SUMMARY: RUNNING TIME: Approx. 45:00 Min.
Reviving his 1963-66 TV series, star Gene Barry appeared in twenty-seven new episodes over two seasons in 1994-95. During the opening credits, each episode’s glitzy roster of guest stars appears Love Boat-style off the grill of Burke’s chauffeured Bentley. Directed by Walter Grauman, CBS first broadcast this second-season installment on July 20, 1995.
Feuding with several clients, opportunistic psychiatrist Dr. Alex Kenyon departs a group therapy session to catch a flight to Las Vegas. Lured to a downtown rooftop by a suicide distress call, Kenyon quickly takes a ten-story plunge to his death. Deducing Kenyon’s demise wasn’t self-inflicted, LAPD Chief of Detectives Amos Burke and his son, Peter, probe the doctor’s clients. It seems that Kenyon had sunk his unethical hooks into many of them, so somebody sought fatal payback.
Is the killer: an agoraphobic travel agent? — a glamorous movie star afflicted by a multiple-personality disorder? — an insecure fitness tycoon? — a mystery novelist with an peculiar case of writer’s block? — or possibly a chilly defense attorney, who wields deceit like a weapon? Burke’s team has its work cut out for them, as Kenyon isn’t the last victim. Meanwhile, Amos’ friend, Vinny Piatte, offers to help Henry curb his weight problem with amateur hypnosis.
LAPD Chief of Detectives Amos Burke: Gene Barry
LAPD Detective Peter Burke: Peter Barton
LAPD forensics lab technician Lily Morgan: Bever-Leigh Banfield
Henry: Dany Kamekona
Vinny Piatte: Dom DeLuise
Jessica Wallace: Marla Gibbs
Burt Douglas: Jake Steinfeld
Ingrid Rose: Hunter Tylo
Patrick Noyes: Gary Burghoff
Carla Martinet: Paula Prentiss
Dr. Alex Kenyon: Jeff Conaway
Secretary: Teresa Ganzel
Marinet’s Client: Pamela Berrard
Bank Manager: David Bickford
Ramon: Mark Robertson
REVIEW:
From Aaron Spelling’s production factory, there’s no pretenses involved. Working off formulaic whodunnit schlock for plots, Burke’s Law’s watchability relies upon its all-star guest casts, regardless of how lazy their paycheck acting is. There’s no mistaking that Burke’s Law is pure TV sleuthing escapism amongst L.A.’s rich-and-famous and nothing more. Even Diagnosis: Murder plays more realistic than this TV cop show equivalent of The Love Boat.
Aside from the usual glut of corny Burke’s Law one-liners, this episode provides a fair amount of intentional chuckles. The only caveat may be that actor Dany Kamekona’s ‘martial arts’ moves play into racial stereotypes. More so, the scripting for “Headshrinker” short-changes its acting talent by dubiously spoofing real-life mental illness.
For instance, a reliable Marla Gibbs is woefully unconvincing as a struggling novelist, whose writing desk is kept inside a bank vault to somehow spark self-motivation. Other actors fare slightly better — that is, with the exception of Hunter Tylo. Suffice to say, Tylo’s vampy effort channeling multiple personalities is embarrassingly bad for all involved. As for the finale’s ‘big reveal,’ a decent idea deteriorates into an utterly implausible rip-off of Agatha Christie.
When compared to Murder, She Wrote, Matlock, and Diagnosis: Murder, the hammy Burke’s Law lands a distant fourth-place. Regrettably, “Headshrinker” reiterates why star power alone can’t overcome a weak TV whodunnit.
BRIAN’S ODD MOON RATING: 3 Stars
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