Ashes to Ashes, and None Too Soon 

When a businessman falls to his death after being served papers by Rick and A.J., his estranged widow informs the brothers they served the wrong man.

Director:

Sigmund Neufeld Jr.

Writers:

Philip DeGuere Jr. (created by) (as Philip DeGuere), Bob Shayne

Stars:

Jameson Parker, Gerald McRaney, Jeannie Wilson

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
Jameson Parker	...	A.J. Simon
Gerald McRaney	...	Rick Simon
Jeannie Wilson	...	Janet Fowler
Mary Carver	...	Cecilia Simon
Eddie Barth	...	Myron Fowler
Belinda Montgomery	...	Laura Steubens Dennison (as Belinda J. Montgomery)
Charles Robinson	...	Anthony Ross (as Charles Knox Robinson)
Vernon Weddle	...	Mr. Lazenby
Jack Riley	...	Dr. Robert P. Medlow
Alex Rocco	...	U.S. Customs Agent Hank Galante
Louise Sorel	...	Mrs. Sylvia Ross
Howard Honig	...	Max
Jourdan Fremin	...	Girl - Hotel Gift Shop
Thom Rachford	...	Michael Dennison
Joe Barrett	...	Burt

Storyline

When a businessman falls to his death after being served papers by Rick and A.J., his estranged widow informs the brothers they served the wrong man.

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Genres:

Action | Crime | Drama | Mystery

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User Reviews

The Ross/Dennison Thing

Private detectives the Simon Brothers - Rick (Gerald McCraney) and A.J. (Jameson Parker) are hard up for work as usual and delivering court summonses to make ends meet. A very suspicious acting woman (Louise Sorel) hires them to deliver one to her ex husband. She offers cash and they don't refuse it. They need the money that badly.

No sooner have they delivered the summons than the man plunges to his death. Police and media figure out the brothers were duped when they identified him by an alias. The implication the headline seemingly makes is that their mistake caused him to take his own life. They've been played perfectly. Rick is furious and frustrated enough to think about quitting detective work altogether.

But they get a surprise new client when the dead man's real ex-wife Laura (Belinda Montgomery) shows up at their office after reading about the mistake they made. They have been put in a twist and part of the mystery is seeing how elaborate the ruse was. Then there is the real cause of the man's death and a mystery player (Alex Rocco). All that comes before another elaborate plot-twist. The mystery they crafted with this teleplay swerved in a lot of intriguing directions, all of them believable and thus was one of the best episodes of season one.

For much of the debut season of the show the Simon Brothers had found their way in to mysteries via shady or flighty clients who picked them at random not knowing better established agencies in town or deliberately targeted them as being too desperate to turn down dangerous work. To me that was, and is considerably more plausible as well as more interesting than them having a stellar reputation before the early episodes. The way they are brought in to this mystery makes sense.

Their work is more dangerous because of how good they are at it. This is reflected in the man's death which is comically foreshadowed by the opening scene where A.J. pretends to be a corpse. The danger of the type of detective work the lovable Simon Brothers were doing had to be grounded in something. What better way to ground tension than seeing a man very much alive, then dead moments later?

Belinda Montgomery always made up for a lot whenever she was cast in a role. It wasn't just acting. A certain look which she had counted for a lot on camera. She was a real leading lady and made everyone around her better. It is surprising to me that she never had a film career in big budget features.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

19 January 1982 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal Television

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1