Hart to Hart: Season 04 (1982)

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The opening episode of Hart to Hart's fourth season demonstrates that, even when doing something as benign as purchasing a new bed, millionaire industrialist Jonathan Hart (Robert Wagner) and his journalist wife Jennifer (Stefanie Powers) will eventually find themselves neck-deep in danger, intrigue and murder. Nor does the "fun" let up in the next episode, wherein Eva Gabor guests as Jennifer's oft-married aunt, whose latest march down the aisle bids fair to be her last march anywhere. A later visit to Jennifer's old prep school not only features yet another of the Hart's old family friends who has turned murderer, but also rabbets in a clip from one of Stefanie Powers' feature-film appearances from the 1960s (hilariously passed off as a home movie of her "school play"!) And just when the Harts think that they're safe and sound in their own home, they are left at the mercy of homicidal thieves when their chauffeur-bodyguard Max (Lionel Stander) is lured away under false pretenses. As in past seasons, several guest stars show up to join in the merry mayhem. A new spin on the old grand guignol chestnut "The Most Dangerous Game", in which Jonathan and Jennifer become the human prey of a demented big game hunter, features both former Hitchcock protégée Tippi Hedren but also onetime Man From UNCLE costar David McCallum (Stefanie Powers had of course been the "Girl From" that same acronymic organization). Julie Newmar, who'd once been memorably bound and gagged by Robert Wagner in an episode of his 1960s series It Takes the Thief, turns the tables as a hitwoman who holds Jonathan and Jennifer prisoner. And Amanda Blake makes a rare post-Gunsmoke appearance in a tale involving a "trick" cigar that proves anything but funny for poor Max. Season Four ends in a virtual reprise of Hart to Hart's 1979 debut episode, with Jonathan and Jennifer Hart visiting a health club that's not so healthy after all. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi