A little while ago, we were musing on the lack of romantic couples on TV – and the even greater lack of couples who remain romantic once they get together.
Yet, it was not always so. Cast your mind back to The Thin Man series and you have great chemistry between a married couple; indeed, in the world of crime-fighting, TV has had many such couples, including Jonathan and Jennifer in Hart to Hart, the less than PC-titled McMillan and Wife, the now-obscure but once highly rated Wilde Alliance, and James Bolan and Barbara Flynn in The Beiderbecke Affair et al.
Comedy-drama Tucker’s Witch, from CBS c.1982, featured another crime-fighting married couple, although as the title suggests, “with a twist”. Rick and Amanda Tucker are married private investigators. However, Amanda discovers that she’s inherited her grandmother’s powers of witchcraft, which as she learns more about them, either help or hinder them in their investigations.
The show starred Tim Matheson, best known now as the vice-president in The West Wing, but then known for series such as The Quest and the movie Animal House. Joining him was Catherine Hicks, who’s probably best known as the whale-loving scientist in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home. It was one of those series that ITV used to chuck out at 1.30pm on a Tuesday afternoon for some reason, and I really liked it, although I have minimal memories of actual plots. Oh well.
Incidentally, the pilot back when the show was called The Good Witch of Laurel Canyon, starred Art Hingle and Kim Cattrall from Sex and the City. However, following her ‘locker room scene’ in Porkies, CBS ordered her part recast. Which is odd.
As are the titles, which really seemed to love that cat.
