Longstreet
Longstreet
| 16 September 1971 (USA)
SEASON & EPISODES
  • 1
  • Reviews
    Kattiera Nana I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.
    Laikals The greatest movie ever made..!
    Exoticalot People are voting emotionally.
    Payno I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.
    Clintessence This was probably my favorite show of the 70's. I don't think I've ever seen an actor portray a blind person than James Franciscus. He was constantly tilting his head to hear better, rather than staring straight ahead with a blank stare like most actors portraying blind people. The stories were interesting, and there were great supporting actors, most notably Marlyn Mason, seeing-eye dog Pax, and of course Bruce Lee. I was originally drawn to this show because of Bruce Lee, but soon found I was really into the plight of this man and his struggles. Unfortunately, this was another good series that wound up on the chopping block way too soon.
    Wizard-8 I feel that I should mention first of all that apart from watching the movie-length pilot for this series recently, I never got the chance to watch the regular show, being much too young when it was first broadcast and the fact that Paramount seems to have permanently shelved the actual series. While I do think that the production was more than inspired by the TV show "Ironside" - another show about an investigator who was handicapped - from what I saw there was some promise. In this pilot, the scenes showing the title protagonist investigating are very interesting, and show that someone investigating without the use of sight could have lead to some very interesting investigation. However, since what I saw was a pilot, there is far more stuff involving the hero learning how to cope without sight, and this leads the actual investigation to be very little of the movie. Worst of all, the hero is never given the opportunity to confront the criminals that made him blind - their trackdown and arrest happen offscreen! I'm sure that the subsequent series didn't have these problems, so I would have given the show a chance had I been around to - ahem - see it.
    bpatrick-8 I remember that for the fall of 1971 NBC moved "Ironside" from its longtime Thursday slot to Tuesday, and ABC decided that another show about a physically-challenged detective could fill the Thursday slot. As it turned out, "Ironside" ran into ratings problems against "Mod Squad," also on ABC, while "Longstreet" got as high as fifth in the Nielsen ratings. NBC quickly put "Ironside" back on Thursdays. Maybe Raymond Burr's snarling, intimidating personality made more of an impression than the more laid-back James Franciscus, best known at the time as English teacher Mr. Novak.But that doesn't change the fact that "Longstreet" was a good show that happened to meet an early end; not only did we get to see the hero, who was blind, at work, but also learning how to cope with his new handicap. Maybe people didn't tune in week after week to get lessons on how to cope with blindness but I think it added a dimension to the show. And add to that the great supporting cast: Marlyn Mason as Longstreet's Braille teacher and assistant; Peter Mark Richman as his co-worker at the insurance company; Bruce Lee on the few occasions he appeared; and one of the most beautiful dogs I've ever seen--Pax, Longstreet's German shepherd guide dog. The characters on this show are likable, the violence is held to a minimum, and it's a shame ABC didn't give it a second season, maybe on a different night.And just how does a sighted actor play a sightless character? Franciscus once said he had to learn to unfocus his eyes, and I remember an article in the Atlanta Constitution shortly after the series ended that said he suffered from real vision problems for a time because of this.The only question I've always had is how Longstreet, even with the use of an electronic cane, always knew when to tell Pax to make a left or right turn.Definitely well-written, well-acted, and a winner no matter if ABC didn't give it a second chance.
    Rumjal I enjoyed Longstreet, which followed in the steps of Raymond Burr's successful Ironside TV series and was intended to give it competition. But this show was canceled after one season because it was decided--I believe wrongly--that Longstreet was not able to compete with Mr. Burr's Ironside.I may add that the pilot for this show was especially well done and very memorable. I hope that a box set of Longstreet will appear.Writers should note that this story idea was only briefly explored here and that much more could and should be done to show the play and interplay of disabilities on TV.