Birthday Post: Ray Collins

I couldn't let December 10th pass by without acknowledging Ray Collins' birthday. It was on this day in 1889 when this amazing person and actor came into the world. He was inspired at an early age to want to become an actor and showed that he definitely had the talent for it. He was only rarely out of work once he began his long career, working on the stage and in radio as well as in movies and on television. He was widely respected and well-liked.

I was looking over his Wikipedia page before coming here, and I read something I have never heard before. Apparently, the reason his name was kept in the credits after he could no longer return to the show was because Gail Patrick Jackson knew he watched the show each week and she didn't want to discourage him by removing his name from the credits. That is awesome and very moving. It doesn't quite explain why his name was left there for the rest of season 8, even after his death, but I suspect my original idea, that it was out of respect and sadness. They probably couldn't stand to take his name away when the grief was too fresh. And they wanted to continue to acknowledge the great impact he had on the show. In any case, I'm sure he continued to be there in spirit.

As season 4 marches on, I continue to enjoy Ray's wonderful work as Lieutenant Tragg. He portrayed the character so brilliantly, with a mixture of grouchiness, sarcasm, intelligence, and caring, and he made it work each and every time. Lieutenant Tragg is larger-than-life, but at the same time he feels three-dimensional and real. He isn't just a cardboard cut-out character that gets trounced by Perry all the time.

Sadly, the writing was already on the wall that something wasn't right. While Sergeant Brice is absent for most of the early season 4 episodes, he returns the same time Hamilton does, in The Fickle Fortune. In both that and the next episode, The Waylaid Wolf, Brice takes part much more than he generally did before. He and Tragg are both present in the first of those episodes, but Brice still handles a lot of the needed conversations and both of them are questioned in court. Brice even sits in the gallery for the rest of the court scenes, something he doesn't often do. The next episode has him carrying it alone, including the court scenes. This happens several more times in season 4.

Although I love Sergeant Brice and delight to see him gain more screentime, I'm saddened by the reason why it happened. We've entered the point in the show where Tragg is being gradually, quietly phased out, and it's never quite the same afterwards.

There are still occasions where Tragg has a lot of screentime, however. The next episode, The Wintry Wife, features him in a lot of the investigation scenes along with Victor Chamberlin, in what is probably his highlight episode. This isn't the time to discuss Chamberlin (maybe next time), but I will mention that they made a fun team and it was enjoyable seeing Chamberlin get out in the field for a while . . . even though I of course would have liked it even more if it had been Hamilton with Tragg. (Or Sampson. Sampson in the field would have been epic.)

My dad complained while watching The Married Moonlighter several months ago that Tragg is often quite rude. I'll admit that that particular episode probably isn't his best moment; the scene where the husband is arrested and the wife is so upset and crying is quite haunting. At the same time, though, I could relate to Tragg looking to the wife but saying nothing. Sometimes it's so difficult to know what to say in such situations. What there is to say can seem so trite. Perhaps Tragg just didn't know how to say anything that might help, so he felt it was better to say nothing at all. In other episodes he usually does try to say something to the one left behind; maybe his experience in this episode made him decide that finding something to say was better than silence.

Dad was no doubt also referring to Tragg's many sarcastic cracks throughout the series. On that matter, I have to say that I love his snark and always look forward to what sort of comment he'll make next. Out of everyone in the main cast, Tragg is most likely the funniest. The way he says things, like responding to Adam West being Captain Obvious in The Bogus Books, is classic. "Oh, why thank you. I might never have figured that out!" Even Perry seemed to find that one amusing.

Tragg counters that irony with genuine concern and caring for people. One of my favorite serious Tragg scenes is in The Loquacious Liar, when he comes into the boat company's meeting room and tries to soberly and kindly tell the victim's wife that her husband is dead. He also expresses concern for Perry in the same episode, telling him he hopes Perry's old war injury isn't anything serious. His friendship with Andy is also something special. Despite being short, the scene in The Hateful Hero where Tragg comes to tell Andy of Otto Norden's death is quite poignant and powerful. Tragg is completely serious and sad, knowing how bad Andy will feel. His voice even cracks slightly as he tells him to get his hat and come. This is likely unintentional as part of the script and was an error in delivery, possibly due to Ray's sadly waning health, but it really works and makes the scene feel so much more real than if the delivery had been entirely polished.

Tragg is such a fun and multi-faceted character. There is always something new to discover about Ray's perfect portrayal of this gruff veteran of the Los Angeles Police Department. Happy Birthday to the wonderful actor and human being who brought him to life as no one else ever could! You will always be remembered and loved.

Sergeant Brice and Slim Marcus and so very many guns

And so another Halloween season has come and gone. I wanted to write a story as a follow-up to 2012's The Case of the Man-Eating House and have Della, Andy, and Sergeant Brice puzzling over the strange locket Brice brought back and why the little girl stays in the house. That didn't happen, but perhaps I will still write it. After all, creepy house stories aren't just for Halloween. Although, I would doubt whether anyone still remembers the original tale three years later! Usually, if a fanfiction sequel isn't started immediately, it doesn't do so well with its audience.

I've been thinking about Dan Tobin lately. It was his birthdate near the end of October (the 19th). I haven't seen him in anything new, nor have I learned anything more about him, but his performance as Clay is always remembered fondly by me. Clay is certainly a unique and colorful character and, just like all the cast, perfectly captured by his actor. I can't imagine anyone else in the part.

I bought all of season 3 of Perry on DVD several months back and we were watching the uncut versions of the episodes on the nights when MeTV aired them. But we ended up getting a little behind during the Halloween season, so we just got around to see The Mythical Monkeys and The Singing Skirt over the past couple of nights.

