A strike out. "The Grandstand Play" is the nadir of Season 3. CBS thought so too, because according to the production numbers it was the sixth episode filmed but held from broadcast until the bitter end, probably after sweeps week and after contracts were signed for a fourth season.
The tragic flaw that fell "The Grandstand Play" is the one that fells most two-parters: padding that slows the pace to a crawl. What could have been a lean, mean one-hour episode instead becomes a flabby behemoth. Here's a protracted scene of Lon endlessly wandering the streets looking for Gary; here's Gary wandering the streets and riding on buses with ice cream on his chin. Ugh! I broke my own rule at one point and fast-scanned through some of the shameless padding.
A red flag was this episode requiring three writers. The story is by Adrian Spies, and this is his sole effort for the series (that is telling in itself). Series scribes Eric Bercovici and Jerry Ludwig assisted with the teleplay, presumably to work a fix. I suspect this story wasn't even written specifically for HAWAII FIVE-O. It had a generic feel to it. And the climax, where McGarrett has a slugfest with a man who could snap him like a dry twig, struck me as a scene written for a whole different character, like Mannix or Dan August.
What is frustrating is that with some effort invested into the scripting, this two-parter could have justified its bloat. Barry Atwater's character was fascinating and was just being developed when he was blithely discarded. What a waste. Developing Lou and "Horton's Girl" (as she's listed in the credits) would have added heft. All those unpleasant scenes of Chin and Danny bullying private eyes should have led to something more substantive. (By the way, Tommy Fujiwara was excellent as the self-confessed and wholly unrepentant "snoop" Galvin, who had potential and promise to become a recurring character.)
Pernell Roberts was looking a ripe 43 and stretched credulity portraying a ballplayer, even a minor leaguer. Jock Mahoney, who was playing Tarzan as late as 1963, looked healthier and more fit as the coach than did his star player. I am a longtime fan of Roberts and thoroughly enjoyed the few scenes where he was able to display his talents. Roberts shines brightly when he is arm wrestling with and pouring milk for Gary, and in the later scene where he's conflicted about giving McGarrett the handkerchief. But there were too few of such scenes. The script really failed to take full advantage of the star power it had on hand.
Arguably, the real star of the show was Elliott Street as Gary. He was outstanding and was believable all the way through as a 15 or 16-year-old kid (even though in reality he was in his late twenties). But there was just too much of him. My patience really wore thin as the show progressed and he became an increasingly vexing character. By the time he ran away from and then hung up on Kono I was ready to let the kid reap whatever trouble he sowed. That is no fault of Street, of course, who I am now eager to see perform in other roles and especially in his later appearance on HAWAII FIVE-O.
While I'm piling on the criticism, let me add that there was also something sloppy about the production, as if even the editors knew this was a turkey and so just phoned it in. For example, early in the first part the exciting "Chase" music is playing but McGarrett is casually strolling to his car in broad daylight, even though it should be night. And there are two dramatic pans to McGarrett's office window in too short a span.
And what was up with Kono's tie? He looked like Oliver Hardy at one point when his tie fell barely halfway down his shirtfront. Zulu probably figured why get all dressed up just to say, "Right, Steve" or "I'm on it, Steve," and was surprised to actually get put to work. I like Kono a lot, but when he lost Gary in a foot chase I thought he just wasn't trying. I mean, really?
More sloppiness: Five-O passes out photos of "Horton's Girl" to cops at all entrances of the stadium but never considers checking the stadium staffers? And Lou, as a security guard, was never given a photo or told to watch out for Gary? Okay, maybe Lou missed the briefing since he showed up 20 minutes late that day. That reminds me, what a cheap ploy to have Lou's boss ask ominously, "Did you really think you would get away with it?" That registered a zero on my suspense scale.
I could go on, like how come a major leaguer who relocates to Hawaii and is a celebrity player whose name everyone has heard of is living in a tiny apartment across the street from a seedy bar where a "frayed around the edges" B-girl operates?
I guess I'm just bitter because this third season was consistently excellent and set my expectations high. Every series is entitled to a fumble, or in this case a foul ball. After seeing it, I sure understand why CBS buried this stinker at the end of the season.
PS: After "The Grandstand Play" Pernell Roberts knocked the volcanic ash from his cleats and never looked back, making this his only appearance on HAWAII FIVE-O. Barry Atwater, on the other hand, stuck around and landed a plum role in "The Reunion," a much better episode broadcast earlier but actually filmed a few episodes after "The Grandstand Play."
