So what should I expect? I really liked LTS. But this is *new* to me too so I'm sure it will be good no matter what!

Neeney

Now, Neeney, here's the deal with "Tempered" and "License". "Tempered" was the original/first show that they shot to show the big-wigs at NBC. After they saw it and committed to the series, they wanted to see how Laura and Remington met and how our mysterious con man became Remington Steele. Hence, "License" was written and became the pilot. I believe it was actually shot six months after "Tempered".

Xenos

Neeney

Ooops, looks like I jumped the gun but I couldn't help myslef. 

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That Itchy scene sticks out not just because it's so great but that it's pretty much one of a kind with Laura so forthrightly talking about her sexual needs and desires and how she's not having sex because she wants to maiantain power and control over him, not because she's afraid she'll get in emotionally too deep.

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I think as a pilot show it would have been good but LTS was better(I think because it fits more with how the show was). The one thing that made me wonder in TS --the mission guy was a friend of Steele's but coming off LTS I didn't have the impression Steele had been in L.A. before the gems showed up (while in the limo he asked Laura what street they were on). 

It did seemed to me that there were more instances of them helping each other in polite ways--Laura's putting on her jacket he helps her, she helps him put on his tux jacket.

Little things I noticed--Steele calls Laura and says he will send his car to her apartment to get her for dinner. I would have thought he'd know she lived in a house. The wall in the hall outside the office was white in an early scene. Later it was brown with a hanging plant --someone must have thought it was too bare as a white wall. But in the opening credits I think there's a painting there? Can't remember right now.

I thought the whole brass plate thing was stupid...the only redeeming thing was the part with the waiter which signaled that there was interest on Steele's part in Laura in that he says he might not need any more brass plates.

I forgot to check the teeth thing.
 

Steele always does the hair/coat thing with Laura. He does it in several episodes. It's one of the many things that separate him from say Westfield -- she put on her coat and he didn't do the hair thing. Not a true gentleman. ;) One of the things I really like about their fight in the motel is that a) he doesn't even seem to notice she's partially undressed and in the middle of seducing some guy 2) while they fight he matter of factly helps her look for her shoe under the bed and then helps her with her clothes and her hair.

The original idea in Tempered is that Steele had been around for quite some time so he would be familiar with L.A. Even so he'd probably been there before anyhow, during the series he knew several people who were natives (counterfitters, pickpockets, traveller's aid at the bowling alley etc) and you can be somewhere before and not know all the specific geography like a native. As Tempered fits in the series as it became I gather we're supposed to think some time had passed between between the end of License and the start of Tempered (at least the weeks that Laura has been pimping him out to Nadine). But the slightly different tone and little things like Laura having an apt and Steele actually having successful sex, give it away as not completely belonging. ;-P

As for his womanizing, well we know he has a little black book and uses it. We just never see him successfully get anywhere after Nadine. :D  Until Gleason said on the commentaries that once they met Steele never was with another woman sexually I assumed he was for the first part of Season One. Still, it's obvious to me he is with Nadine and it doesn't make any sense that he wouldn't be with others when Laura instituted the all business/no pleasure dictate. We see him using it to make alternate plans in Signed, Steeled and Delivered -- calling a stewardess and flirting with her roomate when his plans fall through. There are also appearances by Felicia, Anna, Shannon -- mentions of a Countess, a Chemin de Fer dealer etc -- which show that Mr Steele was certainly not a monk -- even though he has a mastery of Tibetan massage. ;-)  In Sensitive he tells Laura he didn't know who he'd be with from day to day before he met her. So yes I do think he lead that kind of carefree lifestyle with women and relationships except for Anna -- though nothing to show that he was a calculating womanizer who doles out brass plates like we see in Tempered.

Still it's Laura who's the one who's sexually more explicit even crass in talking about their relationship. He uses the phrase "Let our passions erupt into something outrageously fulfilling" and she says "hop in the sack" and to Bernice that she's "itchy". Laura discussing her lust is refreshing and interesting but the way she describes their relationship would never have worked if it remained that way. She refers to him as "a clown" and then say she's not having sex with him to keep him interested and in line and to keep power over him. Interesting for a starter but expanded much further than that and it would be sordid and she would be nothing but a tease who had no respect for him but wanted sex she was withholding for leverage. But we see later in the episode that he's affecting her emotionally -- his speech to her in the restaurant and then his reaction to Wallace's death shows that she's smitten. 

Tid bits I haven't touched on in earlier posts: 

Steele name dropping -- he used to play with Charles before he was married -- obviously wanting Laura to think it's Prince Charles and it might be knowing him.