The Mythical Monkeys, of course, is the episode from which Pete Kelton hails. I've used him in a couple of stories, but he is most prominent in the one I just finished, The Nefarious Necklace. Being played by William Boyett, he is my favorite of Paul's operatives.

The Singing Skirt is H.M. Wynant's second turn on the series, as gambler and killer Slim Marcus. I still rather like my fleshing out of the calamity on the night of the murder, featuring Vivian Ennis as the one to actually pick up the gun and she and Slim then fight for it. There is vague mention in the epilogue that there was a fight, so my idea doesn't go against canon. That still wouldn't let him off the hook, however, especially with all the nasty things he did to implicate Betty. But I do feature Slim as a minor character in some of my stories for other shows, ironically.

My story goes that he went to prison mainly on charges of tampering with evidence and obstructing justice, since the killing was not deliberate and he was simply trying to protect himself by getting the gun away from Vivian. But then instead of going to the police with what happened, he did all that junk to frame an innocent party, which resulted in most of the charges against him. After his release, he runs a casino of his own and employs a couple of characters from other shows I like to write about. I don't think I've ever actually featured him in a Perry story. He is a dark character due to his past, but he is trying to get past it and live upright now.

Amusingly enough, I went though my posts tagged with The Singing Skirt and saw that I had not originally planned to flesh anything out regarding Slim Marcus's actions. I wonder what made me change my mind.

While I was watching the episode, I came up with some interesting thoughts.

First, I've noticed that even though Sergeant Brice is the main sergeant now, he still isn't always the one around. Tragg still goes to crime scenes with other sergeants or even uniformed officers sometimes. There was a sergeant in The Singing Skirt whom I've never seen before, to my recollection. I was thinking how rather sad it was that it wasn't Brice.

Now I'm starting to think that Brice doesn't become the only sergeant around until season 4, when Hamilton was absent and then later when they tried to give Brice more of the burden of the police character. My memory is that neither Andy nor Steve ever worked with any sergeant except Brice, unlike Tragg. I've always written that Tragg and Brice are especially close, and I imagine they are, but it is interesting to note that Brice was apparently never exclusively Tragg's partner (at least, not until season 4, perhaps).

Actually, that lends credence to the idea in my stories that Brice still works with the other Lieutenants even though he is now Steve's partner. Perhaps during times when Steve is working at the station or off-duty, Brice still partners with Tragg or Andy.

One interesting thing about The Singing Skirt is that it definitely shows Perry's human frailties, instead of trying to make it look like he's never wrong. His screw-up with the guns and his over-confidence really make a mess for both himself and the defendant. There aren't many episodes where Perry seriously flubs as badly as he does here. Even in season 7's The Woeful Widower, where Perry suspects the wrong person for most of the episode, he doesn't actually cause a calamity.

I've always been rather appalled by Perry's fiddling around with those guns, but this time around it occurs to me that he really could have gotten his other client in trouble by using his gun to substitute for the one in Betty's hat box. Note that when the client is on the stand, he says that Perry didn't think he should even be carrying a gun while his civil suit was going on. That was six months ago, yet the gun is still in Perry's possession. I question whether the suit was resolved, since I would think the client would have taken it back once everything was settled. But regardless, what if he had been implicated in a crime because his gun was used? Of course, what actually happened was that Perry got himself implicated, but it seems to me the other could have happened just as easily.

I like that Perry is so determined to help Betty when she's being bullied by the gamblers, but somehow it just doesn't sit well with me that he took another client's gun to try to help her. That client trusted Perry too and it seems Perry really let him down. If I was that guy, I think I'd be looking for a new lawyer.

In Memoriam: Raymond Burr

So The Romantic Rogue is the first episode in which Lee Miller is officially called Sergeant Brice within the series! I like that Lieutenant Tragg introduces him to Harry West; it’s as though he’s introducing Brice to the audience, as well.

It seems like Brice wasn’t usually introduced in the episodes. I’m trying to recall other times when whichever Lieutenant present introduced him to someone in the guest cast. I believe each Lieutenant introduced him at least once, but I hope there were more occasions than just three!

Last week I was curiously looking up Lee Miller’s credits and I discovered something that I knew I would want to save to talk about today. There was only one occasion listed where he was credited as appearing as himself, in a documentary about Raymond Burr called The Defense Rests. I went to YouTube hoping I’d find it, and I did!

I’m probably a latecomer and everyone else knows about and/or has watched this tribute, but just in case there are those who are not aware: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pT0HiHEWOHY This is the link to Part 1; it was broken up into six segments. I believe each one should either automatically follow the previous one or appear in the sidebar.

Some people may find it a little hard to get through in this day and age, as Bill Cosby is one of the co-hosts, and there are certainly reasons to not find it appealing to watch Bill Cosby these days. But I watched the whole thing and greatly enjoyed and was moved by it.

It came out very soon after Raymond Burr’s sad death on September 12^th, 1993. They didn’t spend a lot of time discussing either Perry or Ironside, but they did manage to discuss both series as well as an overview of Raymond’s movie career. All of it was very interesting, but what I enjoyed the most were the parts about Raymond’s life and his personality. Barbara Hale was the other host and she delivered very touching information about Raymond. Also exciting was getting to see people in Raymond’s family.

Lee Miller talks at several different points throughout the production, giving little snippets of adventures he and Raymond had while filming things. The part about the Godzilla movie was particularly intriguing. I had no idea Raymond had appeared in one of those! Lee expressed sadness over Raymond’s passing and said how much he would miss him.