Onward and upward to Season Four!
The tragic flaw that fell "The Grandstand Play" is the one that fells most two-parters: padding that slows the pace to a crawl. What could have been a lean, mean one-hour episode instead becomes a flabby behemoth. Here's a protracted scene of Lon endlessly wandering the streets looking for Gary; here's Gary wandering the streets and riding on buses with ice cream on his chin. Ugh! I broke my own rule at one point and fast-scanned through some of the shameless padding.
A red flag was this episode requiring three writers. The story is by Adrian Spies, and this is his sole effort for the series (that is telling in itself). Series scribes Eric Bercovici and Jerry Ludwig assisted with the teleplay, presumably to work a fix. I suspect this story wasn't even written specifically for HAWAII FIVE-O. It had a generic feel to it. And the climax, where McGarrett has a slugfest with a man who could snap him like a dry twig, struck me as a scene written for a whole different character, like Mannix or Dan August.
What is frustrating is that with some effort invested into the scripting, this two-parter could have justified its bloat. Barry Atwater's character was fascinating and was just being developed when he was blithely discarded. What a waste. Developing Lou and "Horton's Girl" (as she's listed in the credits) would have added heft. All those unpleasant scenes of Chin and Danny bullying private eyes should have led to something more substantive. (By the way, Tommy Fujiwara was excellent as the self-confessed and wholly unrepentant "snoop" Galvin, who had potential and promise to become a recurring character.)
Pernell Roberts was looking a ripe 43 and stretched credulity portraying a ballplayer, even a minor leaguer. Jock Mahoney, who was playing Tarzan as late as 1963, looked healthier and more fit as the coach than did his star player. I am a longtime fan of Roberts and thoroughly enjoyed the few scenes where he was able to display his talents. Roberts shines brightly when he is arm wrestling with and pouring milk for Gary, and in the later scene where he's conflicted about giving McGarrett the handkerchief. But there were too few of such scenes. The script really failed to take full advantage of the star power it had on hand.
Arguably, the real star of the show was Elliott Street as Gary. He was outstanding and was believable all the way through as a 15 or 16-year-old kid (even though in reality he was in his late twenties). But there was just too much of him. My patience really wore thin as the show progressed and he became an increasingly vexing character. By the time he ran away from and then hung up on Kono I was ready to let the kid reap whatever trouble he sowed. That is no fault of Street, of course, who I am now eager to see perform in other roles and especially in his later appearance on HAWAII FIVE-O.
While I'm piling on the criticism, let me add that there was also something sloppy about the production, as if even the editors knew this was a turkey and so just phoned it in. For example, early in the first part the exciting "Chase" music is playing but McGarrett is casually strolling to his car in broad daylight, even though it should be night. And there are two dramatic pans to McGarrett's office window in too short a span.
And what was up with Kono's tie? He looked like Oliver Hardy at one point when his tie fell barely halfway down his shirtfront. Zulu probably figured why get all dressed up just to say, "Right, Steve" or "I'm on it, Steve," and was surprised to actually get put to work. I like Kono a lot, but when he lost Gary in a foot chase I thought he just wasn't trying. I mean, really?
More sloppiness: Five-O passes out photos of "Horton's Girl" to cops at all entrances of the stadium but never considers checking the stadium staffers? And Lou, as a security guard, was never given a photo or told to watch out for Gary? Okay, maybe Lou missed the briefing since he showed up 20 minutes late that day. That reminds me, what a cheap ploy to have Lou's boss ask ominously, "Did you really think you would get away with it?" That registered a zero on my suspense scale.
I could go on, like how come a major leaguer who relocates to Hawaii and is a celebrity player whose name everyone has heard of is living in a tiny apartment across the street from a seedy bar where a "frayed around the edges" B-girl operates?
I guess I'm just bitter because this third season was consistently excellent and set my expectations high. Every series is entitled to a fumble, or in this case a foul ball. After seeing it, I sure understand why CBS buried this stinker at the end of the season.
PS: After "The Grandstand Play" Pernell Roberts knocked the volcanic ash from his cleats and never looked back, making this his only appearance on HAWAII FIVE-O. Barry Atwater, on the other hand, stuck around and landed a plum role in "The Reunion," a much better episode broadcast earlier but actually filmed a few episodes after "The Grandstand Play."
Onward and upward to Season Four!