Interestingly Laura says he looks like a Harry which is what Daniel calls him. Harry is also the name that was on the script for LTS for his character before he became Steele. So that name was there from the start.

Fashion: 

Laura's grey suit when she comes onto the office where Steele and Meecham are shooting the bull is nice and unfussy but her fashion highlight is her off the shoulder Myrna Loy dinner party dress. Lastly, the necklace of which we shouldn't speak but it's just too hideous to ignore -- shudder.

Steele commits his own unpardonable sin of wearing a WHITE belt in the hotel scene with his brown jacket and light blue jeans. Though he actually makes it work, and the shot of him reading and lowering a copy of GQ is marvelous. Also there's the tux which always works. The huge sunglasses though do not.

I'd love to have a copy of that B&W photo that Laura has of Steele.

The camera work and lighting in this episode is top notch and very 40s and you can tell why the cinematographer Reynaldo Villalobos went on to success in films. 

I notice the Pierce has a European pallor...like he hadn't gotten any California Sun. That's a little strange to me. By the middle of Season one, he's starting to look like he's lived in Southern California for a while. I like to think that Steele is still pale after a few months in California, because he's been out catting around all night and sleeps during the daytime. 

By this point in their relationship, Steele and Laura have known each other a few months at most....Long enough for:

1. Steele to have established himself with a "staggering" array of women. Those silly name plates are starting to run into "big bucks". 

2. Laura to come up with a way to work with the flashy frontman game plan. Steele at this point only occasionally comes into the office. They rarely see him, he does his "flashy front man" act while Murphy, Laura and Bernice handle the cases. If Steele just did as he was told, things would work just fine for Laura's universe...he wouldn't be around to "tempt" her either. 

3. By this time, Steele is starting to chomp at the bit. He is bored with the "flashy front man" role and wants more. For Steele, it seems that the worse thing in life is to be BORED. I had hoped over the years that the writers would capitalize on that fact. Steele trying to keep boredom at bay, and Laura keeping him in check. 

I agree that at this point, both Laura and Steele acknowledge the attraction they have for one another. It would be impossible for Laura to run the agency, the scam of Remington Steele and control her creation while being tied to him sexually...and soon enough...emotionally. 

LOVE the "self centered" Steele, he doesn't care the Laura is working a case, or that she's in a motel room half naked. He DOES care that she's closed his checking account! What a great starting point for Pierce to build the character! This contradicts many a fanfic that describes Steele falling in love with Laura at the start. I don't see it. Oh, he's definitely attracted to her, and intrigued...but in Love? Nah. I see him falling in love with her by "Steele Belted". Unfortunately, Pierce does almost four years of great character building in Steele, only to revert back to his self-centered Tempered Steele persona in "Bonds of Steele". An excellent fanfic by Ilsa Lund starts once again with Laura half naked in a motel room...This time Steele barges in and spoils it again..but for different reasons. 

Steele dating during this time period is only natural. Laura has made it clear that theirs is a "strictly professional" relationship. What is he supposed to do with his time in the evenings? Take up needlepoint? I can't see why Laura is so peeved at him for doing what any red-blooded male would do when told to take a hike in the sexual department. Then again, perhaps she was hoping that he'd WOO her? 

What is WITH those light blue aviator glasses they put on Pierce? And that plaid jacket? Eek! Ah, Yes...The necklace that shall NOT be mentioned. Love the white Myrna Loy dress they put Laura in. Did you see that beautifully muscled back? Again, something that you don't see in the early 80's. This is pre-Jane Fonda,Olivia Newton John's "Physical". 

That CLOCK in Steele’s office. Totally clashes with the decor. 

As they were running out of the hotel it almost looked like that Laura was wearing NOTHING under that shirt. NBC had a problem with “Millicent Fairbush” but it’s okay to have Laura run around in nude panty hose and no skirt! My husband almost had a heart attack when he first saw that scene! He thought that Laura wasn't wearing ANYTHING under that shirt. I had to freeze frame and point out the pantyhose! 

A priceless Laura moment…that little nose wiggle and hop she does as she steps into the office to greet Mr. Steele and Meachum. From brilliant detective and agency head to Playboy bunny in two seconds. 

Arlen Howard was great as Meachum. Loooove all those silly football phrases. Blitzing our buns and all. 

The man who played Wallace is uncredited but phenomenal. One line and the cross on his jacket establishes his character. 

Again, excellent character exposition with a simple lunch order: Bernice is Avocado on 7 grain with alfalfa sprouts. Murphy is Corned beef and pastrami on a kaiser roll with horseradish and sauerkraut. Pepto Bismol anyone?

Can't wait to get Judith's book and see what was originally planned for this episode!

Keep up the great comments! 

