Stingray

i remember being mesmerized by this show and of course the vintage 1965 Stingray driven by Nick Mancuso. He played his character quite well...he was very handsome, mysterious, yet there was also a vulnerability to him that i found extremely sexy -- not to mention those hypnotic dark eyes and the stealth in the way he carried himself. like i said...sexy...elusive and yet very masculine, with a chameleon-like existence...much like "The Pretender". unlike the other private eye characters, where they are paid for hire, "Ray" only provided favors for those he helped, and when the time came, for the favor to be given back. sounded fair enough for me. it's a shame this series was so short lived. i lived for those Friday nights before "Miami Vice" when "Stingray" came on...with its sexy, yet edgy musical score.

to be quite honest...they could've kept "MV" and continued with "Stingray"...perhaps one day the good folks of TV Land will show the short reruns of it...we can only hope.

This series illustrates the point that making a better product does not always guarantee success as the adage about the mousetrap goes. At least not in the world of 80's network TV. This show had excellent directing, acting, cinematography, writing, sets, and the coolest car on the airways. Sadly, due to fumbled advertising and a roving time slot, it just didn't make it. Or maybe audiences at the time just weren't ready for Stingray's intelligent and edgy direction and so passed it up for more down-to-Earth offerings. Whatever the reason for it's downfall, there were a lot of people hooked on the show. Many of my classmates liked it and each week's episode was the buzz of the school. Perhaps the Nielsen ratings messed up the numbers or maybe it just didn't sit well with the disposable income demographic.

I personally think this is a candidate for a DVD release and possible re-discovery. It was my favorite show when it was on the air

For a few years in the late '80s, when I was just starting high school, "Stingray" was a regular fixture of my Friday nights. I used to stay home to tape it and "Crime Story" every week, so I got to see many episodes, and I think they still exist on ancient videocassettes somewhere in my brother's house. What can I say? This was easily one of the most stylish of the prime time dramas of the day, kind of Film Noir meets MTV, complete with quasi-music-video segments (all Post/Carpenter compositions, of course), disorientating quick-cuts in time with dramatic bursts of electronic drums, lots of shadows and glistening wet nighttime streets. Very moody and atmospheric at times, especially the episodes directed by David Hemmings (the same one who starred in Blow-Up and other movies). Being a sci-fi geek at the time, probably my favorite episode of all was the implausibly silly but neat-looking "Playback" (the "Desert Dome episode" as I call it, directed by Hemmings and co-starring Eugene Roche). Great series. Bring it back. Not that they ever will. Did I mention the '65 Vette?

I always liked the show and it was far better than all the other hits of that decade, like Knight Rider, A-Team or ... Simon&Simon. Correct me if I`m wrong, but ... isn`t Stingray somekind of ... the original PRETENDER? Think about it.

"Stingray" was one of my favourite TV shows when I was a teenager. Ray was a cool guy, never taking money for his services, only asking favours. And of course he drove that fabulous Corvette Stingray, which still ranks as one of my favourite cars.