Longstreet

I remember that for the fall of 1971 NBC moved "Ironside" from its longtime Thursday slot to Tuesday, and ABC decided that another show about a physically-challenged detective could fill the Thursday slot. As it turned out, "Ironside" ran into ratings problems against "Mod Squad," also on ABC, while "Longstreet" got as high as fifth in the Nielsen ratings. NBC quickly put "Ironside" back on Thursdays. Maybe Raymond Burr's snarling, intimidating personality made more of an impression than the more laid-back James Franciscus, best known at the time as English teacher Mr. Novak.

But that doesn't change the fact that "Longstreet" was a good show that happened to meet an early end; not only did we get to see the hero, who was blind, at work, but also learning how to cope with his new handicap. Maybe people didn't tune in week after week to get lessons on how to cope with blindness but I think it added a dimension to the show. And add to that the great supporting cast: Marlyn Mason as Longstreet's Braille teacher and assistant; Peter Mark Richman as his co-worker at the insurance company; Bruce Lee on the few occasions he appeared; and one of the most beautiful dogs I've ever seen--Pax, Longstreet's German shepherd guide dog. The characters on this show are likable, the violence is held to a minimum, and it's a shame ABC didn't give it a second season, maybe on a different night.

And just how does a sighted actor play a sightless character? Franciscus once said he had to learn to unfocus his eyes, and I remember an article in the Atlanta Constitution shortly after the series ended that said he suffered from real vision problems for a time because of this.

The only question I've always had is how Longstreet, even with the use of an electronic cane, always knew when to tell Pax to make a left or right turn.

Definitely well-written, well-acted, and a winner no matter if ABC didn't give it a second chance.

Like the film "Marlowe," the only claim to fame of this rather insignificant series is its inclusion of aspiring actor Bruce Lee as a recurring character.

Nobody seems to remember it for anything other than that. Still, a special DVD with all of the episodes starring Lee would be worthwhile.

I liked Longstreet, it was a great series and I loved James Franciscus, so handsome and great actor. Later I saw him in the episode of some series (I don't remember in what series) where he played a greedy young man who wanted to kill his wealthy aunt to get her money. I have searched in IMDb for that series and I have asked in the groups about it but I could never found it.

Longstreet was only on the air for one season. In my memory it stands out as a truly great series despite the fact it was short-lived, as sometimes happens with television. The premise was intriguing: a blind detective. The part of Mike Longstreet was wonderfully portrayed by James Franciscus, well remembered for his run in the earlier hit series, Mr Novak. Unfortunately, Longstreet did not catch on in the same way. Franciscus was perfectly believable as a blind person. He was the right person to carry off this part: handsome, smart and charming. The stories were interesting and intelligent with strong acting in the supporting character parts. Hopefully a DVD set of Longstreet will come out in this age when old and recent television series are being made available on the latest technology.

A series that wasn't just about cops and robbers but also looked at how a man struggles with the handicap of being blind and overcomes. No silly, superhuman ,unrealistic stuff about mega-hearing, but well thought out scripts that were exciting and also developed the characters. Superbly acted by James Franciscus, you believed he really was blind. Bruce Lee had a small bit part, which added to Longstreet's developing character but fortunately Jeet Kune Do was only a small part. Also fine were the co- stars; Peter Mark Richman and Marlyn Mason. Even the music was great, the score was by the talented Oliver Nelson, whose music in the episode "Elegy in Brass" was superb. This should be repeated again!