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A couple of Longstreet stories


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Longstreet is an early-70's television series about a top-notch insurance investigator in New Orleans, who becomes blind when a bomb intended for him kills his wife instead.  With revenge as his initial motivation, he learns to continue his career without sight.  The ensuing series is nominally a detective show, but is also a  character study of a man dealing with obstacles.

I recently became hooked on the show thanks to the DVD (it's also available on YouTube).  Longstreet, like Star Trek a couple of years earlier, was cancelled for failure to attract a mass audience.  It lasted only one season, so there are plenty of loose ends to fuel fan fiction.  I found Mike Longstreet's chemistry with his assistant (and former Braille teacher) Nikki Bell to be particularly intriguing -- thus my two short stories to be found (here) on AO3.  (Note: Even though both are meant primarily for fans of the show, I intended them to be intelligible even to people who've never watched it.)

There are three earlier works to be found there as well, and I can particularly recommend the Longstreet / Nero Wolfe crossover to any Wolfe fans.

 

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I remember that series Carol. We used to have slot on tv for detective shows with a different detective show every week. Columbo was one of course. McCloud with Dennis Weaver, McMillan and Wife with Rock Hudson, Banacek with George Peppard, Madigan with Richard Widmark, Cannon with William Conrad and Longstreet of course. It brings back memories.

In Sherlock Holmes lore there’s a theory that Nero Wolfe was the son of Sherlock Holmes and Irene Adler.

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2 hours ago, HerlockSholmes said:

We used to have slot on tv for detective shows with a different detective show every week

We've had TV slots like that.  I believe McCloud and McMillan were on one of them, and there was also a doctor one and a mixed-bag one.  Longstreet had its own slot here, though.

2 hours ago, HerlockSholmes said:

In Sherlock Holmes lore there’s a theory that Nero Wolfe was the son of Sherlock Holmes and Irene Adler.

I thought that was in Wolfe lore?  ;)  I personally think it's just a rumor in any case.  While it's true (as reported by Archie Goodwin in the original stories) that Wolfe has a painted portrait of Holmes hanging on his office wall, I don't see how that even proves that Holmes is real in the Wolfe universe.

 

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I just took a look -- that's James Franciscus, right? And Bruce Lee! I don't know if I ever watched it back when but I remember Franciscus being on TV, so maybe I did. I'm going to try to remember to watch it in the evenings, I'm desperate for new entertainment.

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Franciscus starred in six TV series between the late 50s and the late 70s, but he's probably best known for Mr. Novak (about a high-school teacher) and Longstreet.  Bruce Lee guest-starred in four early episodes of the latter (he was apparently intended to be a semi-regular, but moved to Hong Kong and became a big film star instead).

Longstreet is available on DVD and (last I checked) on YouTube.  Dunno if it's currently running anywhere else.

 

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On 1/25/2022 at 3:23 PM, Carol the Dabbler said:

We've had TV slots like that.  I believe McCloud and McMillan were on one of them, and there was also a doctor one and a mixed-bag one.  Longstreet had its own slot here, though.

I thought that was in Wolfe lore?  ;)  I personally think it's just a rumor in any case.  While it's true (as reported by Archie Goodwin in the original stories) that Wolfe has a painted portrait of Holmes hanging on his office wall, I don't see how that even proves that Holmes is real in the Wolfe universe.

 

Neither do I.🙂

I do like a bit of Nero Wolfe though. I’ve listened to the radio shows with Sidney Greenstreet. I’ve also seen a few of the tv series starry Maury Chaykin which was really good. I might look into a box set at some point. Though I’ve never read any Nero Wolfe. Another for the list.😃

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1 hour ago, HerlockSholmes said:

I’ve also seen a few of the tv series starry Maury Chaykin which was really good. I might look into a box set at some point

As you say, that's a good series.  In my opinion, a Wolfe adaptation is only as good as its Archie, and Timothy Hutton is *very* good.

1 hour ago, HerlockSholmes said:

I’ve never read any Nero Wolfe. Another for the list.

Be careful -- that's quite a rabbit hole!  Rex Stout was a prolific author (albeit not as prolific as Erle Stanley Gardner).

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I watched and liked both Longstreet and Nero Wolfe, and agree that Timothy Hutton was great. I also loved his dad Jim Hutton, in his comedy movies and his Ellery Queen tv series.

