Hard Times, Hard Crimes /David Cassidy, Jay Gruska/
First the promo..
And the theme song..
This is a great tv series theme song, and in the episode 'Flashpoint' (E5 aired Dec 7, 1978) we could also hear another DC's song, 'Gettin' It In The Street'.
The theme song produced by Ken Mansfield, co-wrote by Jay Gruska, must be a Polish connection somewhere, in Polish gruska means a pear. He co -wrote with DC one song for "Gettin' It In The Street' album. Great video. Wonderful song.
'Police Story A Chance To Live' became the pilot for a tv series called Man Undercover in which David reprised the role of officer Dan Shay. NBC was impressed by the good reviews and very high ratings.
The idea for the series was brilliant ; an undercover cop whose work reflected on his private life. A double life, that was something David understood all too well..Dee Wallace who had played his wife in the 'Police Story', was replaced by young (born in 1958) Wendy Rastatter, a very nice girl, but her character, Joanna Shay, was completely wasted. She always behaved in exactly the same way, always complained, and it became just boring, her lines so easy to predict. Wendy appeared in numerous tv shows from 1977, but ended her very short acting career in 1981.
Let's watch the opening credits :
Yes, that was the title : 'David Cassidy : Man Undercover' .It was the head of the network last minute decision to change the title. It was aired in the U.S. from November 2nd, 1978 to July 12th, 1979. (After showing 8 episodes there was a break from January to July)
David Cassidy, 'That job destroyed me, emotionally and physically. We'd worked 18 hours a day and do lots of night shooting in the gutters of downtown L.A. We made ten episodes and they were horrible. It was the middle of the season and all the good writers and directors were already booked, so we got cast-offs, guys that couldn't cut it.(..) It was awful.(David Cassidy :'Could It Be Forever?', 2007)
It's happened that during the last three evenings I've watched very carefully 6 last episodes. I've been taking screen shots for DC website. It was a pleasant but not easy work. There were about 100 pics from each episode and later I had to chose no more than 20..David was so gorgeous ..what to delate..Anyway, while I was taking those pics, I noticed how more tired he was with each episode. And it was especially obvious with E7 'Firestorm', it was the episode about an arsonist and Dan rescued a girl from fire..It was cruel to make David did that one.
I'm sure it was quite a decent show and I enjoy watching it very much not only because of David Cassidy, who was great and so charismatic and just breathtaking, and a real pro, he worked so hard. It wasn't his fault that Dan was a walking paragon, a kind of guy who helped old ladies to cross the street (not literally) the smartest, the fastest, so sensitive and understanding, and helping those in trouble.
It was difficult to chose a link to only one episode. I know some no fans read my blog too, and maybe they will have a look, it's really worth watching. This is the last episode called 'Death Is A Close Friend, Too'.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AUSaHh2aM2Q&t=1040s or this one called 'Nightwork' with very charming DC..in that episode Dan poses as ..a pimp.
Comments
Post a Comment