There were definitely things I would have liked to have learned that weren’t mentioned, such as how Raymond and Lee met in the first place (and how Sergeant Brice was cast; I’d like to know if Raymond had anything to do with that!), but overall I really loved the documentary and found it a very touching and poignant tribute while the wounds were still fresh from Raymond’s death. On this, the anniversary of that sad day, I find it fitting to share the documentary and encourage fans to have a look. Even if you’ve seen it before, it’s good to see again and reflect on. It’s an excellent and powerful glimpse into the life of the man we see as Perry Mason and Robert T. Ironside.

It’s hard to believe that Raymond Burr passed away 22 years ago today. It was very sad to lose him, especially so soon after they finished the movie The Killer Kiss. The information told about that experience in the documentary was something I hadn’t heard before. It was very moving how determined Raymond was to film that movie in spite of his illness because the proceeds had already been promised to charities. And it was very bittersweet and sad that Barbara Hale had a premonition that it would be the last movie.

However, as sad as it was to lose this wonderful actor and compassionate man, it can definitely be said that he lived a rich, full life and left valuable legacies behind. How many people were helped by Raymond throughout his life? Perhaps even posthumously by the charity money from the final Perry movie? It is staggering to think of the possible numbers. Raymond did so much good in his life through his charity work, as well as by bringing people joy with his famous and beloved roles on television and in the movies.

It was said in the documentary how much Raymond loved to act. I’m sure he’s continuing that love in the afterlife. Here’s to you, Raymond. Keep on shining. I know that won’t be hard for you to do.

I hope to have another chapter of The Nefarious Necklace up later today in further honor of Raymond Burr. With Della as the central figure, naturally Perry plays quite a big role in this installment. By now I have four chapters posted; the story is moving along very well.

The first Sergeant Brice, and a new story

As the readers know, I adore Lee Miller’s Sergeant Brice. He is quiet, loyal, dedicated, and friendly. In episodes such as The Grumbling Grandfather and The Borrowed Baby he testifies in court and gets some pretty decent screentime. In later seasons, he sometimes talks with Perry about cases and has a mysterious teasing exchange with Della, certainly indicating that there’s at least one untold story there.

They were using Lee Miller all the way in season 1, playing unnamed policemen who usually worked with the L.A.P.D. Once or twice he played other law enforcement officers, such as a Highway Patrolman in The Rolling Bones. Even then, he appeared with Tragg. Back in season 1, I don’t recall they ever used the same person more than once to accompany Tragg, until they started using Lee Miller.

By season 2, they continued to use Lee in many episodes, but his character still didn’t have a name and only rarely, if ever, said a word. Meanwhile, someone came up with the name Sergeant Brice and it was applied to another police character. He appears in two episodes, to my knowledge—once in an episode that Lee is also in (The Glittering Goldfish)! That gave me a start the last time I watched it, to see the “real” Brice around yet have someone else get credited as the character!

MeTV showed the first of the two episodes the other day (The Fancy Figures) and I studied the character as played by Chuck Webster. Instead of younger, quiet, and closer to Raymond’s build, the first Sergeant Brice is older, slimmer, and quite talkative. While I suppose the idea is that both actors are really playing the same character, I have an urge to make this first Brice a completely different character, since he is different in every way except in his loyalty to the police department, and when I hear “Sergeant Brice”, it’s impossible for me to picture anyone other than Lee Miller. Perhaps the first Brice is a relative? Chuck Webster was only eleven years older than Lee Miller, and even though some actors sadly do look much older than their age, this character didn’t look old enough to be the other Brice’s father. So maybe an older brother, cousin, or an uncle instead.

Also curiously noted is that while the first episode has him and Tragg both calling him “Brice”, the second episode only lists him as such in the credits. Within the episode itself, Hamilton addresses him as “Officer.” I wonder which episode was filmed first? If Goldfish was, then we could say that perhaps they only thought of the name after it was filmed, so they quickly inserted it in the credits and then addressed him by that name within the other episode. If the other episode was filmed first, then I have to wonder if they were already considering making Lee Miller the Brice character by the time they did Goldfish later, so they didn’t want Chuck’s Brice addressed onscreen by that name again.

I may address these mysteries in a future story, or maybe even in the one I’ve started now. I finished putting up the Steve Drumm detective parody and decided it was high time I start writing the story idea that one of my steady readers, Harry2, brought to me three years ago when I was writing The Malevolent Mugging. It heavily involves Della and a mishap with a supernatural necklace. I was interested, but felt I needed to finish Mugging before I started it, and of course, that didn’t get finished until about a month or so ago. So finally it is time to tell Harry’s story.

Since I have been wanting to explore Brice and Della’s apparent friendship for some time, a story starring Della would be a good place to start. I am tentatively planning that Brice will play a large part in it, especially as the mystery deepens and it becomes clear that not all is well with Della.

Also, as per my love of bringing back characters from the episodes I enjoy most, this one features Gene Torg and Pearl Chute from The Bogus Books. They were part of the original outline from three years ago, being the first to encounter the necklace and then desperately wanting to get rid of it. Gene may end up falsely accused of a crime and need Perry’s help; I’m still unsure if I will do that angle.

I have also had ideas of writing a story about the Stuarts from The Decadent Dean and I decided that this would be that mystery. Perry is trying to solve a new series of weird events at Aaron Stuart’s new Manzana Valley Prep School while Della begins to act strangely. The mysteries will connect. And I’m also planning that this will finally be the mystery with scenes at a masquerade ball. The ball will be held at the school.

Does anyone know if Manzana Valley/County is a real place or something the show made up? I’ve been trying to look it up without success because I wanted to figure out how close it is to Los Angeles. Tentatively I’m assuming that within the show, it’s the next county over in some direction, since Tobin Wade seemed to be living at his cabin in Topanga Canyon (which is, I think, part of the Los Angeles area?) and probably wouldn’t want to be driving a long distance to work each day.

