The Thin Man

The main draw of this show would be for fans of the excellent movie series. However, it suffers by comparison. Peter Lawford and Phyllis Kirk at their best couldn't hope to compete with William Powell and Myrna Loy, and I'm not sure we're getting their best in this show.

To begin with, the entertaining by-play in the dialogue between the two just isn't present in the TV show. In the movies, William Powell comes across as smart, both as a detective and in his turns of phrase. Peter Lawford only comes across as smart aleck. Myrna Loy's Nora has equally clever lines in the films, but in the TV show she is simply a pretty accessory.

The decision to format the show in 30 minutes guaranteed that the mystery plots would be "thin", the characters shallow, and every other element, most often, trite. I've never been a particular fan of Peter Lawford, and this series did not repair my opinion.