DCZinger

Now onto stuff that my lame mind catches. LOL We should all be so LUCKY to have a friend like Bernice. Nuff said....

{{And to break into this, here's something that most of you probably know but I will mention anyway. Arlen Snyder "Old Meech" also played on Scarecrow and Mrs. King as Lee Stetson's uncle in a Relative Situation. Just thougt that should be said....LOL Now back to regularly scheduled RS}}

I have to agree though with what you've all said so far. I'm going to have to watch the eps much more closely or with a different mindset I guess.

Neeney

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The man who played Wallace is uncredited but phenomenal. One line and the cross on his jacket establishes his character.

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the first time I watched this episode and I saw what Laura was doing, I couldn't believe my eyes! I didnt start watching the show from the beginning i think when i came into the picture it was end of 2nd season. So I went through the whole series before I knew how they got together. 

Anyway back to this episode...in regards to the motel scene...I believe I turned to my sis and said, "This is not Laura Holt. She is not. Are you seeing, what I'm seeing?" I'm sure if my mother happened to walk in, that would have been the end of my Steele watching days. (not like that would have stopped me)

I love Laura's little controlled smile at the end and her dress is goregous! I thought the name plates were so tacty and I can't believe Nadine fell for it. I love the way he barges in the motel and completely ignores what is going one. Such a one track mind!

I remember Lou Antonio from an old classic Star Trek episode.."Let That BE Your Last Battlefeild", with Frank Gorshin, who played the Riddler on the old Batman series. 
Lou played Lokai, who was white on one side, and black on the other. Frank was the same, only the sides reversed. Only that THAT was the basis for generations of fighting over whose was the superior race. Kirk and Spock try to reason with them, but in the end, they hijack the Enterprise and make it to their home planet, where they discover everyone there has killed themselves in the fighting. 

I remember thinking it was weird seeing Lou without that white/black makeup when he did the Steele episode. 

DCZinger 

As for Nadine, her front teeth seem to be a tad pushed in at an angle but it's the cavier that makes them look really bad.

And yes Lou Antonio does a marvelous job as Wallace. It's a small role but he conveys so much ina few short lines and expressions and he and Pierce have instant chemistry as Steele and Wallace. I had no idea he was in that Trek episode though I've seen it countless times.

To me LTS and TS are two different shows. I could see either as a pilot. I could see a show evolving from the TS--if handled correctly. It would have been a game of cat and mouse. At some point it could have changed into something beyond physical attraction as both realized they loved the other. But I don't that it would have been handled that way--there would have been too much pressure to hop in the sack and be done with it.

Well, the exec's at NBC did one thing right in asking for a pilot explaining the history of Steele (with LTS). With just TS we would have been left assuming he just decided to take advantage of a free ride that he some how found out about. In LTS we still don't quite get a reason he stays but it's not just because he's a con man looking for a gig.

In TS Laura seems much more assertive yet Steele is the one getting everything going (installing the security system, polo match, dinner). If I had been the one writing a pilot show about a girl detective Laura would have been the one leading the charge. Granted she does solve the case but it does seem to be all about him.

The itchy scene--I don't know what to say--It didn't blow me away. I liked hearing Laura being open and honest. But I think since I wasn't crazy about this Steele yet (think brass plates, plaid jacket, blue sunglasses--yuck!) I couldn't quite buy into it.

My favorite quotes--"See Miss Holt. She huddles." and "My face & your figment."

I'm curious to see what my feelings are as I watch the next couple of shows. I don't know at what point in season 1 I started watching when it was on PAX.
 

I absolutely love this episode. The itchy scene is so frank and honest -- something we don't see much with Laura's character. Loved the friendship we see between Laura and Bernice -- something I wish we had seen more of. Loved the friendship between Wallace and Remington. Totally bought into it. Mostly, though, I loved the interaction between Laura and Remington. Every scene had a purpose (no fluffy filler crap), my favorite being the restaurant scene. (The lead up to it was also awesome -- R telling, not asking, telling her the limo was going to pick her up and L looking in the mirror...So telling! Kudos to Steph for that brilliant scene!) Loved the obvious attraction/sexual tension between the two. HOT! Loved that she got flustered when he was complimenting her. My favorite line (other than "itchy") was "I hate it when you're nice to me". The fact that they can "dislike" each other and yet be so obviously attracted to each other is wonderful. Like I've said before...There's a thin line between love and hate. What's also nice is that they're there for each other and seem to really care when it counts. It's a great beginning to a great relationship, IMHO.

Oh, wait, one more thing...Can Pierce and Stephanie wear PJs or what?!?! They looked incredible in their robes! (This PJ scene was second only to the one in Red Holt Steele.) 

Neeney