It’s a Steal

While there’s still plenty of resistance to giving up books in favor of reading novels on computer screens or hand-held devices, the transition to watching more and more television on one’s PC or Mac seems considerably easier. Many U.S. networks have made their shows (or at least the latest episodes) available--for free--on their own Web sites, while separate streaming-video sites have begun gathering together older series for “rediscovery” by younger audiences. AOL Video’s In2TV site offers eps of Spenser: For Hire, The F.B.I., Scarecrow and Mrs. King, and Eyes. Meanwhile, Hulu--a joint venture between NBC Universal and News Corp.--is up with its own assortment of crime and mystery shows.

Included on the Hulu roster are Adam-12, Hill Street Blues, Remington Steele, The Rockford Files, Simon & Simon, and two generations of Dragnet. Classified as “dramas” instead of crime shows are Murder One, Hart to Hart, Ironside, and K-Ville. Oh, and I can’t forget to mention It Takes a Thief, the 1968-1970 series starring Robert Wagner. Dean Brierly recalls the allure of that last show in a fine essay for CinemaRetro:

As anyone among the Cinema Retro generation knows, Mundy was a world-class thief whose one mistake landed him in San Jobel Prison. The man who put him there? Noah Bain, head of a shadowy government spy agency known as the SIA. In the show’s pilot episode, Bain offered Mundy an expedient if unconventional way out: steal for the government in exchange for a full pardon. Along with the gig came a cover identity that appealed to every man’s inner hedonist: Mundy would pose as an international playboy replete with swank estate and a succession of beautiful SIA operatives to assist him. The catch was a Big Brother surveillance system inside the mansion and strict orders to keep hands off the girls. Needless to say, Mundy routinely circumvented the SIA cameras and subverted whatever scruples the ladies possessed.

When he wasn’t macking on Bain’s private reserve, Mundy kept busy pulling off a string of high wire capers in the world’s hottest jet set locations--all without breaking a sweat. Unlike the preening poseurs currently afflicting Hollywood, Wagner’s cool was organic and understated. As Alexander Mundy, he projected a breezy self-assurance untainted by arrogance or condescension, and maintained his sangfroid in the face of the most dangerous assignments Noah Bain threw his way, thanks to an unparalleled and seemingly inexhaustible skill set. Mundy could neutralize any security system, crack any safe, outwit any adversary and, not least, talk his way into the arms of just about any woman in sight. Little wonder he was the envy of every kid who came of age during the show’s original run.

So far, Hulu has 14 episodes of It Takes a Thief available, all from the first season. Sadly, those selections do not include the show’s pilot or first episode, both of which featured the eminently watchable Susan Saint James (later of McMillan & Wife). Let’s hope the site expands its offerings soon. Either that, or somebody ought to make this far-better-than-average series available on DVD.

(Hat tip to Lee Goldberg.)