http://fiveohomepage.com/lastseason.htm
I found the original of this article, which appeared in Photoplay November 1979, and was surprised that it was on my WWW site all along, duh!
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http://fiveohomepage.com/lastseason.htm
I found the original of this article, which appeared in Photoplay November 1979, and was surprised that it was on my WWW site all along, duh!
I expected the article to be praising the 12th season, given your "disturbingly positive" description. However, the author hadn't seen any episodes yet (perhaps they weren't complete?), so that didn't occur.
But yes, this came off as a puff piece.
Two things I wondered after reading it:
1) Did James MacArthur really give short notice he was leaving? Did CBS just screw up and forget to tell Jack Lord in time? It does look like Jack and James exited the situation not liking each other too much.
2) Is it really true that the show mainly ended because Jack Lord wanted it to be done? Or was the decision made for him, and he was just saving face in the article?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Todd
My understanding is that MacArthur's decision to leave the show came rather late in the day. As for Lord, I don't know, but it seems implicit in Smith's comments that he thought it could very likely the last season.
My understanding is that everything is handled through agents and perhaps someone didn't communicate all the way through. I also wonder if Jack Lord wasn't in denial for awhile that James MacArthur wasn't coming back. Then there's the question of when exactly did CBS pick it up for Season 12.
I would be interested to know the real skinny because watching Season 11 episodes in production order, it was as if everyone knew it was ending there (and probably should have). There are some "final" shots at the end of The Execution File and The Skyline Killer.
I agree with Todd: when I read the article it seemed the pair didn't exactly part on the best of terms. I also wonder on the second question: who ended the show. I also wonder if the network wasn't tired of working with him (Jack) as they had M Station Hawaii in the wings but passed on it.