I’m a little nervous to do another supernatural mystery for my first big Perry story since The Malevolent Mugging, but I really wanted this one to be next, so I hope it will be enjoyed. I have the first chapter up and am in the process of writing the second. If anyone is interested in following this new adventure, it’s at: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/11485312/

Steve Drumm story is go!

Just a quick post to say that I have finally finished writing that detective show parody story with Steve and Sergeant Brice. But it clocked in at 11,600+ words, which I figured is a little long for a oneshot. So I decided to split it into three or four parts. I put the first one up today. Since the story is already finished, I may put up a new segment every day until they're all there.

It has been a blast writing it, although I had quite a time sorting everything out to make sense regarding the solution of the mystery. It was a thrill to finally get it to where I was satisfied. There are detective show cliches galore. Anything that looks like one is probably meant to be one. And having Steve react to feeling like he's in a 1940s detective story was very amusing indeed. Somehow I don't think he would have much patience for anything that seems off-the-wall.

Even though the focus is naturally on the mystery, I also show a lot of Steve and Brice interacting. I really relished depicting that, as I'm hoping to develop Brice over the course of my next Perry ventures. I still plan to write a story at some point with him and Della interacting, since there is clearly an untold story behind their little scene in The 12th Wildcat!

I also had quite a time deciding on a title. Part of me wanted to simply call it Drumm, since many detective shows use the main character's last name as the title. But then I decided I wanted something a little funnier. I ended up with The Case of the Throwback Thursday, which may cause some meme-haters to tie themselves in knots, but I chose it because it fits the idea of a retro plot, as well as falling back on the show's love of alliteration. I think it's innocently mischievous enough to be reminiscent of some of the silliest, most tongue-in-cheek episode titles, such as The Murderous Mermaid or The Twice-Told Twist. The actual meme is not mentioned anywhere in the story.

If anyone is interested in taking a look, it's here: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11457321/1/

Double Birthday Post!

I wanted to post this on one of the in-between days so it would seem more evenly balanced, but it didn’t work out that way. Ah, work. So, Happy Birthday to Raymond Burr and Lee Miller!

I still find it fascinating and intriguing that they were born the same year, only three days apart: Lee on the 18^th, Raymond on the 21^st. They had such a lasting connection through the years, with Lee serving as Raymond’s stand-in for both Perry and Ironside and appearing on-screen in both series as well as in the first Perry movie. They must have had a very special friendship. That’s an angle I wish we knew more about.

Apparently they must have met even before Perry, since Lee appeared in Raymond’s film Please Murder Me. I wonder if that was their first meeting or if they knew each other before that as well?

I watched The Candy Queen several weeks ago and somehow mistakenly got it in my head that Sergeant Brice was the one who snapped at the apartment manager about getting towels. I was surprised to think of it being him, as he’s such a quiet sort. Watching the episode again tonight, I saw that it wasn’t him, but the uniformed officer bending over Wanda. That made more sense.

Of course, had it been Brice, he would have just been worried about Wanda’s condition, as the other officer was. But I think out of all the main police characters, Brice is the only one who actually never so much as snapped or lost his temper. He’s always easy-going and observant, the quiet one in the background.

Naturally, now I’ve talked myself into the idea of a story where Brice is pushed to losing his temper. That would be a very frightening and heartbreaking thing, as it would take something extremely serious to make Brice snap, perhaps one of the other policemen being hurt right in front of him by a heartless criminal. Everything would be alright in the end, but what a ride to get there.

I haven’t forgotten my idea of wanting to do a story to show more Brice and Della interaction, either. And I think it would be fun to also have more Brice and Perry interaction. I love the scenes they have together, which are more plentiful in the later seasons. Brice is open with information where he can be and would probably say more if not for his superiors’ objections.

It’s interesting, too, to see them standing next to each other. You can definitely see the similarities in build and how easy it must have been for Lee to serve as Raymond’s stand-in. I wonder what scenes he was in instead of Raymond? I suppose that information is down somewhere or some fan has spent time observing things closely enough to tell when it’s Lee.

I also wonder what prompted them to decide to let the police lieutenants have a steady partner instead of continually having different ones. It’s certainly more logical for there to be a steady one. And I wonder how Lee got chosen? Perhaps because he was already on the payroll and they didn’t feel they could hire someone else at that point, and then his portrayal was so great that they left it at that, even if they could have hired someone else later.

It’s always nice to see Sergeant Brice accompany the lieutenant, whichever one it is. Even as they change, Brice is always there, a bit of lasting familiarity.

And of course, Perry is the perfect leading man for the series. Another great decision by Erle Stanley Gardner was to cast Raymond as Perry, especially after Raymond had actually auditioned for Hamilton’s part! It’s almost impossible for me to imagine the roles reversed, but I would really love to see footage from those auditions. I wish they had included those screen tests on the anniversary set.

I’ve delivered a great deal of praise for Raymond’s portrayal of Perry in past posts, so it’s a bit difficult to think of something new. But the series certainly would have been something much different without Raymond at the helm. I wonder if it even would have been anywhere as successful. There are many brilliant actors who could have attempted to carry the show, but Raymond was just so ideal as Perry. And not only that, but he helped to make the set such a happy place, including everyone and considering them part of the Perry family. Not every actor would have done that.

One of the things Richard mentions in his book is a failed pilot for a series that he and Raymond would have both appeared in. It’s a pity the pilot didn’t get picked up, although on the other hand, I believe he said it was right around the time that CBS was putting together the Perry series. If the pilot had been picked up, I wonder where that would have left Perry? Interesting, how things turn out.

