Rick (Gerald McRaney, Jericho) and A.J. (Jameson Parker, JAG) are back for another season of sleuthing around San Diego in Season Seven of the classic ‘80s detective drama Simon & Simon. This season find the Simon brothers embroiled in a cluster of cases involving an elusive killer from A.J.’s Past, a Vietnamese mob boss whom Rick owes a favor, a Salvadoran death squad out for blood and the discovery of their late father’s car once thought to be destroyed in the crash that took his life.
Simon & Simon originally aired from 1981 to 1989 on NBC in the heart of what would become a golden age for action-packed television.
Simon & Simon, along with Magnum, PI was one of my favorite shows in the 80s, and I love that I can watch these episodes again on DVD, especially since I don't remember much from my initial viewings (hey, I was pretty young).
This 4-disc set includes all 16 episodes from the 7th (and second-to-last) season of the show:
Disc 1 (3:11:31)
New Cop in Town (47:52)
Desperately Seeking Dacody (47:53)
You, Too, Can be a Detective (47:52)
Shadows (47:54)
Disc 2 (3:10:52)
Second Swell (47:23)
Forever Hold Your Piece (47:53)
Tale of the Tiger (47:46)
Nuevo Salvador (47:50)
Disc 3 (3:08:24)
Bad Betty (47:05)
Baja, Humbug (46:53)
A Firm Grasp of Reality (47:51)
Ties That Bind (46:35)
Disc 4 (3:11:31)
Little Boy Dead (47:53)
Sudden Storm (47:53)
Something Special (47:53)
May the Road Rise Up (47:52)
Video
The video on this set doesn't look any better, or worse, than the previous sets. There's some dust specks and other debris in the picture, and the picture can look a tad dark at times. You'll probably notice the stock footage of various locations doesn't look as nice as the actual show shots, but luckily those are just on the screen for a few seconds at a time. There's a chapter after the episode preview, and another after the opening credits.
Audio
Simon & Simon features a basic English mono audio track. The dialog is a bit muffled, but it sounds just like every other show from the early 80s. There aren't any subtitles or captions for the episodes.
I love that this show is almost done, especially since it's been a long road to get this close to the finish line. The first season did poorly for Universal, so they put it in the pile of stuff abandoned. The Shout! Factory came along and licensed it, but demand dropped to the point where they couldn't get it into stores anymore. Thankfully Shout! has their "Shout! Select" line where they sell direct to consumers - regular pressed discs, not DVD-Rs - and they continued with season 5 onwards. I have to think that since we're this close, the series will be completed, but we'll just have to wait and see.
Though it's a bit cheesy now, I had fun watching the set. My wife even got hooked into watching a few episodes with me, though she'd always be commenting on the hairstyles the women had. I don't care about the hair, the way they dress, or the lack of cell phones. I like the show because it's fun, and because when Rick and AJ fight it reminds me of fights with my brother.
One more and we're all done! Is anyone else excited?
