Riptide – CliqueClack Flashback

You don’t have to walk too far down the television aisle of the internet before you find someone complaining about how “all the procedurals are the same” or some such. Really though, that’s nothing new. How is what we’ve seen with Law & Order, NCIS, CSI, Castle, Bones, etc. any different from what was happening two decades ago. You don’t even have to look at television in general. Just take a gander at Stephen J. Cannell‘s IMDB page. Baretta, Rockford,Hunter, Stingray, Hardcastle, A-Team, 21 Jump Street, Silk Stalkings, Renegade… The more things change, the more they stay the same.

And that’s just Cannell. Not that I mean anything bad by the comparison. As with the current crop of procedurals, there’s a lot of fun to be had in the Cannell oeuvre. Particularly if you are talking about my favorite of his shows, Riptide. It didn’t last as long as some, and really doesn’t get the pub that things like Rockford and The A-Team enjoy to this day. But I’ve always had a soft spot for Cody (Perry King), Nick (Joe Penny), and Murray (Thom Bray).

Having recently rewatched the series, I know exactly why that is. On its surface, the show was rather run of the mill. There was the case of the week that always wrapped up by the end of the hour. And only the smallest amount of ongoing story to be invested in. In that regard, Riptide is pretty much like so many shows of its time. No better or worse than Simon & Simon, CHiPs, or Charlie’s Angels. What set the show apart though, was the relationship that Murray had with Nick and Cody. They actually sell it perfectly in the two-hour movie premiere.

Murray recounts the story of how the three of them met to their client Kimba Hall (Karen Kopins), and from that point on I was won over. That relationship quickly became a driving focus of the show as Murray was immediately a full fledged member of the team. Given all of his peculiarities, he could have easily been the side-kick comic relief. Instead, right away he was bringing in as many cases as Nick or Cody. That part of the story is so good that it was even revisited, complete with flashbacks, in season two’s “Boz Busters.” And, as a sign of the times, the episode even featured “Ghostbusters” reworked as “Boz Busters.”

The boys have their struggles over the course of the show. They consider breaking up the agency. Another time Murray leaves to take another job. The agency is sold at one point. But they always come back together. That bit is what sells the whole thing, and what helps it to hold up after 25 years. The cases themselves are okay, and they serve their purpose. In retrospect though, I found myself more amazed with the fact that you can’t go two episodes without someone getting kidnapped than surprised at any of the twists and turns.

The other great bonus in revisiting something like Riptide is the guest casting. You know how you see various actors, like William Mapother (he’s done CSI, SVU, CSI:Miami, NCIS, Crossing Jordan, K-Ville, and Criminal Minds), run the crime-time guest gauntlet these days? It was the same back in the day. Check out Riptide guest star Ray Wise (T.J. Hooker, Blue Thunder, Hart to Hart, Remington Steele, A-Team, Scarecrow and Mrs. King, Airwolf, Stingray, Hunter, Jake and the Fat Man).

That means that a look back will find all kinds of interesting appearances, like Dennis Franz, Lance Henriksen, Kurtwood Smith, Gene Rayburn, Bob Eubanks, Jon Astin, James Cromwell, Stepfanie Kramer, Lyle Alzado, Clu Gulager, Jane Badler, Richard Lewis, Steve Allen, and Barbie Benton. Most of those actors were already well into their careers when they stopped by King Harbor. Even more fun is seeing someone like Kelly Preston or George Clooney as they are getting their start. And for those of you that pay attention to such things, I was also rather pleased to find that Riptide was one of the very early directing gigs for Kim Manners.

The show did make it three seasons, giving us 58 hours of crime-busting hijinks to enjoy. Unfortunately, it didn’t get a chance to do a real wrap up to the series. They did get to take a couple swings on their way out though. As season three drew to a close, the ratings were dropping. You’d be pretty safe pointing a finger at the competition being offered by Moonlighting as one of the causes. In the second to last episode, Lt. Parisi (June Chadwick) arranges for the boys to serve as consultants for a TV detective show. The show featured a very Dave and Maddie couple and the episode had a good time poking fun at the new crime-time boss.

Ultimately, I assume that Riptide is never going to live up to its better known brethren, Rockford and The A-Team. As plans are put into action for a new series for one, and a big budget movie for the other, Riptide will continue to be a distant memory. If that’s how it all plays out, that’s okay. It was great while it lasted, and remains the perfect picture of that era of television.

Clacked by Brett Love
on Apr 01, 2010 @ 10:00 EST5EDT