Believe it or not, I actually watched “Remington Steele” when it was on first-run television in the 1980s. I remember a lot of the stories surrounding the show when they first broke, most notably Pierce Brosnan’s attempts to become the new James Bond.

“Remington Steele: Seasons Four & Five” contain the final 27 episodes of the cult series. On the waning side of the series, these last two years try to juggle the fully blossomed relationship between Remington Steele and Laura Holt. They provide some insight into Steele’s past and try to keep up with the mysteries from the earlier seasons.

Pierce Brosnan and Stephanie Zimbalist still have great chemistry, which is what makes these shows still work. The mysteries aren’t as strong as previous episodes, and they no longer closely mirror old movies as we have seen before.

After season four, the series was canceled. However, a letter-writing campaign by the fans along with high rerun ratings powered by James Bond rumors led the studio to extend the show for another six episodes. Of course, like some series face with an Indian summer of additional shows, the writers didn’t really know what to do.

The story of Remington Steele and Laura Holt was pretty much wrapped up at the end of season four. The Remington Steele Detective Agency had gone through almost a hundred mysteries, and the plots were getting thin. So, caught in a lurch, the series sent the couple overseas – first to Mexico and then to England – where they focused more on the relationship than the mysteries.

This was a mistake. The writing in season five went noticeably downhill at this point, often deteriorating the plots into shams of old “Three’s Company” episodes. The new character of Anthony Roselli (Jack Scalia) was introduced. He tried to break up Mr. Steele and Ms. Holt. He never quite caught on, and neither did the new format. The show suffered in its final days before disappearing off the air with the short six-episode fifth season.

This fifth season not only cost Brosnan the role of James Bond (which may not have been a bad thing since Timothy Dalton’s last film “Lisense to Kill” almost killed the franchise before Brosnan jump-started it again with “Goldeneye”). It also cost Zimbalist a role in the hit sci-fi film “Robocop.”

Sadly, after “Remington Steele,” Zimbalist never got her “Goldeneye.” While she has worked steadily for the past 20 years, she will probably always be remembered as the spunky L.A. detective who looks really hot in a fedora.

I stopped watching “Remington Steele” back in the 80s around the third season. So, with this DVD set, I have seen almost all the episodes. For fans, it’s a worthwhile buy. While these last two seasons (and particularly the final season) aren’t up to snuff compared to the rest of the show, it’s nice to see where the characters ended up. And you actually get to find out who Remington Steele’s real father was.

The DVD set includes audio commentary on select episodes as well as an assortment of “Steele featurettes.” These include spotlights on the fans, the guest stars and the locations of the show.



Specifications: Mono sound. Fullscreen (1.33:1). Spanish subtitles. English language subtitles for the hearing impaired.