Shark Bytes

Banacek was a great show. Too bad that their were not more episodes to watch. The rotation of those NBC mystery movies were great. I can't remember them all, but from what I can recall their was: Banacek, McCloud, Columbo, McMillan and Wife.
The one show that Peppard starred in that I did not like was the A-Team. That show was far too cartoonish for me. All of those explosions and no one gets killed?

Jumped day one! Peppard needed all sorts of "effects" to be cool in this show and his non-acting just didn't cut it. And what was with that hair? I do believe that he was the very first client of the "Flowbee". And didn't he like to poke those little brown cigars into his smarmy mug and "emote"? I think he may have farting. At least when he got older and fatter, he showed some of his acting chops in "The A-Team", even though that show was, well, frankly, retarded.

There were two things Peppard did that were decent... "The Blue Max" and that Sam Sheppard TV movie in which he played the murderer-oh wait-he's not, but maybe he did, but we'll never know, physician Dr. Sam Sheppard. Real oily and trashy... it was all Peppard.

Banacek just couldn't compete with the other "name" P.I.'s and cops of the era, "Columbo", "McMillen", "McCloud" -no wait, McCloud was stupid and a twerp and often stepped in horse poopy and called it roses, forget him, and most of all, the true God of 70's PI's, "Rockford". We'll put Banacek into the "Petrocelli" category and call it a day.

The switched football jersey was the episode that got me jooked as well. I thought it was way cool. Of course, I was 12 at the time it aired. Still, Peppard was too cool--kinda like Mick Jagger or Slim Whitman.

As I said earlier,"Banacek"jumped the shark,when in second season(,for only a few episodes thank goodness,which I mentioned in my other post,)when they added the "Callie Kirkland"character.She was attractive, yes.But she was a hypocrite-one minute defending Banacek in front of her boss in "The Three Million Dollar Piracy"-caring about him in "Rocket to Oblivion",-and the next belittling him in "The Three Million Dollar Piracy",and calling him a "professional incompetent"in "No Stone Unturned".As I said,the ones WITHOUT her were FAR better.

The football player switch as a jump the shark moment for Banacek! Are you crazy? "Let's Hear It For A Living Legend" was the best episode in the entire series! The solution of a football player disappearing in front of a sold out stadium and a national television was simple but so ingenious! This episode is what got me hook on Banacek in the first place!

If there was a jump the shark moment for Banacek it was definitely the last episode aired about the magician disappearing. It was obvious that it was the same actor playing the magician and the theatre manager. I had that one figured out 20 minutes into the episode.

On the vanishing freight car, the only way to keep the pressure right would be to install air compressors on the air lines that are synchronized via radio signals. This was not part of the plot, unfortunately.

Call it "Ban A Check, But Accept Cash."

It was not a bad show. The real issue I had with it is that every episode was the same. Just a different object was missing. They didn't expose much of anything until the very end of the show, when all of a sudden, Mr. Banacek explains the whole thing. All the episodes were like this. It really got dull when that is all the episodes consisted of.

"Banacek"jumped the shark with the addition of the "Callie Kirkland "Character.The best ones were from first season,and the last three episodes"Horse of A Slightly Different Color","Fly Me-If You Can Find Me"and the last episode "Now You See Me==Now You Don't",all 3 of which did NOT feature the Callie Kirkland character,when Banacek worked alone.The ones that DID feature Callie Kirkland,"No Stone Unturned","If Max is so smart.why doesn't he tell us where he is"."The Three Million Dollar Piracy","The Vanisging Chalice "and "Rocket to Oblivion",were entertaining,but not as good as the ones WITHOUT Miss Kirkland.

I don't think this show ever jumped.Two words-Murray Matheson.He played Banacek's friend,Felix Mulholland.Felix was extremely intelligent and charming (okay,yes,I had a crush).I would have tuned in to watch Felix read the Yellow Pages.It's a shame I can't find anything else that Murray Matheson was in.

I think the Wednesday line up had Madigan, a cop show with tough-guy Richard Widmark; and A Cool Million, with James Farentino. Despite the above-stated allegations that Peppard's acting style was the same in the "A-Team," I disagree. Peppard was cool as a cucumber as Banaceck; and gung-ho and emotional in "A-Team." I think of "Banaceck" as a melodramatic Penn & Teller show; here's the trick,now here's how it was done. A refreshingly different perspective than what Columbo gave you.

I don't think it jumped. It DID have a bad episode or 2. So did M*A*S*H. So have a lot of top tier shows. In Banacek, I have to agree the football player disappearance ep was REALLY lame. I wouldn't be surprised if that was the last ep. I also agree that the sleight of hand, switcheroo and it's not really there formula may get old if you watch too many shows in too short of a time span. But Banacek (or Bananachek as he was once called) was originally part of a 2nd batch of NBC Mystery Movies that were thrown together to try to match the popularity of the 1st batch. The Sunday rotation was Columbo, Mac Millan and Wife (later just Mac Millan when Susan St James decided to not be Wife anymore) and Mc Cloud (later added Hec Ramsey). The Wednesday rotation with Banacek also included the Snoop Sisters and other less memorable shows. The whole Wednesday MM was scrapped after 2 years of subpar ratings. Anyway, as previously mentioned, Banacek was only meant to be seen once every 3-4 weeks. But generally, I felt entertained. And that's the point. It is easy to nitpick when you something that most people don't (Train Dude). I know, I am in the airline industry and it always cracks me up how poorly TV scripts show the realities of airline business, especially sitcoms. LAX was supposed to be about a real airport. Hmmmph. No one did their homework there, but I digress. Banacek was decent entertainment. Try to look at that way.

Banacek jump the shark? No way! He's the one who got the shark back after someone (Ted McGinley?) stole it out of a super-secure fish tank under the noses of a crack security team. The "locked room" formula got old after a while, but it was always fun watching the Polish Prince put the pieces together (with the able assistance of his pal Felix) and then lay it all out for the bumbling insurance company guys.

"Banacek" is a terrific show for a lazy Sunday afternoon. The plotlines for each episode are so ludicrous that they're just plain silly. But they are always loads of fun. George Peppard is wonderful as Thomas Banacek. And what a total jerk Banacek is! Totally arrogant, completely pompous, incredibly full of himself. He treats everyone around him as an inferior (but they almost always are!) He bullies his closest cohorts; the old guy at the bookstore and his own chauffer. He's an utter pig when it comes to women. He treats them horribly, but yet each and every single female he encounters ends up throwing herself at him. Even the women who utterly despise him! Yes, for a pleasant weekend afternoon during which you can remove your brain from your skull and send it out for cleansing, you just can't beat "Banacek"!

BANACEK was an ultra cool 70's NBC mystery movie about an insurance investigator who really was rich enough that he didn't have to work because he rode around in a limo but did anyway. George Peppard's oily charm was a perfect match for this character and as pure escapist fare, it was watchable and never really jumped any sharks.