So here’s to Raymond and Lee, and to their special friendship. They both made the series so memorable in their own, unique ways.

Richard interview, and an attempt to use Sergeant Brice more

I’ve just finished listening to this awesome interview Richard did last week: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/richardrossi/2014/12/03/hollywood-movie-star-richard-anderson-aka-oscar-goldman-writer-al-doshna-1 It’s definitely a treasure. I loved listening to him all the way along, and it was fun to hear what some of the fans had to say. Perry is only briefly touched on, but it was great to hear it mentioned.

I blushed a little when the topic of Oscar Goldman and Jaime Sommers as a romantic pairing came up, but whatever Richard may have thought of the idea, he was very gracious and kind about it (as he was throughout the whole interview) and mentioned that people were asking him about that even back when The Bionic Woman was first on.

I have to admit, I can never fully get away from being rather fascinated by the idea of the pairing. I feel a bit guilty for that because of Steve Austin and Jaime’s epically soap opera romance, but I remain intrigued anyway. I pretty much love looking at Oscar and Jaime’s relationship in every way possible: friendship, familial, or romantic. And I think it’s time I saw the Deadly Ringer episodes they were discussing at one point. Due to me not liking when main characters end up in prison, I still haven’t seen those yet, but I’ve planned to since I’ve been sure there are some awesome Oscar scenes in them.

It’s so very exciting that Richard’s book is coming out! It’s a treat for all Perry fans, Richard fans, and classic movie and television fans. I know Richard will have many exciting things to tell.

And as season 4 of Perry wound to a close and season 5 begins to unfold, I observe first Sergeant Brice’s expanding role and second, the apparent search for someone else to help take some of the acting strain off of Ray Collins, whose health was starting to fail.

It’s obvious that they first tried the idea of Sergeant Brice becoming more talkative and involved. In late season 4 episodes such as The Grumbling Grandfather and The Guilty Clients, Brice has a lot more to do or say than in most episodes, even taking over completely for Tragg in some scenes and episodes.

I definitely like the idea and wonder why it didn’t work out. Was Lee Miller uncomfortable having more to say? Did they determine that the quiet, understated Sergeant Brice just wouldn’t be able to carry things by himself very often and a more forceful character would be needed?

On that, I probably agree at least somewhat. Brice is so calm and gentle and not bothered by Perry and company hanging around and investigating. The show would have certainly taken on a different dynamic with the more permissive Sergeant Brice being more in charge of things. He probably would have become much more of an ally to Perry and company, freely allowing them their investigations and perhaps letting Perry or Paul be right with him to look into questioning suspects and the like. In later episodes, on one occasion he shows definite amusement over his superior blowing his stack at Perry’s interference, and on another, indicates to Paul that if it were up to him, he would let Paul stay and look around a crime scene.

I can’t say I would have minded at least seeing what the show would have been like with that changed dynamic. But I’m not sure it would have worked out for long, since it seems Gardner and the crew wanted it to stay with the police sometimes assuming great opposition to Perry’s investigations, and since amusingly frustrated exchanges are often a big and important part of Perry’s interaction with the police. Brice just isn’t the type to engage in such exchanges. Hence, they definitely needed someone aside from Brice to be there.

Thus began what seems to be a bit of a search. Although they try Wesley Lau very early in season 5, playing Lieutenant Anderson in a great couple of scenes in The Malicious Mariner, he doesn’t immediately become part of the main cast. They also try Med Flory, another actor from late season 4, who in The Crying Comedian plays Lieutenant McVey, twin brother to Captain McVey of the United States Air Force. . . . (Just kidding, but I still find it bewildering that both of his Perry characters are named McVey! I am definitely going to make them twin brothers in my stories.)

Then we have a couple of episodes in a row that do not feature the regular city police cast. The next time we get back to them, Tragg is there again (with faithful Sergeant Brice silent in the background). The next episode after that, Andy is back and this time stays.

I would be curious to know in what order the early season 5 episodes were filmed and whether Andy’s first episode was filmed after Lieutenant McVey’s. Perhaps they had already decided on Wesley Lau before any of his police episodes aired, although I would then wonder why they showed the McVey episode after Andy’s first one.

I am very glad they ended up choosing Wesley, but I love Med Flory as Captain McVey in The Misguided Missile and I know he could have made Lieutenant McVey a great character too.

The Startled Stallion

It’s been so long since I’ve seen the uncut version of The Startled Stallion, as I’m pretty sure I did once, that I can’t fully remember what’s missing from the television version. But one thing present in both versions that I always love seeing is the awesomeness of Lieutenant Tragg.

Even before he realizes that the case is murder and not death by frightened horse, he doesn’t like the idea of putting down a beautiful animal like this horse. Probably some of that is recognizing how valuable the horse is, but he just comes across as someone who appreciates animals in general and doesn’t like to see them killed unless absolutely necessary.

Also present in this episode is another element that occurred several times around season 3, that of Tragg teaching Sergeant Brice some of the clues he looks for in an investigation. The bit with determining it had to be murder because the wheelchair-bound man could not have locked himself in the barn is great. I love any scenes showing that the police are not idiots. Of course, the wrong person gets arrested, as always, but there is definite evidence against her.

I also like how Hamilton seems to be acknowledging the problem of the wrong people getting arrested when he tells Perry, “You know what we go through before we indict someone.” It doesn’t just happen at random; they are making an effort to get the right person arrested. The only reason it doesn’t work is because of the formula. And I do have to give points to the books for apparently not falling back on said formula all the time. I just don’t like that the reason they don’t is because Perry’s clients sometimes (or often) are guilty. As I said, I rather romanticize the character due to his television counterpart!

