Un shérif à New York

I miss the NBC Mystery Movie, which gave us Columbo, McMillan and Wife, McCloud, and several shows that didn't make it. McCloud deservedly was a show that lasted. It starred Dennis Weaver who, after his big success as Chester on "Gunsmoke" proved that he wasn't one to be typecast. He was terrific as McCloud, a westerner assigned to work in New York City under Chief Clifford (the ever-irate J.D. Cannon). Though his ways were often criticized, McCloud always got the job done. "You said yourself I'm funky," he once told Clifford. Terry Carter provided able support.

Diana Muldaur was McCloud's sophisticated Manhattan girlfriend, and you could really see how she'd fall for him - it's obvious she saw him as a real man in a world of dull types.

At the time of this writing, Dennis Weaver is 81 and still working occasionally, though not enough for his many fans. He has given us some wonderful characters over the years. McCloud is one, a funky cowboy riding the Manhattan streets.

McCloud is a good 70's police show. It is never really serious, and McCloud always drives chief Clifford crazy in almost every episode, JD Cannon (the Chief) adds some humor to the show. This is a great show to see famous old time TV and Movie stars make guest appearances. One can also see many stars when they were young and just starting out, example Terri Garr, and Weekend at Bernie's Terry Kizer. I rate this show a 9/10. See it for fun.

Although I think that the original inspiration for the McCloud series came from Clint Eastwood's film Coogan's Bluff which involved a New Mexico sheriff in New York, Dennis Weaver certainly made Marshal Sam McCloud his own character and certainly was a lot less stiff than Eastwood's Joe Coogan.

The premise had Sam McCloud of Taos, New Mexico in New York to take some training in new law enforcement techniques. But it seemed that in every show he was teaching those New York City slickers a thing or two about criminal apprehension.

He was the bane of the existence of Chief Clifford who was played by J.D. Cannon. Cannon looked like he was about to let an ulcer get the better of him in each show. A bit more patient was the NYPD babysitter Terry Carter who played Sergeant Joe Broadhurst. Weaver even got a little romance going with reporter Diana Muldaur. Weaver was good for scoops at least.

And there was McCloud's eternal catchphrase. Whenever the New Yorkers finally got whatever he was doing it was always "There Ya Go". Weaver was always springing country aphorisms which he had to translate.

Weaver really made this show click. He hated playing Chester in Gunsmoke, always thought he should have been the marshal.

I'd say he proved it with McCloud.

McCloud was one of my favorite detective series of the 70's. I guess the best thing about it was the way Sam McCloud not only caught the bad guys, but the way he usually was able to make fools of the uptight holier than thou New York cops who considered him a southern country bumpkin. The police chief, Peter Clifford, always looked like he was on the verge of having a stroke whenever McCloud was around. If only he had let McCloud do his job without making such a fuss, the bad guys would still have been caught, and with a lot less trouble.

In "Coogan's Bluff," the movie that led to "McCloud," Clint Eastwood's Coogan came to New York to capture a villain, did so, and went back to New Mexico. Obviously this wasn't going to do for the series, so Sam McCloud was sent to New York to study how they did things in the Big Apple... and then proceeded to ignore them and do things his way.

Like practically every cop in the history of television, his boss didn't like his methods and would have loved to be rid of him (McCloud actually did grant his wish in one episode when he resigned, but needless to say he came back), but our horse-riding hero got results. Of course, it didn't hurt that his sort-of girlfriend was the Commissioner's cousin... it's what you know and who you know that counts.

So it went for seven years, first as part of "Four-in-One" (an hour-long revolving series with four instalments) then as part of the "NBC Mystery Movie" until its demise; the series had plenty of comedy (McCloud, trying to land a plane: "The big hand is on 3, the little hand is on 4!" Clifford: "You're looking at the clock, McCloud!") but it wisely took its central premise seriously, never going out of its way to be quirky a la "due South" - McCloud going horse riding down the streets notwithstanding. Dennis Weaver's had other series after this, but we're not going to remember him for "Stone" (and certainly not for the snooze-inducing "Buck James"); it'll be for "Gunsmoke," "Gentle Ben," and for (relatively) younger audiences Deputy Marshal Sam McCloud.

"There you go..."