SUMMARY: RUNNING TIME: 49:11 Min.
First airing on ABC-TV on January 23, 1983, Cliff Bole directed this mid-season episode off Larry Forrester’s script. The TV series’ flashy premise depicts the 30-ish, mustachioed Matt Houston (Horsley) as the son of a wealthy Texas oil tycoon. Loosely supervising his family’s vast business holdings from Los Angeles, the ruggedly suave Houston, otherwise, spends his free time as a freelance private investigator.
In this instance, per an unexpected telegram from his boss, Houston’s chief assistant, Murray (Wyner), has hurriedly prepped a posh cocktail party. The party is to be held at the Houston Building’s L.A. penthouse suite on a Sunday night.
The esteemed guests consist of a top-caliber electronics genius (Brophy); an Indian Maharaja; a wealthy British aristocratic couple (Rush & Mulhare); and a high-profile actress/racecar driver (Stevens). They are, of course, all expecting to commence lucrative business with Houston, Inc. Arriving last by helicopter, Houston and his attorney, C.J. (Hensley), are under the impression that Murray has summoned them for evening cocktails with the U.S. Vice President.
Comparing fake telegrams, Houston, C.J., Murray, and their guests quickly realize that they have been collectively duped. Worse yet, Houston’s penthouse suite has now been electronically sealed off, with all communications disabled. Even the helicopter and C.J.’s reliable computer system have been cleverly booby-trapped.
As their unknown captor taunts them with enigmatic video clues, Houston figures that someone among them must be the culprit. Evidently targeted for vengeance, one suspect after another meets sudden death. Given the ongoing hints, Houston must decipher the mystery re: what common denominator from five years ago links them all together.
Note: Late in the story, Houston recalls a past airport read that vaguely resembles Agatha Christie’s suspense novel, And Then There Were None. Still, a specific plot twist he mentions off-hand – the order of victims among which the culprit pretends to be dead – implies that Houston had merely read somebody else’s copycat version.
Meanwhile, at his young son’s First Communion party, LAPD Lt. Vince Novelli (Aprea) and Houston’s Texan buddies (Brinegar & Fimple) are increasingly concerned over Houston’s no-show. Houston thinks a worried Novelli will be his much-needed back-up plan, but it might not work out that way.
Matt Houston: Lee Horsley
C.J. Parsons: Pamela Hensley
Lt. Vince Novelli: John Aprea
Murray Chase: George Wyner (a recurring series guest star before becoming a regular cast member)
Bo: Dennis Fimple
Lamar Pettybone: Paul Brinegar
Mama Rosa Novelli: Penny Santon
Joey Novelli: R.J. Williams
Maureen (Murray’s assistant): Megan Dunphy
Pam (Murray’s assistant): Cis Rundle
Durwin Dunlap: Kevin Brophy
Clover McKenna: Stella Stevens
Lady Celeste Abercrombie: Barbara Rush
(Brigadier) Sir James Malcolm Abercrombie: Knight Rider’s Edward Mulhare
Carl (LAPD officer): Richard Pierson
Maharaja: Uncredited
Brogan: Brett Halsey
Communion party guests: Uncredited
Additional Extras (in video news clips): Uncredited.
Trivia Note: After his Robert Urich-headlining Vega$ TV series was canceled in 1981, producers Aaron Spelling & Pamela Hensley’s husband, E. Duke Vincent, opted to replace Urich’s Dan Tanna a year later with another prime-time private detective: Lee Horsley’s Matt Houston. Just like Vega$, Matt Houston ran three seasons on ABC-TV prior to its own cancellation.
REVIEW:
What had once been legitimate shock value for mystery fans forty years before is crassly reduced by Matt Houston to pure ‘shlock value.’ If one has already surmised that the ridiculous script is a hackneyed (and unacknowledged) rip-off of Agatha Christie’s iconic And Then There Were None, then this episode’s silly plot twists won’t be much of a surprise. Yet, between a young Lee Horsley’s machismo – think early 80’s Tom Selleck, Texas-style (as opposed to acting talent) and a decent ensemble cast, this middling caper isn’t all half-bad.
Its major fault is that the clichéd premise is far too contrived in its execution – pardon the expression. For instance, even the world’s greatest electronics/munitions expert (in 1983, no less) couldn’t possibly have rigged so many death trap gizmos, video displays, etc. in a mere afternoon undetected, at least, not single-handedly. Furthering such implausibility, one will be annoyed by a recurring electronic sound effect evidently recycled from 60’s-70’s cheapo sci-fi TV – supposedly, it’s the villain’s super-computer preparing for more deadly fun and games.
Second, aside from astounding luck, two of the script’s ‘homicides’ would be impossible to pull off, in terms of timing and/or accuracy. The less the said of one expendable character’s miraculous point-blank stabbing by a saber that just been discarded on the floor several feet away moments earlier the better.
A third (it’s cheap plot filler) is a laughably excessive catfight/fistfight between Stella Stevens’ and Barbara Rush’s stunt doubles. Once finally depicting the actual actresses again, their immaculate hairdos, expensive dresses, and make-up appear barely disheveled. The list of ridiculous plot holes could go on, but this mystery’s biggest wince belongs to Houston’s ultra-convenient recollection finally recognizing the players’ common link. There’s really no logic to his sudden deduction, given how often the wealthy Houston has claimed he’s baffled by their common enemy’s elusive identity.
Ultimately, the sole asset of this dubious episode is still worth consideration. In spite of such a cliché-fest posing as a script, some credit goes to an entertaining cast, who even deliver a few comedy relief gags. Viewers, in that sense, aren’t likely to fall asleep during this cheesy whodunnit. As a matter of practicality, though, the number of times one’s eyes will be rolling ought to provide sufficient exercise.
BRIAN’S ODD MOON RATING: 3 Stars
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