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I wasn't aware that Jim Hutton did comedies -- do you recommend any in particular?  I used to watch Ellery Queen with my dad, though.

 

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He made some movies with Paula Prentiss, Where the Boys Are, The Honeymoon Machine (with Steve McQueen), Bachelor in Paradise (with Bob Hope), and the Horizontal Lieutenant. He also was in Who's Minding the Mint? and Walk Don't Run (with Cary Grant). Of course he made several dramas, my favourite being Hellfighters with John Wayne, Vera Miles and Katherine Ross.

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On 1/27/2022 at 3:51 PM, Carol the Dabbler said:

As you say, that's a good series.  In my opinion, a Wolfe adaptation is only as good as its Archie, and Timothy Hutton is *very* good.

Be careful -- that's quite a rabbit hole!  Rex Stout was a prolific author (albeit not as prolific as Erle Stanley Gardner).

It also seems that, like Holmes, there a Wolfe pastiches too. One of the problems is that stories can appear in more than one anthology too. I’ve been caught out buying a Holmes pastiche anthology only to find that I have some of the stories in other anthologies.

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5 hours ago, HerlockSholmes said:

like Holmes, there are Wolfe pastiches too.

Yup.  Some are basically fan-fiction, and some of those are quite good.  There is also a series of professionally published novels that do an excellent job of sounding like Stout's -- but in my opinion they don't quite have the substance. (One might call them sheep in Wolfe's clothing, I suppose.)  I borrowed the first few from the library, and read them, but have had no inclination to purchase my own copies.  However I am now tempted to check out one that Wikipedia describes as involving "the murder of a mediocre continuator of a popular detective series," which sounds like it could be a bit tongue-in-cheek   :D

However I'm also a bit peeved with that author for giving a character in one book an unusual name that is clearly a play on the name of a man who was quite well known in mystery, horror, and fantasy fan circles.  I find this sort of thing distracting -- it pops me right out of the story's universe and back into my own -- so that it violates what I consider the #1 rule for writing:  Don't distract your audience!

 

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23 hours ago, Carol the Dabbler said:

Yup.  Some are basically fan-fiction, and some of those are quite good.  There is also a series of professionally published novels that do an excellent job of sounding like Stout's -- but in my opinion they don't quite have the substance. (One might call them sheep in Wolfe's clothing, I suppose.)  I borrowed the first few from the library, and read them, but have had no inclination to purchase my own copies.  However I am now tempted to check out one that Wikipedia describes as involving "the murder of a mediocre continuator of a popular detective series," which sounds like it could be a bit tongue-in-cheek   :D

However I'm also a bit peeved with that author for giving a character in one book an unusual name that is clearly a play on the name of a man who was quite well known in mystery, horror, and fantasy fan circles.  I find this sort of thing distracting -- it pops me right out of the story's universe and back into my own -- so that it violates what I consider the #1 rule for writing:  Don't distract your audience!

 

What name is that Carol?

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The author is Robert Goldsborough.  Just follow the Wikipedia link in my previous post for a list of his novels.

Added: Oh, wait -- did you mean the name of the character?  It was Acker Foreman, a pretty blatant play on the real-life Forrest J. "Forry" Ackerman.

 

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On 1/26/2022 at 9:59 AM, Carol the Dabbler said:

Franciscus starred in six TV series between the late 50s and the late 70s, but he's probably best known for Mr. Novak (about a high-school teacher) and Longstreet.  Bruce Lee guest-starred in four early episodes of the latter (he was apparently intended to be a semi-regular, but moved to Hong Kong and became a big film star instead).

Longstreet is available on DVD and (last I checked) on YouTube.  Dunno if it's currently running anywhere else.

 

Mr. Novak, that's what I remember him from! Not that I ever saw the show, we were living overseas at the time and didn't have access to American TV. Even so, we heard of Mr. Novak.

At any rate, thanks for directing me to Longstreet, I've watched 2 episodes so far and quite enjoyed it. (Well, 3 episodes actually, but I kept falling asleep during the 3rd one. :smile: ) Good scripts. I was skeptical about Franciscus because he's such a "pretty boy", but he's actually quite suited to the role. Plan to keep watching.

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18 hours ago, Carol the Dabbler said:

The author is Robert Goldsborough.  Just follow the Wikipedia link in my previous post for a list of his novels.

