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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Mel O&#039;Drama" data-source="post: 5905" data-attributes="member: 23">Season One - The Lost Episodes<img src="http://static.tvbuzer.com/images/persons/sources/d5/d5a2984c5c7cc796cfdbf0ba21876a2b-42943.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" />Four episodes in, I'm now two-thirds of the way through the first short season. A few general thoughts:Meg Foster's incarnation of Chris has taken two or three full episodes to click with me. Not because she's awful (she's not) nor because the nuances are different (they are, but the heart of the character is still there). The initial overwhelming thing of note is that physically she could not be more different to Loretta Swit. Foster is younger, and resembles Swit not one little bit.There are the infamous network complaints about her being too butch (the reason she was dropped - the phrase "dykey" being thrown about), but that's just silliness really. This isn't Charlie's Angels. If I had an issue it would be that she feels too far from the mother ship. Swit's vivacity and sense of fun aren't as evident, and this Chris feels a little colder than Swit's. The character's core beliefs still hold up, and the dialogue feels right for the character, but the subtleties are different. This is a more assertive Chris not through what the character does or says, but because of how she says it. It just feels different. That's not necessarily a bad thing.The chemistry with Tyne Daly works really well. The energy is different. It's been observed that Daly and Foster's energy is perhaps too similar and both do feel very tightly wound at times whereas Swit's more laid back Chris allowed herself to just bounce off Daly's freneticism. Tightly wound is good for a show like this - at least for a short time, but it does risk audience burn out. My feeling is that if Foster had continued in the role that needn't have been an issue though. There have been some lighthearted moments, and there are times in these first four episodes where Chris has lowered her guard and everything is softer and more comfortable. So there's balance there.John Karlen as Harv has hit the ground running. I buy him straight away, and there's not the same jarring feeling I've had with Meg. He feels a little more laid back than Ronald Hunter, but that could be as much to do with the writing for an ongoing series as it is the acting. I love watching he and Daly work their magic.The other recasts of note are the Lacey boys (both very likeable) and Martin Kove as Isbecki. Kove is more beefcake than the guy in the role before who was enjoyably seedy. But the character pretty much went under the radar in the Pilot, so he's a blank slate and is already proving more memorable in the series.Daly herself continues to be consistently excellent. It's very plain to see why she would go on to win an Emmy for the role three consecutive years beginning with the next season. I can't take my eyes off her in case I miss a little mannerism or expression. As a viewer I feel very connected to the character, not because of her circumstances but because it's always clear where she's at emotionally (on the surface, that's a little strange considering I'm far more Cagney like in being fairly emotionally private).Nelson Riddle is my biggest bugbear of this era. He keeps it reigned in for much of the episode, but when it matters he goes all-out Batman on us. The score during fight scenes is as subtle as a sledgehammer, with brassy stings that punctuate every physical contact. All that's missing are colourful on-screen cards reading "Pow!" "Klunk!" and ""Splatt!". The opening titles feel quite bipolar, with a full-on catchy cop theme (nice, but not fitting the series at all) segueing into Ain't That The Way from the Pilot. I enjoy that Nelson's original theme music, the images and the font used don't feel gender stereotypically female. Some of his incidental music is quite funk-air, giving a late-Seventies vibe with plenty of kick drum and hi hat, which is nice. It's quite Wonder Woman-esque. And Riddle's "running music" for the theme is rattling round my head as I write. All the same, there's little about the opening credits that encapsulates the feel of the show.[MEDIA=youtube]uS9M9OpsLhc[/MEDIA]The end credits - Riddle's energetic instrumental version of Ain't That The Way - is very enjoyable, and I wish they'd kept that a little longer.[MEDIA=youtube]_aEL2fqRAGM[/MEDIA]I'll follow up with a few episode-specific thoughts.</blockquote>

Verification: Who played JR Ewing?