Hart to Hart: The Complete Second Season

An unabashed ripoff of the old Thin Man movies starring William Powell and Myrna Loy, Hart to Hart ran out of juice, creatively speaking, before its first year had ended. Beginning with season two, the series was already coasting on the chemistry of its enormously likable stars, Robert Wagner and Stefanie Powers, whose Jonathan and Jennifer Hart continued their globetrotting ways, maintaining their opulent lifestyle while occasionally rubbing shoulders with the hoi polloi during their investigations into various crimes. Veteran character actor Lionel Stander (he of the gravelly voice) became positively insufferable as the Hart valet, Max, but that didn't stop him from turning up more frequently here, repeating the same, tired old shtick. The writers began shamelessly cribbing plot elements and even entire storylines from old “B” movies, sometimes leaving older viewers with a pronounced sense of déjà vu. The 20 episodes of the 1980-81 season include a few good ones, though, especially “What Murder?”, in which Jonathan develops amnesia shortly after witnessing a murder, leading the killer—who, realizes he'll be identified if and when the wealthy sleuth regains his memory—to trail Jonathan, intent on killing him at the first opportune moment. Jennifer figures in a similarly suspenseful episode, “Murder Takes a Bow,” which conceals its killer among the cast of a local stage production. Presented on an extra-less five-disc set, this is optional. (E. Hulse)