Added: Oh, wait -- did you mean the name of the character?  It was Acker Foreman, a pretty blatant play on the real-life Forrest J. "Forry" Ackerman.

 

Thanks Carol. I remember once seeing a documentary about Forrest Ackerman. What a memorabilia collection he had.

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5 hours ago, Arcadia said:

Mr. Novak, that's what I remember him from! Not that I ever saw the show, we were living overseas

Don't think I ever saw it much, either, since I was in college at the time, but yeah, I was well aware of it.

5 hours ago, Arcadia said:

I've watched 2 episodes so far and quite enjoyed it. (Well, 3 episodes actually, but I kept falling asleep during the 3rd one.

Which episode was that?

5 hours ago, Arcadia said:

Good scripts. I was skeptical about Franciscus because he's such a "pretty boy", but he's actually quite suited to the role. Plan to keep watching.

Glad you're enjoying the show.  Good scripts, yeah, and good cast.  I know what you mean about Franciscus, but he's so good in the role that I quickly decided the dimples aren't his fault!

 

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On 1/31/2022 at 11:25 AM, Carol the Dabbler said:
On 1/31/2022 at 5:35 AM, Arcadia said:

I've watched 2 episodes so far and quite enjoyed it. (Well, 3 episodes actually, but I kept falling asleep during the 3rd one.

Which episode was that?

The one where he and his assistant pretend to be married (and I do sincerely hope the showrunners are not rushing them into a romantic relationship, as I really appreciated the way they showed him still grieving over his wife in the first couple of episodes. I hate it when a character loses a mate at the beginning of a show then goes on as if they never existed)

I guess technically that's episode 2, as what I think of as the first one was actually the pilot. I hope the pilot was aired at the time, it helps make the rest of the show make a lot more sense!

Anyway, I haven't had time to get back to it, guess I'll have to start this one over from the beginning. Hopefully I can do a little bing watching this weekend. It's a cinch I won't be leaving the house; it's been pouring rain for 2 days, and it's supposed to get down below freezing this weekend. Ugh.

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46 minutes ago, Arcadia said:

I do sincerely hope the showrunners are not rushing them into a romantic relationship, as I really appreciated the way they showed him still grieving over his wife in the first couple of episodes.

Don't worry, they're in no hurry whatsoever -- though Mike and Nikki do seem to have a good deal of respect and affection for each other (something like Perry Mason and Della Street, if you were in this country when that show was on).

48 minutes ago, Arcadia said:

I hope the pilot was aired at the time, it helps make the rest of the show make a lot more sense!

Indeed it does -- and yes, it was.  The pilot was aired in February as a TV movie, then the series got picked up and started that same fall.  I may have read (?) that they re-aired the pilot in the fall as well (which would have been an excellent idea).

51 minutes ago, Arcadia said:

I haven't had time to get back to it, guess I'll have to start this one over from the beginning.

Sounds reasonable, since there's a lot in the pilot (and since you were drowsing through the next one).

Near as I recall, you don't need to worry too much about watching the episodes in order.  The pilot has to come first, of course, but I don't recall any subsequent episodes referring to each other, only to the pilot.  Going in order would be handy for keeping track of which ones you've watched, though.

Oh -- if you're watching via the Playlist on YouTube, last time I looked it was missing #3, "One in the Reality Column" -- so you'll need to look for that one individually (which is presumably still there).

1 hour ago, Arcadia said:

It's a cinch I won't be leaving the house; it's been pouring rain for 2 days, and it's supposed to get down below freezing this weekend. Ugh

We just had a snowstorm yesterday/last night.  They were predicting as much as a foot, but thankfully looks like we got no more than half of that.  Hope they didn't decide to send the rest of it over your way!

 

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8 hours ago, Carol the Dabbler said:

Oh -- if you're watching via the Playlist on YouTube, last time I looked it was missing #3, "One in the Reality Column" -- so you'll need to look for that one individually (which is presumably still there).

Yeah, I discovered that when I started to watch it, so I've also seen a few minutes of ep.4. :smile: But yeah, 3 is still there.

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25 minutes ago, Arcadia said:

But yeah, 3 is still there.

That's good to know.  I went to YouTube last night to rewatch a movie I'd just watched there a few months ago -- and it's gone.

 

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Yeah, I've had that happen to a few things I wanted to watch again. I guess it's good that YouTube actually polices what gets posted, but it's kinda a pain in the a-double-scribble too.... :D 

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