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The Five: Best Robert Urich shows
Earlier today I was doing some digging around to see if Spenser: For Hire was being released on DVD anytime soon. No luck yet, but it got me thinking. For several years in a row, it seemed like Robert Urich had a new TV show every single fall. Not all of them were successful, but it tells you something about the actor, how much he was liked by fans and the networks, because he was in over a dozen TV series starting in 1973. And that's not counting all the shows he guest-starred in and all the miniseries where he had a role. Here are the five best Robert Urich TV shows. Urich died in April of 2002:
1. Spenser: For Hire: Sure, I have a special place in my heart for this show, because it was filmed on location in Boston. But that's not the only reason to love this show. This private eye was uncommonly smart and literate for a detective show, it was well-cast, and that on location added a lot of atmosphere and realism to the show. Oh, and no matter what Robert Parker says, Urich was the ultimate Spenser (and Avery Brooks the ultimate Hawk), and the first person narration worked marvelously.
2. Vegas: Sure, it was cheesy and very late 70s. All that Vegas glitziness and the emphasis on car chases and boobs, but this was a very entertaining private eye drama. I always wanted to have an apartment where you could drive you car into the living room like Dan Tanna did, but I always worried about the gas and oil smell.
3. Soap: Urich played tennis pro Peter Campbell, who was murdered in the first season of the show. He wasn't on the show long, but this was an influential, funny show, and Urich was perfectly cast.
4. The Lazarus Man: Urich played a man left for dead in the South during the Civil War, but manages to dig himself out of the grave. Who is he? This was a rather interesting period mystery, one of the earliest shows on UPN.
5. S.W.A.T.: I was obsessed with this show when I was a kid. I used to play S.W.A.T. in my backyard, I used to hum the theme song. I probably would have bought S.W.A.T. pajamas and S.W.A.T. cereal if they had them at the time. This was a fun action show, which made an art out of jumping off of roofs with the help of strong rope.
(I almost picked Tabitha, because I really liked that show for the one season it was on, but alas, this is The Five not The Six.)
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