I remember watching McCloud with my older brother when it first aired as one of the NBC Mystery Movie series. We both loved Dennis Weaver as the cowboy in Manhattan. Sometimes memories can fool us as I have watched television shows from my past only to find out they are quite bad. Does McCloud stand the test of time?
I bought the DVD box set recently and began to watch the series from the beginning. It started off as an hourly series which was rotated with some other shows so it only consists of six episodes. NBC decided to turn McCloud into one of the mystery shows for its new mystery wheel show. McCloud was now a two hour show (there are a few 90 minute shows with the final season being 90 minutes each) along with Columbo and McMillan and Wife.
The box set has both the hourly episodes as well as the edited into movie versions. The single episodes make more sense but aren't that good. The second season is where McCloud takes shape. It also isn't the best season but it does have a few good moments here and there. The show began to shine once Glen Larson took over the reins.
As for the show itself, I did like many of the later episodes but found others to be routine and almost a bit tedious. Diana Muldaur starts off as McCloud's girlfriend but then goes MIA for a while. When she does appear, it seems as if she was always McCloud's girlfriend from the start. I know Diana Muldaur had a very busy schedule so she was probably not available for most of the episodes. They should have either kept McCloud single or had him explain Chris away whenever they needed to do so.
There were three episodes which were filmed on location in Hawaii, Mexico and Australia. While the Hawaii locations were used to potential, the other shoots were not. Most other locations were dress ups of the studio backlots. Speaking of locations, there are some location shoots in the Big Apple which were interchanged with shots from LA. It is fun to figure out which is which as well as seeing old infrastructure now long gone.
As for the characters, Dennis Weaver, J D Cannon and Terry Carter are great in their roles as McCloud, Chief Clifford and Sgt Joe Broadhurst. Terry Carter was an off and on character for the beginning until he was made McCloud's partner for the later seasons. Terri Garr, Della Reese and others shine in their roles as well.
The main problem is the plots of the episodes. Most were scripts that would fit for an hour but are stretched out to fit the time slot. The plots are also routine at best for the most part. Some do stand out as they are better written than others. The Alamo episodes and are the right fit for the two hour run time (ads included).
The seventh and final season was 90 minutes with the storylines being a bit choppy. Jack Cassidy appears in London Bridges which aired shortly after his untimely death. He is one of the better character actors of the era as he took all of his roles quite seriously. The final episode is a Halloween themed one about John Carradine who thinks he's a vampire. It could have been so much better but it gets bogged down by an add on plot about a sniper on the loose. I can see why everyone wanted to go their separate ways after this season.
Does McCloud stand the test of time? While it is nowhere near as good as Columbo was, it does go down easy for the most part. There are some cringeworthy scenes and Chief Clifford still doesn't believe McCloud toward the end of the run when he should realize by then McCloud knows what's going on.
I give the show a six out of ten as it is fun to watch but not as good as what I remembered as a kid. The DVD set is worth it if one wants to see all the episodes unedited and ad free.
The TV movie The Return of Sam McCloud is included in the box set. I will probably review that one later on its own IMDB site. Spoiler alert: It's not very good.
I bought the DVD box set recently and began to watch the series from the beginning. It started off as an hourly series which was rotated with some other shows so it only consists of six episodes. NBC decided to turn McCloud into one of the mystery shows for its new mystery wheel show. McCloud was now a two hour show (there are a few 90 minute shows with the final season being 90 minutes each) along with Columbo and McMillan and Wife.
The box set has both the hourly episodes as well as the edited into movie versions. The single episodes make more sense but aren't that good. The second season is where McCloud takes shape. It also isn't the best season but it does have a few good moments here and there. The show began to shine once Glen Larson took over the reins.
As for the show itself, I did like many of the later episodes but found others to be routine and almost a bit tedious. Diana Muldaur starts off as McCloud's girlfriend but then goes MIA for a while. When she does appear, it seems as if she was always McCloud's girlfriend from the start. I know Diana Muldaur had a very busy schedule so she was probably not available for most of the episodes. They should have either kept McCloud single or had him explain Chris away whenever they needed to do so.
There were three episodes which were filmed on location in Hawaii, Mexico and Australia. While the Hawaii locations were used to potential, the other shoots were not. Most other locations were dress ups of the studio backlots. Speaking of locations, there are some location shoots in the Big Apple which were interchanged with shots from LA. It is fun to figure out which is which as well as seeing old infrastructure now long gone.
As for the characters, Dennis Weaver, J D Cannon and Terry Carter are great in their roles as McCloud, Chief Clifford and Sgt Joe Broadhurst. Terry Carter was an off and on character for the beginning until he was made McCloud's partner for the later seasons. Terri Garr, Della Reese and others shine in their roles as well.
The main problem is the plots of the episodes. Most were scripts that would fit for an hour but are stretched out to fit the time slot. The plots are also routine at best for the most part. Some do stand out as they are better written than others. The Alamo episodes and are the right fit for the two hour run time (ads included).
The seventh and final season was 90 minutes with the storylines being a bit choppy. Jack Cassidy appears in London Bridges which aired shortly after his untimely death. He is one of the better character actors of the era as he took all of his roles quite seriously. The final episode is a Halloween themed one about John Carradine who thinks he's a vampire. It could have been so much better but it gets bogged down by an add on plot about a sniper on the loose. I can see why everyone wanted to go their separate ways after this season.
Does McCloud stand the test of time? While it is nowhere near as good as Columbo was, it does go down easy for the most part. There are some cringeworthy scenes and Chief Clifford still doesn't believe McCloud toward the end of the run when he should realize by then McCloud knows what's going on.
I give the show a six out of ten as it is fun to watch but not as good as what I remembered as a kid. The DVD set is worth it if one wants to see all the episodes unedited and ad free.
The TV movie The Return of Sam McCloud is included in the box set. I will probably review that one later on its own IMDB site. Spoiler alert: It's not very good.