Another fun thing about The Startled Stallion episode is Elliott Reid playing the defendant’s brother. I’ve liked him for years because of his roles in Disney movies, so I was happy to see him pop up on Perry.

Of the episodes about horses, I think I like this one a lot more than the season 6 episode The Fickle Filly. I find it so sad in the latter episode when the horse goes lame. It’s sad for the horse and also for the people, since they thought they had a great racehorse. Of course, there is the bit in the epilogue where they plan to breed the horse, so it’s nice that all of their plans don’t have to just go down the drain.

What’s strange about the syndication copy of The Startled Stallion, however, is that I honestly can’t remember if I’ve ever seen the first scene on television before, the part that shows the actual mock wedding and reveals in their car that the secretary didn’t really marry the old man. It seems like all the other times I’ve seen the episode on television, it’s opened with the racing horses. That is very weird if there really is a syndication episode floating around without that key opening scene, although I definitely wouldn’t put it past networks to clip it out for commercial time.

Back to Sergeant Brice, it’s fun seeing him becoming an important fixture on Perry. By season 3, he’s there almost all the time when it’s an in-town episode. According to IMDB, Lee Miller was playing Sergeant Brice, uncredited as the character, in several season 1 episodes. I don’t recall seeing him, but the broadcast prints of season 1 episodes are bad, so I should check my DVDs to see if I see him anywhere.

What I do know is that once or twice in season 2, they had a character called Sergeant Brice who was not played by Lee Miller. Even if Lee’s character in season 1 is thought to be Brice, I am quite sure he is never actually addressed as such until late in season 2, when they decided Tragg should have a steady partner instead of different ones most of the time. And instead of keeping the actor who was originally playing a Sergeant Brice character, they brought in Lee, which was a stroke of genius.

Lee is perfect as the quiet Sergeant Brice, silently observing everything and speaking when necessary. He interacts with Tragg, Perry, Hamilton, suspects and witnesses, Andy, Steve, and even Della. Those who have only seen syndication versions of the episodes won’t have seen it, but one of the good things about The 12^th Wildcat is the bit where Brice wanders in and greets Della, jokingly asking if Perry and Paul are giving her a bad time. She responds by touching his arm and saying if they do, he’s her policeman. Aww. Brice has been shown to be friendly to Perry and company on several occasions, and indicates in The Careless Kitten and The Impetuous Imp that he has a lot less problems with them poking around investigating than his superiors do, but that brief and telling interaction with Della says that he must interact with them (and her) a lot more than we ever see onscreen. I still want to write a story with him and Della sometime.

Perhaps they can have some interaction if I write a Halloween story this year. I was thinking that if I did, it would be a great time to write that masquerade-themed adventure I always wanted the show to have. It will kind of be The Dodging Domino as the title made me think that episode should have been. I was thinking of setting it around season six or seven, but I might just set it after season 9 instead, as per most of my stories.

Birthday Tribute: Wesley Lau

I wanted to get this up hours ago, but it’s been a rather busy day. I’ve definitely been thinking about it, however, and I like to think that Wesley knows I haven’t forgotten him.

Today would have been his birthday. Such a gifted actor and a kind man, taken from us much too soon.

The Perry crew must have been aware of his amazing talents, as they very likely specifically requested him for the role of Amory Fallon in The Impatient Partner. And he brought the distressed and high-strung character to life in such a real way. It’s a common thread with many of Wesley’s characters—how they feel so three-dimensional that you feel you could reach out and touch them.

He must have impressed audiences and the staff extremely, as well he should have, since when someone was needed to lighten Ray Collins’ load, the crew turned to him as one of the possibilities. (As a prior entry states, it was Gail Patrick Jackson who asked him to come aboard as a policeman after enjoying his performance as Amory.) They tried several things, from having Sergeant Brice play a larger role to bringing in new police characters, including Lieutenant McVey (portrayed by Med Flory, who also played Captain McVey of the United States Air Force. Twin brother characters, perhaps?) and Lieutenant Anderson. In the end, it was, of course, Andy whom they decided to develop as a character.

I still wonder what their intention was by giving Andy dialogue specifically written for Tragg at first. Did they ridiculously believe they actually could make another Tragg? Or did they think Andy’s role would only be temporary and Ray Collins could later return full-time? It is sad if they thought the latter, since it could not be.

As always, Wesley adapted to the material as best as he could and really tried to make Andy a unique character. He certainly became a different character than Tragg, thank goodness. And he has some fun bursts of personality in season 6 especially. I love him in The Bogus Books and The Hateful Hero.

For whatever reason, the staff or the writers or all of them, did not allow Andy to develop anywhere as much as he could have with Wesley at the helm. But Wesley gave his all and they kept the character for four seasons.

It is a shame that television characters almost always faded into obscurity back then. If the actor left or was fired, the character just vanished without a trace. We don’t really know what happened to Tragg or to Andy. It’s nice to think that they stayed around and just remained unseen by the audience. If they followed the paths of their actors, then we would sadly have to believe Tragg died, and Andy . . . well, we don’t know what would have happened to Andy, since we still don’t know for certain why Wesley departed.

Andy gradually takes the torch from his mentor and friend Lieutenant Tragg, becoming more prominent in the stories while Tragg’s involvement fades. In season 7, however, Tragg is shown to still be active in the cases, just often unseen. And, if The Capering Camera is any indication, Andy continues to go to him for advice and as a sounding board. That’s rather cute, actually. I love the unspoken idea that Tragg is mentoring Andy and they’re very close friends.

