Sunday, February 4, 2024

What Might've Been: Paris (1979)

 In 1979, James Earl Jones was a hot commodity in Hollywood. He was the voice of Darth Vader in "Star Wars". He played Alex Haley in Roots. Steven Bochco had moved his tack from Universal to MTM Productions, and cast Jones in Paris, which spent nearly 4 months on CBS (September 1979-January 1980) before it was cancelled.

Jones had the title role as police detective Woody Paris, who had a side gig as a criminology professor. Nice life to have. Lee Chamberlin (ex-The Electric Company) played his wife, and he would eventually marry co-star Cecilia Hart after the series ended. Michael Warren, two years before Hill Street Blues, another Bochco creation, co-stars.

The Rap Sheet provides the intro:


So, what went wrong? Viewers were more interested in another freshman crime drama, Aaron Spelling's Hart to Hart, with Robert Wagner & Stefanie Powers. Ballgame over.

No rating. Never saw the show.

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