TV on DVD

Highfalutin husband, wife play sleuths in Hart to Hart

Hart to Hart, complete series
Hart to Hart, complete series

What is it? Hart to Hart, complete series, 111 episodes on 29 discs from Shout! Factory

When? Tuesday

How much? $159.99

Shouldn't that be "Heart to Heart"? Not in this case. The title refers to Jonathan and Jennifer Hart (Robert Wagner and Stefanie Powers), a happily married, mega-wealthy couple with a knack for running into trouble.

Jonathan is a self-made millionaire businessman and Jennifer is a writer but their hobby is crime. Whether they're traveling the globe or staying right at home in Los Angeles, they have a tendency to stumble across some sort of dangerous new adventure: busting up a spy ring, foiling an assassination, solving your average murder.

Wherever they go, they usually have the help of their devoted butler/cook/chauffeur Max (Lionel Stander) and their lovable mutt, Freeway.

What's it like? Harmless, lighthearted fun that is reminiscent of classic movies like The Thin Man.

From the very late 1970s through the '80s, series featuring a male-female team of crime fighters were de rigueur on TV: Scarecrow and Mrs. King, Remington Steele, Moonlighting, Hunter. Hart to Hart, which started in 1979, was an early version of the formula.

Since the Harts are happily married, there isn't any unresolved tension or "will they, won't they" back and forth that played a big part in some of the other series.

There also isn't any grittiness here. The Harts are sophisticated, glamorous members of the jet set and the plots and settings reflect that. Of course, it's ridiculous that Jonathan and Jennifer stumble across murder and mayhem at every turn, like something as simple as Jonathan's birthday gift for Jennifer or a trip to the opera landing them in the middle of deadly adventures. But this isn't the type of show where you're supposed to spend much time dwelling on those things.

And just because the Harts are super-rich doesn't mean they're unrelatable. They're both very charming and down-to-earth and their relationship is relaxed, fun and believable.

Fans of easy-going, "cozy" 1980s mysteries would find a gold mine here.

Are there any bonus features? There's a commentary track with Wagner, Powers and writer/director Tom Mankiewicz for the first episode. Those three plus creator Sidney Sheldon and producer Leonard Goldberg also share stories of the series' creation and filming in a 23-minute featurette.

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Style on 05/28/2017

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