on 8/22/03 1:48 PM, Kevin Burton Smith at
kvnsmith@thrillingdetective.com wrote:
<<>>
> How much influence did both series had on private
eye literature? And
> vice versa?
<<>>
I join Kevin in bemoaning the disappearance of Harry O...a
fine series, most of the time.
Certainly Rockford 'lightened' the PI genre--there wasn't a
lot of violence
(and by then Garner was too busted up to engage in that sort
of thing), there was a _lot_ of comic relief (Rocky, Angel,
et al). The whole set up was ridiculous from the
outset--felons can't get a PI license in California, so
Rockford was an impossibility, from that stand point.
I think the reading audience became conditioned to less noir
and hard-boiled detectives and hooked on the lightweight
types, both TV and lit. (And opened the door to women as
characters and authors, since the story lines didn't have to
be as violent as before.)
_Popular_ (ie, the stuff that sells) PI fiction today
generally strikes me as diluted and tentative. Take
Parker--he always has some peripheral thug to do the dirty
work and save his ass. He whines about being away from his
girl constantly. Oh please, what hard-ass PI is lonely for
Mommy all the time?
Now I know there are plenty of tough PI stories being written
(just visit The Thrilling Detective), so what I'm saying is,
naturally, a gross oversimplification. But I can think of
more examples of what I mean, should anyone feel they need
them. (Patterson's 'detective' is a freakin' shrink!)
I like my PIs reasonably realistic, tough as nails, smarter
than the bad guys, and a stand up guy (or gal.) I've known
some Op-types and I can say one thing about them all: they're
people you can rely on to do what they say. Damn few
contemporary fictional detectives measure up by today's
standards of 'tough'. (Hoo-Ahh.)
Murder She Wrote and Prescription:Murder...don't get me
started!
Miles
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