I wish we could have seen a bit of interaction between Andy and Sergeant Brice similar to some scenes that happened between Tragg and Brice around season 3, where they discuss the crime scenes and Tragg points things out. One thing with Andy and Brice that I will always find amusing now is in The Careless Kitten, when Andy is ready to blow his stack over Perry beating him to the murder weapon and Brice is just standing there silently laughing over Andy’s frustration. I have this feeling Brice has probably seen Andy’s increasingly short fuse a lot of times, especially in season 8. It must be a source of entertainment to the very easy-going Sergeant. (Unless it really is motivated largely by Tragg's absence, in which case Brice would understand and feel sad too.) On the other hand, if Tragg is still around, I can picture him counseling Andy not to always take things so seriously and that life is too short to go through it always frustrated.

It’s been several months since I’ve seen any Andy episodes other than season 8 offerings, although the other day I re-watched The Impatient Partner on my DVD set. I’m hoping to watch my favorite Andy episodes again soon.

I have run across quite a few people who remember Wesley and Andy fondly, and with good reason. To have Wesley Lau is a great feather in the cap for any series. Perry really snagged a wonderful actor when they got him. I just wish they would have let him develop Andy the way he was most certainly capable of doing. But I’m thrilled he was there in any capacity, and for so long.

Here’s to you, Wesley: still remembered and loved.

The Girls Everyone Wants?

So one thing that has both amused and bemused me is the fact that in The Twice-Told Twist, so many people are romantically interested to one extent or another in the poor murder victim Robin Spring (which, by the way, is a hilariously bizarre name in and of itself). There’s Bill Sikes, whose girl she officially is. There’s the manager of the club, who wanted her to marry him. There’s Jodie, one of the boys in the gang, who seems to lust after her. And there’s the defendant, who has an innocent crush.

I didn’t think there was any other episode where such an absurd parade played out. I’d forgotten about The Duplicate Case and that wretched Millie. She even manages to top Robin’s count! In addition to Millie’s poor husband Herbie, whom she’s always putting down, she’s carrying on with at least four other people! Two middle-aged men in the company, as well as the younger characters played by Don Dubbins and Steve Ihnat, are all interested in her. The opening sequence has us meet three of her extramarital boyfriends, as well as poor Herbie. We don’t find out about Charlie until the end.

At least Robin is a nice girl. Millie is so treacherous, it’s hard to imagine what so many men see in her. They must just be focusing on her looks. And perhaps the first man who approached her, the one who was planning to embezzle, was just trying to get close to her because he wanted to find a way to get the money after she took it. But as it stands, that’s still five people for Millie and four for Robin.

Are there any other episodes where so many people are nuts about one person? One or even two is logical enough, but by the time the number climbs up to four and five it just seems too ridiculous to take seriously. Perry even sounds like he’s bemused by all the interest in Robin when he’s running down the list of everyone who wants her in The Twice-Told Twist.

The Duplicate Case really is a depressing episode. I always enjoy watching it for Steve Ihnat, as well as for the nice Perry and Hamilton friendship scene as the books are audited in the middle of the night. But seriously, poor Herbie! His wife was always so awful, and he thought he had a genuine friend in Charlie, but Charlie was running around with her behind Herbie’s back. Charlie even thought that if Herbie found out, Herbie would come after him to kill him! I always think how little Charlie really knew about Herbie to think such a thing. And then Charlie goes and kills Millie and lets Herbie take the blame. Ugh.

The epilogue never fails to amuse me, where Della doesn’t even remember Perry calling to tell her to find a federal judge in the middle of the night. And Perry and Paul are amused that she was so tired she didn’t remember that they start teasing her saying maybe Perry called someone else instead and maybe Della wasn’t even home. It’s nice to have a little levity after the depressing unraveling of the mystery in court.

I greatly enjoyed watching The Fatal Fetish again last week. I noted how interesting it is that for a while, it’s not clear who will be the defendant. Larry has plenty of reason to kill Carina, but so does Mignon. I think I really thought Mignon would be the defendant when I first saw the episode.

I regret that Andy only had the one little speaking scene in that episode, and then is seen sitting in the gallery in court without speaking again. A lot of season 8 episodes seemed to only allot him one little scene; strange when that was the first (and only) season he ran completely without Lieutenant Tragg. It’s certainly one more way the character was misused. And, since we really don’t know why Wesley Lau vanished from the show, I wonder if he could have requested to leave because of the greatly decreasing screentime. That, and how the character had so many cringe-worthy moments because of his insistence on believing in the defendants’ guilt and improperly speaking out about it in court!

Oh well, at least it’s different than when he was being written with nothing but Tragg’s dialogue. But I wish he really could have continued to be written as the more friendly one he’s usually remembered as being in seasons 5 and 6. I liked that Andy a lot better than the stressed and improper one season 8 brought us so much.

I wonder if the reason so many people seem to only remember Andy’s behavior in earlier episodes is because a lot of rerun packages don’t show season 8? My local station hasn’t shown any of it for ages. And I’ve heard that some rerun packages only show through season 6. Some even only show through season 4! What a serious shame.

(Another explanation, I suppose, is that some people feel that Andy was acting out-of-character in season 8 and therefore don’t count it? Or maybe they figure he was just having a bad day or two. But with that logic, it seems like in season 8 he was having a lot of bad days. Although he could be stressed or clipped sometimes even in season 6, it wasn’t happening nearly as often.)

And good old Sergeant Brice. When I saw The Careless Kitten and how Andy was absolutely flipping out by the evening’s end and the discovery of Perry having reached the murder weapon first, Sergeant Brice was standing behind him, terribly amused and even laughing to himself. He could have been amused thinking of what Andy would do to Perry and been more on Andy’s “side” in the conflict, but somehow I got the feeling he was just entertained by Andy blowing his stack and didn’t particularly agree with Andy’s reaction.

