Saturday, March 30, 2013

Classic TV: It Takes a Thief (1968)

In the movie, "The Dirty Dozen", the military recruited prisoners to form an elite squad. ABC copied the concept with the 1967 series, Garrison's Gorillas, which lasted just one season. Undaunted, the network decided to try again, but this time, simplifying the concept.

In It Takes A Thief, jewel thief Alexander Mundy (Robert Wagner) is recruited by the SIA to essentially play Robin Hood, robbing from the bad guys in the name of the government. Thief lasted three seasons, and spent a large chunk of the 70's in syndication, which is where I actually became acquainted with Dave Grusin's kickin' theme song.

Edit, 8/11/21: Have to change the video. For now, we have a 1st season episode with Lynda Day, Ben Murphy, and Brenda Benet:



After 2 seasons, actor Malachi Throne, who played Mundy's handler, Noah Bain, left the show, and later served as narrator on ABC's Saturday morning series, Lancelot Link, Secret Chimp. Throne, who passed away earlier this month, was missed as a presence, but Universal tried to fill the void by adding Fred Astaire to the show as Mundy's dad, Alistair. Cue cancellation notice.

More recently, there was a reality series that co-opted the Thief title, airing on Discovery, but that speaks to the lack of original thinking. In the comics, DC's Catwoman was granted her first regular solo series in 1994, recast in the mold of-----wait for it----Alexander Mundy. Unfortunately, creative changes led to the series moving away from this formula a few years into the run.

Rating: A.

2 comments:

magicdog said...

I hadn't heard of Throne's passing. Sorry to hear that!

I vaguely remember the show - although my dad watched it more than I did.

The opening credits remind me of the Mannix opening. Were they from the same studio?

hobbyfan said...

Nope. Mannix was from Paramount, and created by Bruce Geller, who also was responsible for Mission: Impossible. Sooner or later, I'll get both of those shows reviewed...........

It Takes A Thief was from Universal, and created by Roland Kibbee. Musical director Dave Grusin also composed the theme for another Universal series that bowed the same year that Thief did---The Name of the Game. Like, wild, man.