TVSquad

Welcome to TV Squad Lists (formerly 'The Five'), a feature where each blogger has a chance to list his or her own rundown of things in television that stand out from the rest, both good and bad.

OK, so yesterday I gave my list of the Five Greatest Police Detectives, and several readers gave their lists. Today I thought I'd do the other end of the invesitgation spectrum, private eyes, amateur sleuths and other investigators. This list was even hard to do. So many great characters.

1. Spenser (Robert Urich): I picked this Boston-based private eye because he seemed to be a great mix of brain and brawn. The type of guy who could go to the ratty gym and knock around some boxer and then go off to a fancy Beacon Hill cafe and have coffee with his girlfriend and talk about politics or literature. He was smart, clever, caring, a wiseass, and ridiculously moral. What else do you want in a private eye?

Now, if this was a movie site, then that headline would read "Retrocrush interviews The Karate Kid," but we deal in TV here so I'll refer to William Zabka as Robert McCall's kid.

Most of this Retrocrush interview talks about his work on the Karate Kid movies, and also goes into his work as a writer (the short film Most was nominated for an Academy Award in 2003), and that's all well and good. But how can someone do an interview with Zabka and not talk about his work on The Equalizer?

Yeah, I know, I'm probably just saying this because I'm a fan of the show and I remember him from that as much as I do the Karate Kid, but still, it should have at least been mentioned, dontcha think?

There's also a Zabka web page, and it looks to be for the entire Zabka family. His dad did the original Tonight Show theme.

[via Pop Candy]

So I'm surfing around my TV channels the other night, and I decide to see what channels my digital cable has for me in the higher numbers. I don't mean higher numbers like 80 or 100. I mean way up there, in the 800s. Channel 846, to be exact. It's NBC's Universal HD channel, and what do they show a few times every single night?

The Equalizer!

Oh,  I love this show. The intrigue, the New York City setting, the Stewart Copeland music, the whole 80s vibe. Sure, you can quibble that no one would be afraid of an older man like Robert McCall, but I believe in the character. And the supporting cast! Robert Lansing as Control, Keith Sjarabajka as Mickey (one  of the truly great characters in TV history), Mark Margolis as Jimmy, the veteran operative, Saul Rubinek as the slimy Jason. Check out the link above for the guest cast on this show. It's a who's who of future stars. The episode I'm watching right now, "Torn," has not only Melissa Joan Hart when she was a little girl, it also has Home Improvement's Patricia Richardson in a bit role.

They're making a big-screen version next year. Oh, it's going to suck.