Thanks for the memories!

Funny, strange, confrontational and subversive, this is one of the most interesting experiences you'll have at the cinema this year.

If you like to be scared, if you like to laugh, and if you like to learn a thing or two at the movies, this absolutely cannot be missed.

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

First off, Simon & Simon was on CBS for 8 seasons (1981-1989), not 7 as the original reviewer noted. I loved this show because it was based on my favorite city - San Diego, California. The first season was shot in San Diego along with some scenes filmed in Mexico. After that most episodes were shot in Los Angeles with B-roll footage of San Diego mixed in to save on production costs. There was also a made for TV movie called Simon & Simon - In Trouble Again that aired on CBS in 1995. Re-runs of the show are currently aired on COZI-TV, or you can stream them on Amazon.com. And all eight seasons are available on DVD.

Simon & Simon was a rare series in the 1980s. While crime dramas have risen in popularity over the last thirty years, this series was both entertaining and enlightening without being violent or murderous. For the first season, the Simon brothers are San Diego private detectives. They are more involved in kidnapping, robbery, burglary, etc. There is some mild violence but nothing serious. Gerard McRaney and Jameson Parker are believable as brothers. Their characters are developed to be solid and different. The series has quite quirky theme song to go along with it. Their mother is played by Mary Carver. The San Diego setting is different and ideal for cases. I never watched the series on television and believe it followed Magnum P.I. on CBS. I'm not surprised that it lasted eight seasons. This series was a smart show and I caught the first season on DVD by chance. I love the dog, Marlow, and I enjoy the humor as well. McRaney and Parker were smart performers who should have been awarded with Emmys as well.

Simon and Simon was one of my favorite TV shows, ever -- particularly of the 80's. It was funny, had plenty of action, and showed some of the REAL sides of the P.I. business; unlike the more glamorous and sexy Magnum P.I., etc. (I mean, how often did we see Magnum squirming in that Ferarri for 15 hours on a stake-out, the floor littered with coffee cups, trying to keep his eyes open just a bit longer? Or for that matter, how often did he ever collect a fee for his services?? Nothing against Magnum -- I loved that show, too. But really, how long can a guy sponge off his friends -- or a host (Robin Masters) he's never even met -- and get away with it??) Simon and Simon showed just enough of the mundane side of the investigation business to keep it believable. Particularly for those of us who worked in that career... A good balance between action and fun, and the grittier reality of real-life investigators.Rick and A.J. were such polar opposites in clever ways that provided tension between the principal characters. The variety in their styles also gave a diverse audience something to relate to, to connect with. And who can forget Tim Reid as "Downtown" Brown, trying his darnedest to comprehend the latest scrape Rick's unorthodox methods had gotten them into? This show's run coincided with my relatively brief tenure as an investigator, and it became a tongue-in-cheek "policy" that our crew would gather each Thursday evening to take a needed break from business, and take in an hour of Magnum for comic relief -- and then our hour of Simon and Simon... Our weekly "training" meeting ;-) Ah, those were the days!

The theme song to "Simon & Simon" changed after the first season. The song in the first season had a sound I can only describe as "An American in Tijuana." The replacement theme song had a snappier rhythm, more like "Zany Times in San Diego-- Er, Los Angeles." The theme music was played at the beginning and end of each episode. At the end of the final episode for the first season, some guy actually sang lyrics, which he probably had written, to the music. I don't remember the lyrics, but there was something along the lines of "'cuz they're brothers." First and only time I've ever seen that happen on a TV show. The original theme song didn't entirely vanish. It continued to be used as a lead-in between the end of the new song and the "brought to you by..." commercial intro.