Sergeant Brice generally does seem easy-going and is very likely to be the one Perry and company get along with best in the police department—at least until Steve comes along. The times when Brice has actually called Perry to give him information, such as in The Ugly Duckling, are very intriguing indeed. And Perry talks with Brice in The Careless Kitten and doesn’t receive the clipped reaction that Andy gives him throughout.

Oh, how I wish we could have seen more scenes where Sergeant Brice talks. So many missed opportunities for interesting interaction!

The Uncut 12th Wildcat

So this past day I did something else I’ve rather been dreading: watching the uncut 12^th Wildcat.

Despite as disinterested as I am about sports, and American football in particular, the episode isn’t that bad . . . until, of course, we get to court. My complaints about how that is handled have not changed. Hamilton is making way too many mistakes and has to be reprimanded far too many times. It’s out of character. If this is the sort of conduct Bill Vincent sees, it’s no wonder he makes mistakes in The Impetuous Imp and The Misguided Model.

I counted around four or five times where Hamilton is reprimanded for unusually bad behavior. And judging from the scene when we first switch to court, there were many more problems happening off-screen. The exasperated judge is scolding both Perry and Hamilton and says that for the last time, he will not tolerate personal exchanges in court.

Having seen the episode in full, I suppose it is conceivable that Hamilton is on a high from his third narcotics bust and goes into court overconfident and that’s why there are so many screw-ups. But I really don’t think so. This seems more like just plain old bad writing, especially in light of the episode’s other, even worse problem.

Yes, the identity of the murder victim is never disclosed onscreen. We’re left to assume that the missing man is the one the defendant’s husband killed, but we’re never actually told that. It really wouldn’t have taken much for Perry to say it—just one more line, one more sentence!—but he doesn’t. And the epilogue, while cute, is like some hastily written fluff party. It reminds me of some of my first drafts of epilogues, where I’m so anxious to get a story done that I’m tapping out something short and cute to wrap it up. Luckily for me, I generally see the problems before I post and fix them by having the characters tie up all loose ends as well as celebrate. The writer did not do that here. The epilogue consists solely of everybody toasting each other.

The episode does manage to have its good points. As I noted before, Hamilton’s very first scene is excellent. There are many Steve scenes. And it boasts what is probably the most adorable Sergeant Brice scene ever.

Perry and company are eating at Clay’s and discussing the case when Brice randomly wanders into the scene. He smiles and greets Della, teasingly asking her if the guys are giving her a bad time. She smiles and runs her hand up his arm, telling him that if they ever do, Brice is her policeman.

This certainly opens up an intriguing friendship that is never really explored before or since. They wouldn’t be having such a familiar exchange like that if they haven’t had a great deal of interaction in the past. We’re sadly never shown any other scenes of them interacting, unless there’s some short little bit in the uncut version of a season 3 or 4 episode I’ve never seen. I’ll definitely be writing a story about Della and Brice sometime in the future.

Della is adorable too during the football game. She is very caught up in the game and is tensely excited as she roots for the Wildcats. I was a little surprised to see her show such an interest in football. I never thought of her as much of a sports fan.

Perhaps it’s not so much that she has an interest, but just that as long as she’s there, watching, she gets excited in the moment. They have friends on the team and among the team’s management, too, so she might be rooting for them, really. And they know that if the Wildcats win, there will hopefully be that payoff and they can crack the case.

It is kind of a cute thought, though, if Della enjoys football in general. It would be such an unexpected aspect of her character.

Brice also has an interesting moment in The Impetuous Imp. When Paul arrives on the crime scene and Steve doesn’t want him underfoot right then, Brice shrugs and calmly says, “He’s the boss. Let’s go, Paul,” rather indicating that if it was up to him, he would probably just let Paul stay.

I’m currently trying to find the post where I compared the defendants of The Impetuous Imp and The Negligent Nymph, and mused on preferring the more mature and serious girl from Nymph as opposed to the ditz from Imp, but so far I can’t seem to locate it. (Oh wait, I just found it.) I tend to not tag a post with an episode title if I only mention the episode in one paragraph, but sometimes that results in my losing track of the post. I think I need a better tagging system. It would help if Blogger didn’t limit you on how many characters via tags you can use per post. I think that’s why I started the system I’ve been using.

Anyway, I watched The Impetuous Imp too, generally enjoying it as I usually do, but the epilogue gave me pause this time, in spite of its amusing nature. It occurred to me that it really is terrible that Paul wasn’t consulted on the subject of the girl’s novel. Since she changes the name, however slightly (Paul Lake), I assume he could not sue her if he doesn’t care for the portrayal. But it seems it would just be the most decent thing to do, to tell him before a character heavily based on him goes into the world of print. Perry even seems to know about the book, since he says, “You’ll see, Paul.”

I guess it was just the practice back then, to keep it a surprise. But I heard about more than one instance where somebody sued in real-life because a television character was named exactly after them without their permission and they did not like it one bit. One would assume Perry would mention to the girl that even if Paul could not potentially sue, out of decency she should let Paul know before publishing the book. It would be a little different if it had just been a finished manuscript that she was planning to send off, and Paul was just learning the truth then, but in the scene it’s an actual, published novel. Before he even knows about it, people all over the nation (maybe even the world) are paying to read about Paul Lake, Private Eye. Wow.

In all fairness to the girl, it does sound like she portrays Paul quite well in the excerpt that's read. Paul's feelings on being the subject of her book, however, are not expressly clear. He gives one of his classic facial expressions during the excerpt and yet another when he sees the title of the book. And we are left with that.