Just the Facts Mam
My wife really likes Angela Lansbury’s Murder She Wrote.
I wore myself out explaining that the vast majority of homicides are on the bad side of town and involve drug gangs.
Finally I told her “if I ever see that lady when traveling I will immediately leave that town. Some average guy, often in a suit, will die this week”.
The highest homicide rate is the south side of Chicago. And then only one or two people are killed each night. Angela Lansbury could wander the streets of south Chicago every night and never hear of or see any homicides. And certainly never find anyone who would talk to her about it. She would get robbed a lot but never see or hear of a killing.
But I loved Baretta, back when he was young and innocent looking. However his main snitch (eyes and ears) was the pimp Rooster. And pimps keep the prostitutes as sex slaves by keeping them hooked on and supplying them with drugs. In the real world Baretta was condoning and enabling the worst criminal on the block.
At least Jack Webb had the right sound. He was believable. He was honest. “Just the facts mam” will never measure up with Eastwood’s “make my day” but the early days honesty was gone. No policeman ever carried any 44 magnum in any city. Didn’t happen, that dog won’t hunt. In the real world when Eastwood shot it out with the bank robber, the sidewalk behind the bank robber would be crowded and dirty hairy would have at least injured several, and been a big embarrassment. And the criminal would not be shooting birdshot at his legs.
Not as bad as Mel Gibson’s first Lethal Weapon scene where he is chasing the bad guy spraying bullets - and holds his gun around the corner and fires several shots before looking around the corner……
Then Perry Mason was always right and the Prosecutor always had the wrong guy in jail?
So the kids learn tourist history in our schools - and we must be the bad guys because everyone else in this world is some kind of trading partner we do not want to offend, or protected minority.
Hill Street Blues was nice until it became obvious that every policeman was being scripted to be a drunk, gambler, stress disorder, or something else. After a couple of years they ran out of normal policemen. Obviously part of the Hollywood plan.
The really old crime movies were far more honest.
No wonder so many people today want to outlaw guns and embrace some kind of socialism.
