Remington Steele: Seasons Four & Five

As with Season 3, "Remington Steele's" fourth season continued delivering quality episodes. Every level of production--acting, writing, directing--maintained the excellence the show (particularly its producer, Michael Gleason) strove so hard for from day one. Pierce Brosnan continued showing his flair as an actor/leading man by walking the fine line between suave mystery man/pompous boss; Stephanie Zimbalist continued showing her resiliency/unwavering skill as a savvy/level-headed role model who, comically, often had her dignity soiled (in more ways than one: witness how she looked by the end of "Bonds of Steele"); and Doris Roberts dug for more footing as the secretary who knew she was a valuable asset & strove for more equality with her peers.The episodes never disappoint as the show takes its deft blend of mystery, action and screwball comedy to the max. Picking up from last season's cliffhanging "Steele of Approval" (in which the agency's future was hanging by a thread), Laura & Mildred go to London to track down the MIA Steele in the two-part "Steele Searching". To their surprise, Mr. Steele has been mistaken by Scotland Yard to be a modern-day Jack the Ripper (a story element frightenly well done); Steele gets tangled up with assassins (with the "help" of his friend Daniel Chalmers); and Mildred gets the biggest surprise when Laura tells her the truth: Steele doesn't exist; the man she's been idolizing is a fraud. Other notable episodes: "Forged Steele", in which Steele gambles away the agency, but can't remember anything the morning after; "Corn Fed Steele" pays homage to Hitchcock's "North by Northwest"; "Dancer, Prancer, Donner and Steele" has the gang surviving a harrowing hostage situation at the hands of three "Santas"; that episode's follow-up, "Santa Claus is Coming to Steele"; "Suburban Steele" introduces us to Laura's flaky sister, with Laura & Steele's disastrously funny encounter with domesticated life; "Sensitive Steele" helped peel away the psychological layers of Laura & Steele's relationship; and "Beg, Borrow or Steele" had Laura & Steele returning from a New York trip...and discovering they had been murdered!Again, an impressive list of guest stars for Season 4: Brosnan's wife Cassandra Harris, Efrem Zimbalist, Jr. (reprising Chalmers), Terry O'Quinn (way before "Lost"), Jere Burns, Vincent Schiavelli, comic Louie Anderson, Jennifer Tilly, Michael Constantine (reprising small-time businessman George E. Mulch), Rebecca Holden (from "Knight Rider"), and the great Rose Marie.But the show had peaked in popularity, and dwindling viewership cancelled the series...almost. A deluge of fan mail (and rumors of Brosnan playing James Bond) changed the network's mind, and so came Season 5...sort of. Some fans regard this season as the worst of "Remington Steele"---kind of a throwaway season of nothing more than a string of RS movies. Well, they're right, but at least there WAS a Season 5. "The Steele That Wouldn't Die" was more of a T.V. movie version of "Romancing the Stone", and probably the weakest of the series. Picking up where "Bonds of Steele" left off, as Steele & Laura tried to prove to U.S. Immigration--and constantly pesky insurance investigator Norman Keyes, who was determined to expose Steele as a fraud & illegal immigrant--they were the real deal by whisking away to Mexico for a joke of a honeymoon. The series improved with the next one ("Steele Hanging in There") as Steele's past (in the guise of an old flame, played by "Superman II's" Sarah Douglas) came back to haunt him, disrupting (once again) Laura & Steele's honeymoon bliss. The final one ("Steeled With A Kiss") finally put all the pieces of Steele's puzzled past in place as it tied up loose ends. Chalmers returned with a startling revelation, Steele inherited a castle, and the series' couple--at last!--got both their privacy and happily-ever-after. The weak link to all this was the handsomely deceptive Tony Roselli (Jack Scalia), who was there as a "romantic triangle" device...I found him often annoying!Some nifty featurettes are included. Farewell, Mr. Steele!

This was my first time watching the series, so I was very excited for the final seasons to come out. I hadn't heard great things about the fifth season, however, so I was apprehensive as I watched it. First, let me say that up until the end of the second to last episode of season four, it was the same old Remington Steele that I know and love. The last episode of season four, where Remington is "forced" to marry a prostitute to keep himself from being deported was pretty ridiculous and unrealistic. I watched the first three hours of season five, and was so disgusted with it that I didn't watch the rest. The characters change quite a bit during season five, and I thought that many of the things that they did were not consistent with their characters' behavior during the previous four seasons. I did end up watching the last three hours, though, and my attitude toward season five improved somewhat, and I think I can say that I am satisfied with the way that the series ended. Anyway, definitely buy this set because there are plenty of great moments on it to make up for the few bad ones.

I am a big fan of the Remington Steele series. After watching it for a long time while it was still showing regularly on TV, I began taping it to VHS when I found channels re-running it. I had a lot of tapes. I then discovered Columbia House had it on VHS, so I bought a couple of those. They were a waste of money. When I started seeing old shows come out on DVD, I started looking for my favorite. I am very happy with the entire set which I have had for awhile now. Seasons 1 - 3 are excellent as everyone here knows. Seasons 4 & 5 which came bundled for me are worth it for the fans. Definitely watch all the other seasons first though.Remington Steele Seasons 1 - 3: Excellent showRemington Steele Seasons 4 - 5: Very good (Still 5 stars for me, but maybe not for the average viewer)Note that several of the DVD's in this package were damaged although the packaging and case were not. Amazon replaced my purchase very quickly.