Largo -- did you just feel like you had to choose between them? Because they were both on NBC, right?

did you just feel like you had to choose between them? Because they were both on NBC, right?

Right (though, "Hill Street" was on opposite "Knots Landing," and that was the show I would drop everything for back in the day). I just looked forward more to "Elsewhere" when TVLand acquired the MTM library, b/c, it was all good and soap-like.

ETA: I know it seems odd for a second- or third-grader (circa 1986-87) to be all "tied up in KNOTS," so to speak, but it's the truth. I swear it. I can't say I was a Doogie Howser, or anything, but back then, I had zero patience for alot of shows you'd think a kid my age would've enjoyed. (I think alot of it had to do w/ having only one sibling who was nine years older than I, and whom I wanted to show I wasn't just some annoying tag-along.) When other kids were watching cartoons and Miller-Boyett sitcoms, I was watching the NBC Thursday night lineup (or whatever).

Unfortunately, neither "Hill Street Blues," nor "St. Elsewhere," is out on DVD at the moment. But, "The White Shadow," another, underrated drama series from MTM, will be, next month; so, you know, "hope springs eternal," and all that.

"The White Shadow"

I loved this show! I had such a crush on Ken Howard.

Another show I'm praying will come to DVD: "The Rockford Files." I discovered it when I was living in L.A. (thanks, KDOC), and from the first wise Jim Rockford cracked, I was in love (w/ the show, not w/ the Garner). If I could create a detective series in the same vein as "Rockford," believe me, I'd die happy.

I have been in love with James Garner since I was a little little girl. I loved Maverick and The Rockford Files.

I have been in love with James Garner since I was a little little girl.

Oh yeah. I still think he looks amazingly sexy in the opening credits. That grin! Swoon. And Rockford definitely had one of the best theme songs ever.

Johnson points out that Hill Street Blues was one of the first shows that combined the complexity of multithreaded over multiple episodes and seasons storytelling with complex social issues.

I'm psyched that they've started putting COLUMBO out on DVD. I LOVED the structure of the show - watch the celebrity guest star (Johnny Cash was on it once!) killer set up the "perfect" murder, then watch Columbo unravel it step by step.

The Moon is a Harsh Mistress

I will continue to nag on this topic until I get a clear answer.

Gus, from the ending of the third part of the interview with Tim that Allyson posted some time ago:

iF MAGAZINE: What’s next for you?

MINEAR: I’m doing another pass at MOON IS A HARSH MISTRESS [an adaptation of the Robert Heinlein sci-fi novel]. It’s for producers David Hayman and Mike Medavoy. I did a pass of that last year, turned it in and they had some notes and they came to me this year and we talked about what the next pass would be. They were giving me their notes and what they were saying, “maybe you can do this, or do that,” and in my infinite wisdom said, “I have an idea, why don’t I do a whole new version. Why don’t I throw this out and start over.” They were like “you would do that?” And I’m like “yeah,” so that’s what I’m getting ready to do now.

iF MAGAZINE: Is it hard to adapt Heinlein?

MINEAR: Yes. Maybe HAVE SPACESUIT AND TRAVEL, which is really about that one guy, maybe that would be easier, but this is about a revolution. It’s big and it has a lot of really complex political ideas. It’s hard in that respect. How do you personalize this? There’s a lot of talking in the book – theoretical talking about Libertarian ideals and political structure and that sort of thing – how do you take that and make it immediate and dramatic and emotional? How do you say that stuff through scenes and action, as opposed to characters sitting around and having a conversation? That’s difficult. The other thing that is difficult is that there is also a certain amount of psychological pressure that I am trying to remove from myself when you’re adapting something like Heinlein. This book is so important to so many people and you don’t want to f*ck it up. So there’s that. You want to keep true to spirit of it, and you want to take this enormously long book, that takes place over a long period of time and try to do a version of it that will play for two hours on a movie screen. The other thing is to make sure the powers that be in Hollywood don’t force you to turn it into some Marxist screed on socialism, when Heinlein was a Libertarian and it’s about free-market capitalism. You want to try and not make it about an evil corporation. That’s the trick.

iF MAGAZINE: It’s just in the script-stage? No official greenlight yet?

MINEAR: Exactly. What they want to do is take it out to big name directors and they’ve named a couple of directors and it would be awesome if that happened. The people who optioned this book – Mike Medavoy and David Hayman – optioned it because they liked the book and the ideas are inspiring particularly the idea of retelling the American Revolution from this sci-fi point of view.