The Feather and Father Gang

When movies about con men, such as The Sting and Paper Moon, became popular, TV wanted its share of con men, too (obviously not satisfied enough with network executives). So, they brought in Feather and Father Gang, with Harold Gould and the ex-Girl From Uncle, Stephanie Powers. Didn't work, though. The cons are not as complex as their movie counterparts, nor as well conceived. Sitting through an hour as Powers tries to reform her father, who isn't listening, is quite an ordeal. Thankfully, Switch (Robert Wagner and Eddie Albert) came along and improved the concept, somewhat. Finally, Wagner and Powers had Hart to Hart, and thankfully no more con men (except for those network executives).

This was a nice tv show for the short time it was on. I was disappointed when they took it off the air. The popular "con" themes at the time were popular. This show did not fail, it was just that that genre of films was short lived. How many con scams can we watch? Stephanie Powers was fine and Harold Gould was as good as always.

Harry Danton (Harold Gould) is an old-time conman. His lawyer daughter Toni 'Feather' Danton (Stefanie Powers) had hired him to be an investigator in her firm. More than anything, she did it to keep him out of trouble. He and his con-buddies use their skills in his investigations.

This is a howcatchem. The show starts with the villain of the week murdering. It is a mid-season replacement show that lasted till the end of the year. The big complaint seemed to have been that it is too much like another show at the time. Having an old conman is a good trope. I don't know how close these two shows are. I do have other issues. Most episodes have Harry and his group doing fake identities and conning the criminals. Having the murders revealed first allows the audience to accept the con jobs. I don't know how ethical most of this is for a lawyer since Feather is involved most of the time. I also don't think that it is good for the show to do elaborate cons for every episode. The group is too big. It would be better to concentrate on one or two best friends. On a side note, I do not like the title. The beautiful Stefanie Powers does have good charisma which she will use in a future show.

This was one of the most delightful series of that time. My then wife and I always enjoyed watching it and were shocked that it was canceled so soon. With the three alphabet networks then having a lock on our choices of entertainment, a lot of series bit the dust before getting a chance to get the kinks out and this was one of them.

One had to have watched "The Sting", which Harold Gould had been in, to really get what F And FG was about. He was the perfect con man character and she was the perfect brains to keep him on the straight and narrow to accomplish the mission. Maybe they needed better writing and direction or maybe it should have been in a rotating series setup like Colombo, McCloud, and McMillan and Wife where a good story could be done in two hours. It would work today since there are so many networks where it would be picked up and given time to develop. Maybe someone with one of the cable networks will give it a try. It worked well with Leverage. Both of these shows ended too soon. Rest in peace, Mr. Gould.