| Simon & Simon | |
|---|---|
 Title screen from Season 1 | |
| Genre | |
| Created by | Philip DeGuere |
| Starring |
|
| Music by | Joseph Conlan |
| Opening theme | Simon & Simon (instrumental version) byBarry De Vorzon Michael Towers |
| Ending theme | "Best of Friends" performed by The Thrasher Brothers |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 8 |
| No. of episodes | 156(list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producers |
|
| Producers |
|
| Running time | 45–48 minutes |
| Production company | Universal Television |
| Original release | |
| Network | CBS |
| Release | November 24, 1981 (1981-11-24) – September 16, 1989 (1989-09-16) |
| Related | |
Simon & Simon is an Americancrime drama television series that originally ran from November 24, 1981, to September 16, 1989. The series was broadcast onCBS, and starredGerald McRaney andJameson Parker as two disparate brothers who operate a two-persondetective agency inSan Diego, California.
The show revolves around the decisively polar-opposite Simon brothers, Rick (McRaney) and Andrew Jackson/"A.J." (Parker). Together, the brothers run aprivate investigator agency in San Diego, California, during the 1980s. Their contrasting approaches to investigations and subsequent personality conflicts provide much of the drama and comedy in each week's episode. The brothers have genuine love for one another as well as intense loyalty and will go to great lengths to protect one another.
Rick is aUnited States Marine CorpsVietnam War veteran with an earthy, plain-speaking personality and a penchant for cowboy boots, denim, and pickup trucks. He lives on a boat in his brother A.J.'s yard. In contrast, A.J. is a college graduate with a polished,preppy look and a taste for classic cars. A.J. is a practicingCatholic while Rick is not, and though A.J. is a stickler for rules in life and at work, Rick is more of a free spirit with street smarts. Their odd couple style differences extend even to their cars, with Rick'sDodge Power Wagon used in one episode ("Love, Christy" (Season 1, Episode 2)) to crush the engine of a car contrasting with A.J.'s 1957Chevrolet Bel Air convertible and customized Camaros (Chevrolet Camaro Z28 and 1968Chevrolet Camaro RS) in the two-part episode, "Pirate's Key".
Although Rick is a few years older than A.J., McRaney and Parker were both born in 1947 and have only a three-month age difference.
| Season | Episodes | Originally released | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First released | Last released | |||
| 1 | 13 | November 24, 1981 (1981-11-24) | March 16, 1982 (1982-03-16) | |
| 2 | 23 | October 7, 1982 (1982-10-07) | March 31, 1983 (1983-03-31) | |
| 3 | 23 | September 29, 1983 (1983-09-29) | March 29, 1984 (1984-03-29) | |
| 4 | 22 | September 27, 1984 (1984-09-27) | March 28, 1985 (1985-03-28) | |
| 5 | 24 | October 3, 1985 (1985-10-03) | May 1, 1986 (1986-05-01) | |
| 6 | 22 | September 25, 1986 (1986-09-25) | March 26, 1987 (1987-03-26) | |
| 7 | 16 | December 3, 1987 (1987-12-03) | April 7, 1988 (1988-04-07) | |
| 8 | 13 | October 8, 1988 (1988-10-08) | September 16, 1989 (1989-09-16) | |
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The original 1980television pilot, calledPirate's Key, was set inFlorida.[1][2] WhenCBS picked up the show, the characters' home was changed from Florida toSan Diego, California, where the show was filmed for the first season. Due to the production costs and low ratings, filming and production moved toLos Angeles, although the show continued to be set in San Diego for the course of its eight-year run on CBS.
The series was created by executive producerPhilip DeGuere, who credited his inspirations to a request from a CBS executive to create something like a modern "Butch and Sundance", and a spec pilot DeGuere had recently read about a divorced husband and wife detective team written by Bob Shayne, whom DeGuere hired to write during the first two seasons. Shayne continued to write episodes for the series during its run, and together, they went on to create the CBS seriesWhiz Kids.
Simon & Simon was almost canceled in 1982 due to low ratings. However, at DeGuere and Shayne's request, CBS decided to give the series another chance by moving it to Thursday nights at 9 p.m., followingMagnum, P.I. The new season began with a two-hourcrossover episode with a story that began on the already popularMagnum and continued on (the mostly unknown)Simon & Simon, in an attempt to carryMagnum's audience over toSimon & Simon. (see below) The effort worked, and the show's ratings quickly rose; it became a hit in that slot and continued to draw ratings for the next several seasons. Simon and Simon's peak years in the ratings were seasons 2–4, where it landed at no. 7, no. 5 and no. 7 respectively. In September 1984,The Cosby Show premiered in the 8 p.m. time slot against "Magnum" and was an immediate ratings hit and also substantially increased the ratings of the following NBC comedy shows, such asCheers airing at 9 p.m. against "Simon & Simon". "Simon & Simon" fell to 29th in the 85–86 season and never recovered.
