Not sure if we can say this episode is ahead of its time, or that society hasn't changed much since 1980 in matters of racial profiling. It's interesting that J. R.'s pal, a black man, is assumed to be a killer when a white woman walking a dog gets the wrong idea about him leaning over the body of a dead man.
Of course we know that J. R. will move heaven and earth to prove his friend's innocence.
The other reviewer seems to have problems with the friend in trouble trope this show's writers frequently use. But I think that is actually one of the show's strengths...that the Jones family use their careers in detection to help decent people they know. And even on cases where clients begin as strangers, they quickly become friends. That's the type of feel-good TV drama audiences wanted back then and probably still like even now. Nothing wrong with this at all.
This episode features a fun turn by beloved character actor Pat Corley (who later became a household name on Murphy Brown). And it also has a classic line delivered by Barnaby, when J. R. gets a call from his pal and pretends it's his girlfriend so Detective Biddle won't figure out who's on the other end of the line. Barnaby, who had initially answered the call, says: "That's the first Gloria I ever spoke to that sounded like he needed a shave."
Of course we know that J. R. will move heaven and earth to prove his friend's innocence.
The other reviewer seems to have problems with the friend in trouble trope this show's writers frequently use. But I think that is actually one of the show's strengths...that the Jones family use their careers in detection to help decent people they know. And even on cases where clients begin as strangers, they quickly become friends. That's the type of feel-good TV drama audiences wanted back then and probably still like even now. Nothing wrong with this at all.
This episode features a fun turn by beloved character actor Pat Corley (who later became a household name on Murphy Brown). And it also has a classic line delivered by Barnaby, when J. R. gets a call from his pal and pretends it's his girlfriend so Detective Biddle won't figure out who's on the other end of the line. Barnaby, who had initially answered the call, says: "That's the first Gloria I ever spoke to that sounded like he needed a shave."