Some people don't get the appeal of Raymond Burr. That's fine, to each their own. But he was a master and certainly had the X factor. He starred in two iconic TV programs - Perry Mason and Ironside that were beloved by viewers then and now and went on for years! I think part of it is Burr was like the tough coach that gets the most out of his players and don't want to let him down. He demanded great, not good, and the writers and actors on his shows produced it.
For example, he demanded that the first few episodes of Ironside in season 1 be completely re-shot as they just weren't up to snuff! And they did it!
And he was a unique actor.
All of this is on display in this special two-hour episode of Ironside.
The plot is quite convoluted - another reviewer is spot on by saying that the writers overreached. I admit that in the last 15 minutes I was pretty much clueless as to who and why people were doing what! That was the norm on Perry Mason by the way.
The real key to the episode is Burr playing a "role within a role." This is something he only did once on Perry Mason but did several times on Ironside. Here he does it to perfection, acting as if Ironside becomes a drunken bum, and pulling it off, in my humble opinion. The viewer doesn't believe it, but we do believe that people that didn't know him that well would believe it.
It's cool also to see the depiction of the seedy side of San Francisco that Ironside joins. Prostitution, drug dealing, violence and crime, and even the allusions to the religious-type cults that arose in the 1970's (most notoriously Jim Jones "church" in Los Angeles, eventually resulting in the mass suicide).
And, the love for Ironside by his crew is also well-depicted.
Also, this episode features wonderful character actors everywhere! Continuously popping up throughout the two hours are actors you say, "I know him!" but of course you don't know his name! They include Antonio Fargas (Huggy Bear from Starsky and Hutch), Gene Evans, William Devane, Val Bisoglio (the cook from MASH), George Dicenzo, William Mims, who looks like he just stepped off the set of one of the zillion westerns he appeared in, Lee Montgomery (the autistic kid, who also appeared as a boy genius in classic Columbo), and the villian here, William Smith, who, incredibly, started his acting career with a kid part in 1942's Ghost of Frankenstein!
I'd like to give a special shout-out to David Wayne, who plays Ironside's doctor here. Wayne is a bit like Burgess Meredith, a unique actor that you like to see. He played Ellery Queen's father in the 1975 series and was also the Mad Hatter in 1966 Batman, but I always remember him from a 1957 episode of Alfred Hitchcock's short-lived series Suspicion, called "Heartbeat." Wayne has a dangerous heart condition and any excitement could kill him but he doesn't know it and has a helluva day having fun, then dies. Wonderful performance.
The Ironside/Star Trek link is repped by Roger Perry, who was in the original Star Trek.
Sit back and enjoy this episode and don't worry too much about the who and what and why!
Note: The Director continues the Season 7 use of overlapping images of people while they talk, which I think was originally used to cover up Burr's double being used. Might be time to put that one to rest.