Simon & Simon moved to Saturday nights late in its run, and the ratings dropped considerably. CBS only committed to a 13-episode season for the fall of 1988 but cancelled the series with two episodes left unaired, including the series finale. That episode did not air until the show entered syndication.[citation needed]
For the first season, the song "Best of Friends", composed byLinda Creed andBarry De Vorzon and performed by the Thrasher Brothers, served as the series' theme song. More specifically, the instrumental version of "Best of Friends" appeared at the beginning of each episode (and short clips of the instrumental version occasionally appeared within episodes, even after the first season), while the lyrical version appeared at the conclusion of each episode.[citation needed]
At the beginning of the second season, the second and more recognizable instrumental theme song, composed by Barry De Vorzon[3] (who had previously composed the theme to the 1970s police drama,S.W.A.T.) and Michael Towers, was introduced. The theme consists primarily of an electric bottle-slide guitar lead with asaxophone interlude and remained until the last episode of the final season.[citation needed]
Both theme songs had extended versions released; the Thrasher Brothers in 1982, and De Vorzon/Towers's version in 1984.[4][5]
The episode "Emeralds Are Not a Girl's Best Friend" concludes a crossover that begins on theMagnum, P.I. episode "Ki'is Don't Lie", where Higgins helps the Simons track the woman with stolen Hawaiian artifacts toLatin America. For repeat and syndication purposes, a second conclusion was also shot, wherein the fleeing villain is caught, allowing theMagnum episode to be wrapped up and the episode to be rerun as a "stand alone" episode. Consequently, theSimon & Simon concluding hour, "Emeralds Are Not a Girl's Best Friend", did not appear in reruns for many years, nor did the original broadcast version of "Ki'Is Don't Lie". Both original versions have since been released on DVD.[6][7]
Additionally, A.J. Simon appeared on theWhiz Kids episode "Deadly Access". In return, theWhiz Kids characters Richie Adler, Hamilton Parker, Jeremy Saldino, Alice Parker, and Irene Adler appeared on theSimon & Simon episode "Fly the Alibi Skies" the following night.
On October 10, 2006,Universal Pictures Home Entertainment released the first season ofSimon & Simon on DVD in Region 1.[8] Due to poor sales, no subsequent seasons were immediately released, because of the synthesized background music scores, where it had entirely replaced the original music scores, due tomusic licensing issues.
In Fall 2008,Shout! Factory announced that they had acquired the distribution rights through an agreement withUniversal Pictures Home Entertainment. They subsequently released seasons 2–8 on DVD, with seasons 5-8 originally released as Shout! exclusives.[9][10][11][12][13][14]
Season 5 was re-released as a general retail release on May 9, 2017.[15] Season 6 was re-released in general retail on September 19, 2017.[16] Season 7 was re-released on November 14, 2017,[17] Season 8 was re-released on December 12, 2017.[18]
Mill Creek Entertainment released two "best-of" collections ofSimon & Simon. On January 18, 2011, they releasedSimon & Simon – The Best of Season Two,[19] while on July 19, 2011 they releasedSimon & Simon – The Best of Season Three.[20]
In Region 4,Madman Entertainment released Season 1 on DVD in Australia on July 6, 2011.
| DVD Name | Ep # | Release Date |
|---|---|---|
| Season 1 | 13 | October 10, 2006 |
| Season 2 | 23 | February 10, 2009 |
| Season 3 | 23 | August 18, 2009 |
| Season 4 | 22 | April 6, 2010 |
| Season 5 | 24 | July 20, 2010♦ May 9, 2017(re-release) |
| Season 6 | 22 | February 21, 2012♦ September 19, 2017(re-release) |
| Season 7 | 16 | October 16, 2012♦ November 14, 2017(re-release) |
| Season 8 | 13 | January 15, 2013♦ December 12, 2017(re-release) |
♦- Shout! Factory Exclusives title, sold exclusively through Shout's online store
In this reunion movie, which premiered on February 23, 1995 some years have passed, and a now divorced A.J. (whose ex-wife is Janet Fowler from original series) works inSeattle as an attorney. Rick stops by to visiten route to delivering an expensive yacht. The trouble starts when the yacht, with Rick and A.J.'s mother Cecilia on board, is hijacked.
The Greatest Event in Television History premiered onAdult Swim, on October 12, 2012. Hosted byJeff Probst, the program went behind the scenes during the making of ashot-for-shot remake of theSimon & Simon opening sequence withAdam Scott andJon Hamm in the roles of A.J. and Rick, respectively. The special also featured the appearances ofPaul Rudd,Gus van Sant,Megan Mullally,Paul Scheer, andKathryn Hahn.[21]
