You’ll be persuaded (of… um…)
My new favorite thing in the world is the 1971 TV show The Persuaders! It features an uptight English lord, Brett Sinclair (played by Roger Moore), and a happy-go-lucky New York oil magnate, Danny Wilde (played by Tony Curtis), who team up to fight crime and party. Probably not in that order. They go to a lot of discotheques. Brett even has a signature awful dance.
I was trying to pin down what exactly about the show makes it so perfectly suited to my tastes when I happened to be watching an hour-long special on Roger Moore on YouTube and he said this:
“We played [The Persuaders!] tongue-in-cheek, because I play most heroes tongue-in-cheek, because, you know, I don’t really see myself as a hero, although I play them, and so I play them as though, you know, it’s all a joke, and I think you have to make the audience feel as though, hey listen, it’s all right to laugh.”
Hey listen, it’s all right to laugh. I think that’s it right there: the show’s unselfconscious awareness of its own silliness and corresponding awareness that its silly elements are precisely what make it so incredibly satisfying to watch:
1. the protagonists’ over-the-top wealth, complete with gambling, country estates, hotels on the Riviera, flashy cars, waterskiing, and gallons and gallons of champagne (in one episode, Brett lights a cigar with a $50 bill, although to be fair the bill is counterfeit–neither of them would ever really light a cigar with money, because they love money)
2. the clothes (Danny dresses mostly in velvet suits and motorcycle jackets, and has leather driving gloves in every color of the rainbow, while Brett wears a variety of tight shirts, ascots, three-piece suits, cozy British sweaters, and striped pajamas–according to the credits, Roger Moore actually designed his costumes)
3. their truly implausible ability to banter in the face of danger (and, really, the face of everything else–this is a very banter-heavy show, and one of its chief strengths is the strong chemistry between the leads and their impressive comedic talent)
4. approximately 7 different plots that revolve around doppelgängers (in one, Brett pretends to be an actor impersonating himself), and an almost equal number in which Danny is mistaken for famous gangsters, Communist Party leaders, etc., and becomes an immediate target for assassination
5. Bond girls (I don’t even know what else to call them. Every episode is filled with attractive young women for Brett and Danny to flirt with and seduce, but I can’t be offended because these women are so clearly in it for themselves–if sex with Brett or Danny fits into their schedule as criminal/undercover detective/socialite heiress/go-go dancer/crime writer/reporter, that’s fine, and if not, that’s fine too. Sex, like everything else on The Persuaders!, is simply good fun for all parties)
6. the fight choreography (no, really, you’ve never seen so many pratfalls, leaps over furniture, surprise trampolines to show off Tony Curtis’s acrobatic skills, etc. The first time Brett and Danny meet, they get into a no-holds-barred brawl in a fancy hotel bar over whether their favorite drink should be made with one olive or two).
The show makes no distinction between laughing with it and laughing at it. It wants one thing: to make you happy. (Which isn’t to say there’s no angst– Brett in particular frequently broke my heart. But somehow that made me happy too. I don’t even know. This show is great.)
You have a limited amount of time, so why spend it reading about things that suck or are only kind of okay? Favorite thing EVER is not a review site. We're unrepentant fans, and this is the stuff we love. Hope you like gushing, because we're about to embarrass ourselves.
Aaaaaand just when I thought I might actually get my Amazon wish list down under 20 items…
Seriously, this looks awesome. Time to start saving pennies…
Yes! EVERYONE should watch this show. I know, intellectually, that there must be people in the world who don’t like it. But I can’t actually imagine watching it and not being INCREDIBLY CHARMED. I can’t figure out what that would be like.
So much charm and insouciance! And Tony must have been kind of old to be doing Tramp trix… Heh. Oh, those two, hanging out with hot girls and bathing in champagne.
Yes! Both actors were in their mid-forties, and I was extremely impressed with what good shape they were in. It’s a very physically demanding show and they both make it look effortless. (They also both look good shirtless, but that’s another story…)
Oh man! Must have this immediately!
\o/ My work here is done.
I love The Persuaders! It’s candy-colored swinging adventury bantery bliss. And: “Brett in particular frequently broke my heart”–me too! <3
Brett is heartbreaking. So many issues!