This is a real blast from the past. NBC’s Mystery Movies from the ‘70s, which also included Colombo and McCloud, were essential weekly viewing in our household when I was growing up. Colombo always seemed a little dull (I enjoyed it more as I got older), McCloud appealed to the western addict in me, but McMillan & Wife provided pure mindless fun.
The premise is ridiculous, I’m not sure what a Police Commissioner actually does but I’d put money on it not involving car chases, shoot-outs and fist fights, but such was the daily life of Stewart ‘Mac’ McMillan as played by Rock Hudson.. I also doubt any high ranking police officer ever had a wife as lovely and kooky as Susan Saint James.
Hudson and Saint James had a great onscreen chemistry and give the impression of having just as much fun making the series as the viewer did watching it. While the absurdity of the central concept wouldn’t get of the drawing board today, the series has a certain retro charm. The murder plots may be ludicrously convoluted but they were, at least in the best episodes, secondary to the banter between the shows stars. They were a ‘70s Nick and Nora Charles, just not as pickled.
When the show deviated from that formula, like in the final episode of the first season with Saint James relegated to a secondary role (due, I think to her real life pregnancy), it drags, feeling like a standard 50 minute show padded to 70+ minutes. It was little wonder the series folded after just one season without Susan.
There are plenty of familiar faces for long-time TV fans, the pilot alone features Rene Auberjonois, Jonathan Harris (Lost in Space) and Kurt Kasznar (Land of the Giants). Also making appearances are a pre-Cagney and Lacey Tyne Daly, Don Stroud, Claude Akins and a host of others. None of the guest stars get much of a look-in though, the focus was also on the two charismatic leads.
It’s hard to imagine it having much appeal to new viewers; it’s dated (particularly Hudson’s suits!) and looks cheap compared to today’s shows. There is also some unintentional humour, given later revelations about Hudson’s sexual preferences, with Mac something of a babe magnet who has a past with almost every attractive woman he bumps into. It feels like the star was overcompensating to cover his secret life but it’s so unsubtly done it’s hard not to chuckle. With stars now far more open about there sexuality and mainstream shows featuring openly gay characters, this macho posturing just adds to the show’s dated feel.
