I was in high school and suffering from a minor James Bond obsession when I was introduced to Remington Steele. Pierce Brosnan was currently playin Bond, so my parents introduced me to the series that put him on the map through a couple of episodes on VHS. Since I grew up on somewhat cheesy detective shows, I was hooked to the series. I wanted to see more, but this was at the time that DVDs were just becoming a thing and internet streaming was almost a decade away. I briefly lost interest until it was reignited in 2005 when the first season was finally released on DVD.
Laura Holt (Stephanie Zimbalist) is a detective who initially had tried to start her own agency. However, when she received no clients possibly due to her gender, she created the fictitious Remington Steele and opened the agency under his name. This gamble pays off, bringing in the cases and making the agency relatively famous. Together with fellow detective Murphy Micheals (James Read) and secretary Bernice Foxe (Janet DeMay), they keep the deception going by having the fictional Mr. Steele operate on an “advisory capacity” and never getting directly involved in cases… until a high-profile case attracts a thief (Pierce Brosnan) who unwittingly takes the mantel of Remington Steele permanently.
Remington Steele was a fairly formulaic detective series that ran for over four seasons on NBC from 1982 to 1987. The main draw of the series was perhaps the concept, with an ex-con turned figurehead for a detective agency bumbling his way through the job and taking all the credit while Laura, the agency’s true founder, does most of the work. While he initially is more of a freeloader, Mr. Steele does grow accustomed to the role and takes genuine interest in the cases. However, his past isn’t far behind, with former associates, like his old flame Felicia (Cassandra Harris) or mentor Daniel Chalmers (Efrem Zimbalist Jr.), showing up from time to time, as well as items that he may or may not have stole becoming the focus of the next case. Despite his past, he usually puts the needs of the agency ahead of himself.
The beginning of season 2 saw the off-screen departure of Murphy Micheals and Bernice Foxe. Mildred Krebs (Doris Roberts), an ex-IRS agent turned secretary, was introduced in their place, though she was unaware of her bosses’ deception. Mildred proved to be fairly resourceful thanks to having some government connections and occasionally did get to play a more active role in the field, like the one time she had to deal with a rogue Timelord Interpol agent (Tom Baker).
The series was initially canceled at the end of the fourth season but was renewed for an abbreviated fifth season. This new season added the character of Toni Roselli (Jack Scalia) as a love interest for Laura and a rival for Remington, though he ultimately felt like added weight. The series concluding with a slightly more satisfying send-off than the original finale, but this final season cost both leads fairly major roles, as Pierce Brosnan had been set to take over as James Bond and Stephanie Zimbalist had been cast Officer Anne Lewis in Robocop.
One of the entertaining gimmicks about the Remington Steele character is his obsession with classic movies. When he is first investigated by Laura and Murphy, they find a number of passports with a name of a character played by Humphrey Bogart. He has a tendency quote some of these movies, most notably in the pilot when he’s introduced to a crowd rather than Laura (“‘Years from now, when you talk of this — and you will — please, be kind.’ Deborah Kerr to John Kerr, Tea and Sympathy, MGM, 1956.“) This also comes into play when he’s on a case, observing situations similar to certain plotlines nearly once an episode. These observations sometimes come in handy, though they sometimes turn out to be red herrings. Even Laura gets in on the act, though in her case its a TV show she references instead of a movie.
A critique I have with the series is how a some reoccurring characters are handled, mostly notable antagonists. In their debut episodes, these characters start out being well developed and give the leads a run for their money. However, their next few appearances end up flanderizing their defining characteristic while eliminating the aspects that made them respectable. The best example is probably Major Descoine (Guy Boyd), who had a well-thought out plan to get revenge against the agency in his first appearance but led Laura and Remington on a rather bizarre wild goose chase in his next. The result was a character who seemed interesting turned into a joke that was hard to take seriously.
Remington Steele was an entertaining series with interesting stories and a great dynamic between the leads. While rebooting the series is unlikely in the day of the internet and identity theft, there have been talks about a continuation to the series. Pierce Brosnan had considered doing a movie, though later stated that it was unlikely. NBC stated back in 2013 that they were interested in continuing the series as a half-hour comedy, but as of April 2016 we’re steele waiting to hear back from them.
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