Battle of the 80's Crimefighters, Round One
By request, I've decided to begin a tournament of crimefighter shows from the 1980's, slowly working my way to the ultimate 80's TV crimefighter. At some point next week, I'll get into more detail about the various contenders, but in my brief opening overview tonight, I will set the stage for what to expect. There will be a total of 42 crimefighter shows in the tournament, meaning a number of "byes" will have to be given at various stages in the tournament to odd-man-out contenders.
Round one of the tournament will separate the wheat from the chaff by pitting the "innovators" against their closest "imitators". Now, in some cases, the imitators improved upon the quality of their predecessors, so it's not a given that the knockoff artist will lose this first battle. Without any further adieu, let's meet the contestants in their appropriate subcategories, in no particular order.
Subcategory 1: Flashy, Moustached Private Eyes.......Magnum, P.I. (1980-88) versus Matt Houston (1982-85)
Subcategory 2: Keeping it in the Family Detectives......Simon and Simon (1981-88) versus Crazy Like a Fox (1985-86)
Subcategory 3: Domestic Life Detectives.....Hart to Hart (1979-84) versus Scarecrow and Mrs. King (1983-87)
Subcategory 4: Detectives with Sexual Tension......Remington Steele (1982-87) versus Moonlighting (1985-89)
Subcategory 5: Crafty and Clever Crimebusters.....MacGyver (1985-92) versus The Wizard (1986-87)
Subcategory 6: Gentle, Geriatric Gumshoes.....Murder, She Wrote (1984-95) versus Matlock (1986-95)
Subcategory 7: Hardnosed, Hardboiled Chauvinists......Mike Hammer (1984-87) versus
Hunter (1984-91)
Subcategory 8: Cartoonishly Over-the-Top Gunslingers.....Lady Blue (1985-86) versus Sledge Hammer! (1986-88)
Subcategory 9: Young Buddies, Cool Cars.....The Dukes of Hazzard (1979-85) versus Riptide (1984-86)
Subcategory 10: Buddies Who Transcend Generations.....Hardcastle and McCormick (1983-86) versus Jake and the Fatman (1987-92)
Subcategory 11: Badass Solitary Enforcers.....The Equalizer (1985-89) versus Spenser: For Hire (1985-88)
Subcategory 12: Individual Freaks Solving Crimes.....The Greatest American Hero (1981-83) versus Manimal (1983)
Subcategory 13: Groups of Freaks of Solving Crimes.....V (1984-85) versus Misfits of Science (1985-86)
Subcategory 14: Professionals by Day who Moonlight as Crimefighters......The Fall Guy (1981-86) versus Cover-Up (1984-85)
Subcategory 15: Well-Disguised Soldiers of Fortune with Cool Vehicles.....The A-Team (1983-87) versus The Highwayman (1988)
Subcategory 16: Crimefighters with Mean Road Machines.....Knight Rider (1982-86) versus Street Hawk (1985)
Subcategory 17: Crimefighters with Mean Sky Machines.....Airwolf (1984-86) versus Blue Thunder (1984)
Subcategory 18: Flashy Cops, Hot Cities......Miami Vice (1984-89) versus Houston Knights (1987-88)
Subcategory 19: Uniform Cops Patrolling the Mean Streets.....Hill Street Blues (1981-87) versus T.J. Hooker (1982-86)
Subcategory 20: Fighting Crime from Deep Undercover......Wiseguy (1987-90) versus Sable (1987-88)
Subcategory 21: Crimefighters from Another Era.....Crime Story (1986-88) versus Private Eye (1987-88)
Let the contest begin!!! Well, next week anyway.....
Round one of the tournament will separate the wheat from the chaff by pitting the "innovators" against their closest "imitators". Now, in some cases, the imitators improved upon the quality of their predecessors, so it's not a given that the knockoff artist will lose this first battle. Without any further adieu, let's meet the contestants in their appropriate subcategories, in no particular order.
Subcategory 1: Flashy, Moustached Private Eyes.......Magnum, P.I. (1980-88) versus Matt Houston (1982-85)
Subcategory 2: Keeping it in the Family Detectives......Simon and Simon (1981-88) versus Crazy Like a Fox (1985-86)
Subcategory 3: Domestic Life Detectives.....Hart to Hart (1979-84) versus Scarecrow and Mrs. King (1983-87)
Subcategory 4: Detectives with Sexual Tension......Remington Steele (1982-87) versus Moonlighting (1985-89)
Subcategory 5: Crafty and Clever Crimebusters.....MacGyver (1985-92) versus The Wizard (1986-87)
Subcategory 6: Gentle, Geriatric Gumshoes.....Murder, She Wrote (1984-95) versus Matlock (1986-95)
Subcategory 7: Hardnosed, Hardboiled Chauvinists......Mike Hammer (1984-87) versus
Hunter (1984-91)
Subcategory 8: Cartoonishly Over-the-Top Gunslingers.....Lady Blue (1985-86) versus Sledge Hammer! (1986-88)
Subcategory 9: Young Buddies, Cool Cars.....The Dukes of Hazzard (1979-85) versus Riptide (1984-86)
Subcategory 10: Buddies Who Transcend Generations.....Hardcastle and McCormick (1983-86) versus Jake and the Fatman (1987-92)
Subcategory 11: Badass Solitary Enforcers.....The Equalizer (1985-89) versus Spenser: For Hire (1985-88)
Subcategory 12: Individual Freaks Solving Crimes.....The Greatest American Hero (1981-83) versus Manimal (1983)
Subcategory 13: Groups of Freaks of Solving Crimes.....V (1984-85) versus Misfits of Science (1985-86)
Subcategory 14: Professionals by Day who Moonlight as Crimefighters......The Fall Guy (1981-86) versus Cover-Up (1984-85)
Subcategory 15: Well-Disguised Soldiers of Fortune with Cool Vehicles.....The A-Team (1983-87) versus The Highwayman (1988)
Subcategory 16: Crimefighters with Mean Road Machines.....Knight Rider (1982-86) versus Street Hawk (1985)
Subcategory 17: Crimefighters with Mean Sky Machines.....Airwolf (1984-86) versus Blue Thunder (1984)
Subcategory 18: Flashy Cops, Hot Cities......Miami Vice (1984-89) versus Houston Knights (1987-88)
Subcategory 19: Uniform Cops Patrolling the Mean Streets.....Hill Street Blues (1981-87) versus T.J. Hooker (1982-86)
Subcategory 20: Fighting Crime from Deep Undercover......Wiseguy (1987-90) versus Sable (1987-88)
Subcategory 21: Crimefighters from Another Era.....Crime Story (1986-88) versus Private Eye (1987-88)
Let the contest begin!!! Well, next week anyway.....
posted by Mark at 8:11 PM
2 Comments:
This looks like fun. I spent a lot of time watching a lot of these shows, so it's going to be interesting to see how it turns out. Of course, I've got some early ideas of who's going to be standing at the end of the road, but my sentimental favorite has got to be Hardcastle and McCormick.
cheride, without giving much away, "Hardcastle" should have a good run. I see that it's been released on DVD (seasons 1 and 2 anyway), but is only available in Canada. In the months ahead, I plan to order those sets online, provided I'm able to here in the states.
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