Pop Culture Roundup for March 6-May 30: Lucy Lawless, Los Angeles Locations, and More!

by Karen A. Romanko

The Roundup slowed to a halt in the spring, as I created (with my hubby) Hollywood Stardle, a free online game similar to Wordle, and then went on vacation. But we’ve got the old girl spinning faster than ever after the break, so here we go with my recent posts on pop culture, covering the 1960s through 2021.

March 6: We watched the season two finale of My Life Is Murder this week, and were delighted to see Renee O’Connor reunited with Lucy Lawless. Above: Renee as a serene self-help guru and Lucy as a not-buying-that-act, private police consultant in “Pleasure & Pain”(2021). Below: The pair as Gabrielle and Xena in the legendary Xena: Warrior Princess (1995–2001).

March 18: I’m always fascinated by TV filming locations, especially for places I’ve lived or visited. The Fugitive is a rich source for Los Angeles filming locations, and one popped up last night in the brilliant and moving episode “Nightmare at Northoak” (1963). Richard Kimble (David Janssen) is plagued by a recurring dream where he is followed on a dark, lonely street by his nemesis, Philip Gerard (Barry Morse). I wondered where this street might be, and the episode quickly answered by providing the address above an awning. How obliging! 122 N. Larchmont Boulevard, Los Angeles, “4," California. (Yes, some of us were around even before zip codes!) Turns out this is in the Larchmont Village section of Los Angeles and “122," formerly “Electro Construction,” as seen in The Fugitive, is now...wait for it...Jamba! Photo on the top, Richard Kimble on the run past Electro. On the bottom, not nearly so ominous, Jamba and the street as it looks today.

March 22: The complete DVD set of Banacek is in the house. I spent way too much, but I allowed myself a splurge. Banacek is a freelance Insurance investigator, who takes on outlandish cases that no one else can solve. In the first two episodes, a football player was kidnapped from the field during a game and an experimental automobile was stolen from a moving train. The series takes place in Boston during the 70s, and as part of my life took place in Boston during the 70s, there is lots of nostalgia appeal for me. Plus, there are George Peppard‘s baby blues and lots of guest stars, so it is fun, escapist fare.

March 24: Here’s an obscure one for British mystery fans, An Unsuitable Job for a Woman (1997-2001, 9 episodes, UK/USA), based on the novel by P.D. James. Cordelia Gray (Helen Baxendale) inherits a floundering detective agency from her boss, who committed suicide, and decides to run the business on her own, even though she is only an apprentice investigator. Cordelia dives feet-first—literally—into her maiden case, "Sacrifice" (1997), when her faltering investigation into the death of a prominent scientist's son gets her thrown to the bottom of an abandoned well. Her office assistant, long-suffering Mrs. Sparshott (Annette Crosbie), constantly frets over Cordelia's safety, and never more so than when a very pregnant Cordelia agrees to follow a mysterious man around London in "Living in Risk" (1999). As befits the detective’s name, this one is on the gray side, and Cordelia is not the usual smarter-than-everyone-in-the-room sleuth, but if you are looking for something different, this one might be your cup of Earl Grey. I have the set on DVD, but at least some episodes, including the first, are available for free (with ads) at dailymotion, as introduced by Diana Rigg for PBS Mystery.

March 28: I was doing research for a secret project (soon to be revealed, I hope), and found that, according to Google, Pat Paulsen was once President of the United States! Anyone here remember his satirical campaign for president? I reported the error to Google. Apparently there are limits to this artificial intelligence thing.

April 14: Probably the coziest of cozy TV mysteries is Hetty Wainthropp Investigates (1996-1998, 27 episodes, UK). No murder, little violence, and not much action, unless you count a woman in her 60s riding on the back of a motor scooter driven by her young protégé. The sleuthing life begins at 60 for Hetty Wainthropp (Patricia Routledge), who takes a job at the local Lancashire post office, but finds mystery more intriguing than mail. With her new calling, Hetty opens a private detective agency, although her retired husband (Derek Benfield) thinks she should be taking it easy with him. Hetty recruits down-on-his-luck teenager Geoffrey Shawcross (Dominic Monaghan) as her assistant and sidekick, and off they go, hunting bad guys on cases which have fallen off the police radar. From my DVD collection, but per the Reelgood app, it is streaming on Britbox.

May 8: I am so sad to learn of the passing of British actor Dennis Waterman, one of my all-time favorites. Dennis had a long and illustrious career in films and especially TV, beginning as a young lad and working through 2020. I “discovered” him in the long-running police procedural New Tricks, and went on a mission to find his earlier performances in the colorful and hilarious TV series Minder and the wonderfully evocative 60s film Up the Junction, among many others. To say he will be missed is an understatement. RIP, Dennis.

May 24: While watching The Fugitive (1963–67) tonight, I laughed when this flashed on the screen. Imagine being old enough to remember when color broadcasts were so new that they were ballyhooed. “In color“! The first three seasons had been in black and white, and they suited the show well. Still it’s nice to see David Janssen in color now, although at the time I was viewing him on a black and white set. Fond memories of bygone TV days.

May 30: I’ve really enjoyed working on the entry for Etta Place in my book in progress, Historical Women on Scripted Television. Many of you will know her from the iconic 1969 film Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, where she was portrayed by Katharine Ross. There are so many legends about what happened to Etta after Butch and Sundance died (if they died), but no historical evidence. Elizabeth Montgomery portrayed her in the 1974 TV movie Mrs. Sundance, while Ross reprised her 1969 role in the 1976 TV film Wanted: The Sundance Woman.

Please share your comments below or connect with me on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.

Enjoyed this post? Never miss out on future posts by subscribing to this blog via Subscribe.

Last, but not least, please check out my books about women and television from McFarland Publishers, available in trade paperback and Kindle editions at Amazon:

Television's Female Spies and Crimefighters and Women of Science Fiction and Fantasy Television
 On sale now!