"Dead Heat" is an episode from "Barnaby Jones" that seems much more likely to actually happen than most of the murders on the show. That being said, there also are a couple cases of overacting that make this show less effective than it should have been.
Ray Dixon (Pat Hingle) is the ultimate sports dad. His son is an Olympic-level swimmer and EVERYTHING Ray does, thinks or says is dedicated to making his son a champion. He is such an overbearing sports dad that he even goes MUCH further...switching amphetamines with another swimmer's usual prescription pills. Ray hopes to get the swimmer disqualified for drug abuse but his actions are MUCH darker when this rival swimmer dies from an adverse reaction to the pills! Now you'd THINK Ray would back off and be horrified by his actions. Instead, he doubles down...and even kills again....all in the name of making his son #1.
There are a few problems with this otherwise clever script idea. First, the scene with Ray and his girlfriend when they argue seems WAY overdone and overacted...almost embarrassingly so. Second, at the end, there's not a lot of evidence that Ray killed anyone...and when confronted he quickly admits it and tries to kill Barnaby! Again, this isn't handled well. It's a shame, though, as this is a very timely show today...with the Olympics only a week away AND the huge endorsement money athletes are now allowed to earn (back in 1976, it was all forbidden). Worth seeing despite its faults.
Ray Dixon (Pat Hingle) is the ultimate sports dad. His son is an Olympic-level swimmer and EVERYTHING Ray does, thinks or says is dedicated to making his son a champion. He is such an overbearing sports dad that he even goes MUCH further...switching amphetamines with another swimmer's usual prescription pills. Ray hopes to get the swimmer disqualified for drug abuse but his actions are MUCH darker when this rival swimmer dies from an adverse reaction to the pills! Now you'd THINK Ray would back off and be horrified by his actions. Instead, he doubles down...and even kills again....all in the name of making his son #1.
There are a few problems with this otherwise clever script idea. First, the scene with Ray and his girlfriend when they argue seems WAY overdone and overacted...almost embarrassingly so. Second, at the end, there's not a lot of evidence that Ray killed anyone...and when confronted he quickly admits it and tries to kill Barnaby! Again, this isn't handled well. It's a shame, though, as this is a very timely show today...with the Olympics only a week away AND the huge endorsement money athletes are now allowed to earn (back in 1976, it was all forbidden). Worth seeing despite its faults.
