User Reviews

When I was a young teenager, "77 Sunset Strip" was my and my friends' favorite TV show and, thanks to MeTV for recently airing its re-runs, it remains the freshest, most original and coolest show on TV. Little did I realize way back when that one of its stars--the handsome gifted young actor Roger Smith (on whom my sister had a serious crush)--also wrote 7 of its episodes, and the 2 I've seen so far are terrific. "The Silent Caper" had absolutely no dialogue--a gimmick that Smith utilized to create one of the series' finest 60 minutes. Equally wonderful is "Once Upon a Caper" wherein Smith used a Rashomon-like narrative to turn the series upside down by lampooning the whole private eye genre and making good-natured fun of the characters played by Efrem Zimbalist Jr. (Stuart Bailey), Edd Byrnes (Kookie) and Smith himself (Jeff Spencer). Richard Long (a recent addition to the cast) wants to know what brought the original threesome together, and Smith, Zimbalist and Byrnes are only too happy to tell him. Trouble is, each one takes full credit for establishing their swank private eye agency, gleefully portraying the other two as bumbling, nerdy, down-on-their-luck incompetents (especially hilarious is Smith's depiction of the suave, sophisticated Zimbalist as a hick wearing a bow-tie, baggy pants, an ill-fitting suit and a nebbishy haircut). I can't recall any other TV series pulling the rug out from under itself, but thanks to Smith's droll tongue-in-cheek script (and he doesn't spare himself-- Zimbalist portrays Smith as an inept, clumsy, narcissistic fool with a lousy haircut), "Once Upon a Caper" is probably the most enjoyable episode of the entire series and quite possibly the inspiration for Blake Edwards' quintet of Inspector Clouseau movies (the ones with Peter Sellers). The multi-talented Roger Smith (who in other episodes also revealed a fine singing voice) never resorts to crude slapstick, nor are there any corpses or mayhem (and only a couple of stunning blondes) in this light-hearted caper. All three lead actors seem to be having a great time poking fun at each other, and their inspired hi-jinks make for a classic episode of a classic, classy TV series!

Rex Randolph (Richard Long) tries to find out how the firm of Bailey and Spenser came to be and gets an earful of confusion. Stu Bailey (Efrem Zimbalist Jr.), Jeff Spenser (Roger Smith) and Kookie (Edd Byrnes) each give him the story THEIR way. It's hilarious and gives each of the actors a chance to play their characters a bit differently, revving up their own character while making fun of the others. A great idea, nicely done, lots of fun, but pity poor Rex who never gets to hear anything resembling the real story.