Freeze Turkey!
I'm in love with Angie Dickinson and I don't care who knows it! For the past two weeks I've been watching Police Woman - Season 1 on DVD and let me just tell you all it is frickin' amazing. When I was a kid I remember thinking Angie was super cool and it didn't hurt that my favorite aunt - Nauntie Dianne as I call her - thought she looked like Angie and even had the hair to prove it! At the time Angie was doing a TV show called Cassie & Company which was basically Police Woman as a detective but I loved it and I loved her. The re-runs of Police Woman (which aired from 1974-1978) were usually on tv so I remember watching a few episodes but didn't really remember anything about them. So when I found out this was being released, I hopped onto netflix and put those suckers in my q - Little did I know what brilliance would be spurting from my DVD player.
Originally broadcast as an episode of Police Story Angie played undercover police woman Lisa Beaumant. Now Police Story was created by and overseen by a real life police officer and the show was praised for its realistic take on the world of police officers and before Angie had even finished her one off episode the suits were talking SPIN OFF!
Angie had been around for years and years having made some pretty good films - check out Big Bad Mama for some real fun! - including the original Ocean's 11 where she acted circles around that horse head Julia Roberts who played the role in the remake; anyhoos, Angie didn't want to do tv but they asked her if she wanted to be a household name and she thought that was a pretty good idea.
When she agreed to the show she made one change, she didn't like the character name and thought something spicier would be in order, apparantly what she didn't think about is that the producers let her pick the name - but it all worked out cuz Pepper Anderson came to be and I can't think of another name quite as cool for a police woman.
You may be wondering how I know all this crazy stuff - well its because Angie and her co-star Earl Holliman do commentary on tons of episodes and it is frickin' hilarious. Angie who I always thought was classy tough proves it on these commentaries - we find out so much - like she hated night shooting, she had a clause in her contract to be home by 6 pm to be with her daughter and when the producers realized they were running late they'd pull out the popcorn and beer and film a bar scene (the cops hung out in a bar) and Angie would forget all about the time. Though she couldn't drink too much beer (which she loves) because her eye lids got droopy... fascinating shizz huh?
but the most important thing is the show is really good - I thought it'd be kind of campy but not at all, full of "how much bread for the junk?" and "freeze turkey" type of things it's a flip right out of the 70s and Ang looks faboo, not to mention tough - in the very first aired episode she blows a villian away with a shotgun! I have come up with a brilliant idea to take the show and make it into a movie a la the Brady Bunch films where "undercover" Pepper Anderson still wears the crazy 70s clothes as she goes undercover in her dangerous scenes and hopes she isn't "made out" to be a cop. I think it'd be great, but until then I'm going back to watch more Police Woman (and then re-watch with commentaries) next up is episode 10 "Flowers Of Evil" where crazed lesbians who run an elderly home are killing their residents! I can't wait to hear what Angie has to say about that!
RENT IT!
posted by swivek @ 8:56 AM
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