-86 season. To this day I dis-like Bruce Willis for that. I think NBC gave up on Riptide way to early because the re-runs of Riptide ran on The USA network with very good success for three years 86-89, and Riptide's successors on NBC, Crimestory, and JJ Starbuck were not very good Television. I just hope that someday soon this great show will be released on DVD

I haven't seen the show since it aired back in '84, but that was the era when personal computers was being introduced. The 'computers' and geek-speak on Riptide fascinated me, as we were already using the IBM PC at our business, and Riptide tried to use computers as a supporting element in the show.

Unfortunately, the world of real computers was just a little too new for the writers. I recall Boz explaining how he'd obtained some vital bit of information to the guys: "Well, I downloaded it using ASCII..." But, hey, they tried.

I don't think one mystery was ever explained: where did these Magnum/Airwolf wanna-be PIs get the cash to run both a yacht AND a helicopter?