Hart to Hart: Season 01  (1979)

Theatrical Release Information:
Hart to Hart: Season 01

No sooner have millionaire industrialist Jonathan Hart (Robert Wagner) and his journalist wife Jennifer (Stefanie Powers) have been introduced in the feature-length pilot episode of Hart to Hart than the couple is indulging in their favorite hobby, amateur sleuthing; it's all for a good cause of course, inasmuch as the Harts are hoping to solve the murder of an old friend at a so-called health spa. One week after the pilot aired on ABC, the Hart to Hart series proper got under way with its first 22 episodes. Frequently in harm's way during this inaugural season is the glamorous Jennifer Hart, who in the official season opener is targeted for death by a person claiming to be her cousin; a few weeks later, a looney lady (Kathleen Lloyd) who has long fantasized about being Jennifer decides to eliminate the "original"; and further down the line, Jennifer unwittingly signs her own death warrant when she commissions a portrait of herself. Both Jennifer and Jonathan are neck-deep in peril on several occasions, usually when they try to get away for a bit of rest and relaxation: for example, a vacation in Mexico goes sour when the Harts find themselves fugitives from both the local constabulary and a gang of drug dealers; a skiing weekend in Vail goes downhill when Jonathan and Jennifer are marked for death by electrocution; and a luxury cruise culminates with the Harts stuck in the middle of a blood feud between two rival teams of jewel thieves! And on separate occasions, an antique auto and a Buddha statue plunge the protagonists into the world of international espionage. In other adventures, the Harts adopt clever disguises to hunt down a killer of prostitutes; Madelyn Rhue guest stars as the latest girlfriend of the Harts' crusty chauffeur Max (Lionel Stander), and like most of Max's amours she turns out to be a crook; Jonathan is forced into a "duel a mort" with a sadistic fencing champ; the couple's pet dog Freeway dashes off to parts unknown with vital murder evidence clamped between his teeth; and a psychic employee of Hart industries bids fair to send Jonathan and Jennifer to the next world a bit ahead of schedule. Somehow or other, Jonathan and Jennifer survive to appear in the season finale, which concerns a scheming playboy who literally "plays" people like chess pieces. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide