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Variety Review of SEARCH - Sept. 20, 1972
SEARCH, with Hugh O'Brian, Burgess Meredith,
Angel Tompkins, Maurice Evans.
Exec. Producer: Leslie Stevens
Producer: Robert H. Justman
Director: Russ Mayberry
Writer: Stevens
60 Mins., Wed. 10 p.m.
PARTICIPATING NBC-TV
The plot premise for this rotating trio of actioners sounds like a
parody of every gimmick sleuth show ever made: a private op with a
transmitter inlaid in his tooth and a receiver implanted in his ear through
which a central control monitors his operations. Incredible as it may seem,
Hugh O'Brian, who will hold forth every other week, almost made the premise
plausible in this opener.
The grand plan for the series calls for O'Brian twice a month and Tony
Franciosa and Doug McClure to star on each of the other weeks. O'Brian, as
Hugh Lockwood, will be the chance-taker, Franciosa will be the brainy
detective and McClure will be the beach bum called in when the going is rough.
Once past the extraordinary concept of Hugh O'Brian talking to boss
Burgess Meredith at h. q. through his tooth, this preemer had the earmarks of
a slick drama in the continental operative genre. O'Brian handles this sort
of lightweight scripting with a bravura style that often elevates the show
above its own material. Burgess Meredith looks appropriately dour and
omniscient as the head of mission control, and Angel Tompkins is cute as the
medical monitor emotionally involved with her subjects.
Despite the able acting of the primary crew, the intrigue of the control
gimmicks and a casually brilliant guest supporting role by Maurice Evans,
"Search" had best look for more solid scripts in the future. This one,
although cloaked in the highjinks of international bureaucrats, was based on
the tired routine of the poker game run crookedly by observers looking
through holes in the ceiling. Even before it happened in real life several
years ago, the gimmick had been done time and again in various fictive forms.
In Julie Andrews and "Cannon," "Search" is up against some heavy hitters
in its timeslot. The three principals in the series have had a lot of TV
exposure, and whether this works for or against them vis-à-vis the fresher
shows on the other webs will depend increasingly on the quality and freshness
of the teleplays. If the series, per form, has started out with what it
considers one of its brighter scripts, is is likely to be in trouble in short
order.
Mor.
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