Highly Overrated But Still Good

Fresh and Exciting

This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

I feel that I should mention first of all that apart from watching the movie-length pilot for this series recently, I never got the chance to watch the regular show, being much too young when it was first broadcast and the fact that Paramount seems to have permanently shelved the actual series. While I do think that the production was more than inspired by the TV show "Ironside" - another show about an investigator who was handicapped - from what I saw there was some promise. In this pilot, the scenes showing the title protagonist investigating are very interesting, and show that someone investigating without the use of sight could have lead to some very interesting investigation. However, since what I saw was a pilot, there is far more stuff involving the hero learning how to cope without sight, and this leads the actual investigation to be very little of the movie. Worst of all, the hero is never given the opportunity to confront the criminals that made him blind - their trackdown and arrest happen offscreen! I'm sure that the subsequent series didn't have these problems, so I would have given the show a chance had I been around to - ahem - see it.

From the 1960s and 70s, there were numerous detective series where the lead character had a unique characteristic: wheelchair-bound Ironside, trench coat-wearing Columbo, senior citizen Barnaby Jones, etc. In the case of the watchable series "Longstreet", James Franciscus played the New Orleans-based insurance agent whose was blinded by an explosion that killed his wife and is determined to continue investigating cases despite his affliction.The priorities "Longstreet" developer/executive producer Stirling Silliphant had were similar to his earlier shows ("Route 66" and "Naked City", in which Franciscus appeared in the first season): character studies over plot. This is not to say that the show's plots were uninteresting. Franciscus' compelling performance kept my interest, as well as support from Marlyn Mason as assistant Nikki and Peter Mark Richman as Duke.Most martial arts fans remember the series less for Franciscus and more for Bruce Lee, who played Li Tsung, Longstreet's Jeet Kune Do instructor for just four episodes. Lee made such a strong impression, it's a shame that the producers/writers were unable to incorporate Lee in more episodes. At the same time, if Lee were made a regular, he may have not signed on for "Enter the Dragon" in his tragically short film career."Longstreet" was an early success in the show's only season on ABC. Unfortunately, it was overshadowed in mid-season when NBC's "Ironside" moved into the same time slot. ABC canceled "Longstreet" at the last possible moment despite having better ratings than a number of ABC shows.There are many short-lived series like "Longstreet" that deserve to be rediscovered. I hope CBS/Paramount will consider releasing the series from their large vaults to DVD and web streaming.

I enjoyed Longstreet, which followed in the steps of Raymond Burr's successful Ironside TV series and was intended to give it competition. But this show was canceled after one season because it was decided--I believe wrongly--that Longstreet was not able to compete with Mr. Burr's Ironside.I may add that the pilot for this show was especially well done and very memorable. I hope that a box set of Longstreet will appear.Writers should note that this story idea was only briefly explored here and that much more could and should be done to show the play and interplay of disabilities on TV.

Longstreet was only on the air for one season. In my memory it stands out as a truly great series despite the fact it was short-lived, as sometimes happens with television. The premise was intriguing: a blind detective. The part of Mike Longstreet was wonderfully portrayed by James Franciscus, well remembered for his run in the earlier hit series, Mr Novak. Unfortunately, Longstreet did not catch on in the same way. Franciscus was perfectly believable as a blind person. He was the right person to carry off this part: handsome, smart and charming. The stories were interesting and intelligent with strong acting in the supporting character parts. Hopefully a DVD set of Longstreet will come out in this age when old and recent television series are being made available on the latest technology.