There were so many reasons for me to see the documentary, Will & Harper. A) It’s a road-trip movie and driving across country has been a hobby of mine for years as I have taken at least four weeks to drive from Miami to Los Angeles on the so-called Blue Lane Highways every even numbered year since the mid-1990s … and have even taken lengthy non-cross-country trips along the Eastern Seaboard on some odd number years. B) Harper, she of the main title, was a he for the first 60 years of life, having made the transition to becoming a female late in the game. The transformation from one gender to another is of particular interest to me as one of the closest members of my family has taken this path as well.
Then there was the more conventional reason: I generally enjoy documentaries and this one, in particular, was highly recommended by several in my family as well as some friends and neighbors.
What can I say? I didn’t like it.
Damn. I had such high expectations. The only good thing about sitting through the too-long-by-a-lot one-hour and fifty-four minutes were the end credits which have a song co-written and sung by Kristen Wiig. High speed through the video to that ending if you can (not easy to do on Netflix). The song and the accompanying video are good, but not good enough to sit through 114 minutes of this home movie, improperly documented as something more than that.
To give the project its due, it is well-intentioned: two friends of more than a generation, now re-defining and exploring their relationship while taking a road trip across America. Some really interesting ideas are occasionally touched on in this film, but rarely (if at all) explored. This is not Thelma & Louise. Add to that I am not a Will Ferrell fan (he is the Will of the documentary’s title) and there is nothing here that would change that predisposition. Nothing more to be said. I wanted it to be better. It should have been a LOT better. It is okay … but only just okay.
The Outlaws on Prime Video is something else altogether. For me it did not promise much, but it came along to deliver a pleasurable first season in a series that now has a total of three seasons available.
It is of English origin, and it has that uniquely English humor thing that has always been displayed best for me in the series of animated films starring the Award-winning character named Gromit (of Wallace & Gromit fame). The writing and performing are just off-center enough to be … once you warm up to the thing … (for lack of a better word) charming. A plethora of goofy characters all played nicely by actors with whom I am unfamiliar, except for Christopher Walken as an American ex-patriot/ex-con now sentenced to community service which is where we meet all of Walken’s co-stars.
It takes a while to get into the mood of this thing but give yourself over to it and you will not regret that move. It is a sweet, little television series.
For real American belly laughs, one must wait for Monday nights; for it is only on Monday nights that Jon Stewart returns to the host’s desk on Comedy Central’s The Daily Show. Jon Stewart is an authentic comic genius, making this Monday night presentation “Must-see TV.”
The laughs during the rest of the week (Tuesday thru Thursday) vary depending on which of Stewart’s supporting group is the night’s host. Personally, I have become a huge fan of Desi Lydic and when she is rotated in, I remain riveted. Otherwise, I flip to my favorite news channel … not a lot of laughs but certainly plenty of fodder for harvesting by Jon Stewart the following Monday.
Follow Barney at: www.cagneyandlacey.com
A NICE TRIBUTE by Barney Rosenzweig
“Thank you, Cagney & Lacey.”
Those were the first words spoken by Helen Mirren to an international TV audience at the Emmy Awards in 2001. The brilliant actress spoke those words as she held aloft the statuette she had just won for Outstanding Lead Actress (Prime Suspect).
That evening of Ms. Mirren’s win was a decade after the series featuring Sharon Gless and Tyne Daly as two New York cops had completed its run on CBS. Yet, Ms. Mirren remembered.
Twenty-five years later, the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) is also saying “thank you, Cagney & Lacey” this time by hosting a tribute evening October 7 at the Billy Wilder Theater on the famed Westwood campus in California.
The archivists at that University will screen two episodes and then be joined by Sharon Gless and me on stage for a little dialogue about how it all came to be. Tyne Daly, who has a last minute “gig” shooting in New York City, will join us on tape.
The episodes that will be shown are from the seasons of 1984 and 1985; both are Emmy Award winners: “Heat” directed by Karen Arthur, and “The Gimp” directed by Sharron Miller.
Some of the C&L alumni will be in that audience: writers Georgia Jeffries and Kathyrn Ford as well as Ron Ramin who composed the music for most of the series’ episodes. The UCLA thing is nice; the fact that there are periodic rumblings in Hollywood about a remake of the series is … oh, so much better.
And I still get a kick … after all these years (nearly 50) … when the NY Times crossword puzzle contains a Cagney & Lacey clue … something that still happens over a half dozen times a year. And has there been a television season in the last four decades where one or more of the new crop of cop shows does not make a Cagney & Lacey reference in dialogue? I don’t think so.
The photos I get of beloved pets named after my dynamic duo brings a smile, and lately I have been watching, with admiration, the multiple collages of video highlight material edited by various fans from The Cagney & Lacey Appreciation Group on Facebook. That has only been topped for me by a video presentation added on the same site, just last week, underscored with an original song that is a tribute to the producer of the show (guess who?). You think it is easy to get Rosenzweig and Cagney & Lacey into a lyric? Ask Ms. Katy Milne, a fan who brought a smile to this old guy’s countenance with her musical tribute.
There are television series that have won more than the 14 Emmy Awards Cagney & Lacey achieved (although no other CBS drama has managed to do that before or since) and there are shows that have been rated higher. None, however, has had more impact or become more a part of the language than Cagney & Lacey. None.
An industry “joke” I always liked, evoked that very essence of “impact.” It was more than the female lead shows that came after my series. It goes to the fundamental way that Cagney & Lacey altered the television business.
The “joke” goes that before Cagney & Lacey, a producer selling a new idea to a network for a series featuring a private detective, would conclude the pitch by leaning into the buyer with a conspiratorial look around the room before imparting the essential difference … the hook… that would set this private eye apart from all others:
“He’s blind.”
The self-satisfied producer would hardly be able to contain his glee at this “reveal.”
After Cagney & Lacey, the Network exec might well nod, acknowledging his understanding of the gimmick’s virtue, but then ask, “…Okay, but does he have a dog? Is he married? Is he an alcoholic? What is his home life like?”
That was the difference. The change-over from plot and action- driven melodramas to strong characters and their relationships with one another and how their work would impact their families. That is what Cagney & Lacey changed; that is what will be celebrated at UCLA on October 7.
You would not be able to surmise any of this from perusing Prime Video on your home television screen. Odd, in that Prime Video has a vested interest in the success of Cagney & Lacey because Prime Video is owned by Amazon, and Amazon owns MGM and its library which includes Cagney & Lacey. Yet, turn on Amazon Prime and, assuming you can find any of the 125 episodes or five films that were made with that title, you will read in the show’s description a vanilla-like understatement that Cagney & Lacey was “nominated for a Golden Globe.” That’s it. No mention of the 14 Emmys won by the show (plus innumerable nominations), no mention of the Golden Globe that was actually won (not simply a nomination), and no mention of any of the other national and international salutes.
Do I sound disappointed? It does roil my sensibilities. It is, in fact, hard for me to understand why Amazon has not even tried to spruce up the look of the show with fresh prints … it has, after all, been 40 years. And they own it! Perhaps they are not NYT crossword fans, or pet lovers, and are unaware of the tributes by decades-long fans.
Maybe? Perhaps? How about perchance … thanks to this nod from UCLA … it just may be conceivable that Amazon will deliver something to your television screen instead of leaving it out in the rain in a box too far from your front door. Possibly? Ya think? No matter what they do or don’t do, I still unabashedly say, “Thank you, Cagney & Lacey.”
“Before and After Cagney & Lacey,” a second memoir… McFarland Publishers. Order here.
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“Before and After Cagney & Lacey,” a second memoir… from McFarland Publishers. Order here.
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