Q: When I was a teenager, my dad and I enjoyed watching a spy show called “The Persuaders!” with Tony Curtis as a brash American agent of some kind, teamed up with a proper British agent played by Roger Moore. I think they played up the contrast in their styles for an underlying comedic element along with sports-car chases and other James Bondlike spy-caper moments. And possibly a harpsichord in the theme music. Is that available to see anywhere these days?
A: “The Persuaders!” ran on ABC in 1971-72 (before, by the way, Roger Moore made his big-screen debut as James Bond). The stars played a crime-solving pair operating “half seriously, half on a lark,” as one reference puts it. The series is available on Prime Video, and there is a DVD set. Look carefully to be sure you have the DVD that works in U.S. players.
Q: I was highly disappointed to accidentally see your write-up about how Season 3 of “Bridgerton” ended when the second half of the season had dropped only 10 days prior. We hadn’t had even a remotely reasonable chance of finishing the season yet. Maybe keep this in mind for your future columns. I guess there’s no need to watch the season at this point.
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A: Avoiding spoilers has become an even bigger problem with series that release multiple episodes or entire seasons at once, and it’s a judgment call here when to talk about plot developments. Before I included “Bridgerton” in this column, I saw many articles about the end of the season. And when I watched the episodes (also before including the show in the column), I knew a lot about the plot — and still enjoyed watching the series.
Still, I understand your ire. When I wrote about the second season of “Game of Thrones” shortly before it started, I mentioned a major twist that had originally aired a year earlier, during the first season. My editor was incensed, because she had not yet seen that episode. That underscores how we all watch on different schedules.
Q: Will “Family Law” return on the CW? I haven’t seen it listed anywhere.
A: I don’t have a good answer. Global TV, the Canadian network where the series originates, has commissioned a fourth season. But the CW, the U.S. home of the show, has not included the drama in its announcements for this summer or the 2024-25 season. Of course, a deal could come later with the CW or someone else, but there’s no news at this writing.
Q: I seem to recall a TV movie from either the late ’70s or early ’80s that dealt with the life of a handgun. The title may have been “The Gun.” It showed the gun in the hands of several owners but was never fired until the very last scene.
Tell me I’m not crazy and that this really was a movie.
A: You are not crazy. The movie was indeed called “The Gun,” and it aired in 1974 on ABC.
Q: I remember a black-and white Western show from the late ’50s called “The Texas Rangers.”
Each episode started with one ranger who was joined by two more, one on each side, and then two more, one on each side, until they formed the perfect V. The show ended the opposite way, with rangers taking off until there was only one left. Does that sound right?
A: Yes. The full title was “Tales of the Texas Rangers,” and it aired from 1955 to 1959, in daytime (where I discovered it as a kid) and later prime time. One novelty was that its two main characters were sometimes seen operating in the Old West and sometimes in modern Texas.
Do you have a question or comment about entertainment past, present and future? Write to Rich Heldenfels, P.O. Box 417, Mogadore, OH 44260, or brenfels@gmail.com.
