McMillan & Wife mostly works because Rock Hudson & Susan St. James have great chemistry. Knowing what we now know about Rock, he's convincingly "on" Susan St. James/Sally as any hetro guy would be :-) WHAT an actor! :-) She' smart, sassy, sexy and totally natural. For people who live in the SF Bay Area, it's a fun look back (NO TRANSAMERICA building!) as they spend a lot of time driving around the city (I think these were "TV movies" so they had a bigger budget and didn't fake driving around LA as SF though there are some scenes at night that are LA). And the street scenes usually takes place on that fake Universal back lot "New York."
The plots are mostly idiotic. I think Sally/Wife is kidnapped/taken prisoner at least 4 times in the first 2 seasons ... and LITERALLY he's shot at in every episode ... makes SF seem like Tombstone, AZ ... nice police commissioner/chief. It should be noted he's also pushed down the stairs at least 3 times in the first 2 seasons as well as about 7 break-ins into the house. John Schuck is a weird looking dude but good as the comic relief.
What's also funny is many of the same character actors re-appear even a few eps later - clearly in the 1970's, they figured people didn't care or would notice? AND you do get the greatest hits parade of 70's character actors in every ep.
So, an amusing time piece - watch it for the acting and chemistry and the SF scenes. If you appreciate weird 70's decorating, it's also a good time capsule. The pacing of the show is slow and you can wander away for a while without missing anything from mostly dumb plots and writing but Rock & Susan St. James are a believable couple and have nice chemistry.
The plots are mostly idiotic. I think Sally/Wife is kidnapped/taken prisoner at least 4 times in the first 2 seasons ... and LITERALLY he's shot at in every episode ... makes SF seem like Tombstone, AZ ... nice police commissioner/chief. It should be noted he's also pushed down the stairs at least 3 times in the first 2 seasons as well as about 7 break-ins into the house. John Schuck is a weird looking dude but good as the comic relief.
What's also funny is many of the same character actors re-appear even a few eps later - clearly in the 1970's, they figured people didn't care or would notice? AND you do get the greatest hits parade of 70's character actors in every ep.
So, an amusing time piece - watch it for the acting and chemistry and the SF scenes. If you appreciate weird 70's decorating, it's also a good time capsule. The pacing of the show is slow and you can wander away for a while without missing anything from mostly dumb plots and writing but Rock & Susan St. James are a believable couple and have nice chemistry.