A.J.'s bad-news, insurance agent ex Whittaker (Erin Gray) is in trouble and comes to visit him at his private investigation office. Rick (Gerald McCraney), A.J.'s brother and partner isn't thrilled to see her either because she hired them for a case and it almost got them killed. A.J. (Jameson Parker) still has feelings for her though he tries to hide it. Both are so cold in their dealings with her they refer to her by her last name.
She has a potentially lucrative case for them and offers a $25,000 bonus - something that would make up for a lot of the hurt she has caused. They know she is a payer because the last case they worked on for her, though dangerous, got them out of hock. The deep-pocketed insurance company she works for is investigating the theft of a massive art collection.
The lead A.J. and Rick work on is finding out where the thieves are getting their own leads. They trace it to a very exclusive computer dating service for upper income singles. Noting quickly that it could be the service or any one of the clients casing wealthy targets to set up for robbery, A.J. goes undercover and dates attractive single women - the best kind of therapy for getting over Whittaker.
Vicki Whittaker is an excellent contrast for Janet Fowler (Jeannie Wilson) - Rick and A.J.'s doting friend and occasional love interest. Janet gives and gives. Whittaker goes to them when she needs something and does so especially when it is dangerous. She puts herself and just about every other person on earth ahead of the Simon brothers even while working with them. She even tries to rekindle her romance with A.J. who is understandably not at all amused.
Not sure what the inspiration was for this episode other than somebody really getting burned by their insurance company. Whittaker, though not quite a femme fatale in the way film noir defines the term, personifies both callous self-interest and incompetence. By the end of the episode we even find out she is in to bondage.
Notes:
Features Dennis Haskins in a small role. Haskins was a concert promoter and manager of musicians like Duane Allman and Tom Jones before he tried acting. His casting came a few episodes after "The Hottest Ticket In Town" Season 1, Episode 7, which was about the concert of a visiting rock musician. He is not listed on that as a consultant but they weren't always credited back then. He might've parlayed that in to a small role in this episode. It would've made more sense to cast him in the earlier episode though.
Episode features the avant garde modern artwork of painter Marlowe Simon.
She has a potentially lucrative case for them and offers a $25,000 bonus - something that would make up for a lot of the hurt she has caused. They know she is a payer because the last case they worked on for her, though dangerous, got them out of hock. The deep-pocketed insurance company she works for is investigating the theft of a massive art collection.
The lead A.J. and Rick work on is finding out where the thieves are getting their own leads. They trace it to a very exclusive computer dating service for upper income singles. Noting quickly that it could be the service or any one of the clients casing wealthy targets to set up for robbery, A.J. goes undercover and dates attractive single women - the best kind of therapy for getting over Whittaker.
Vicki Whittaker is an excellent contrast for Janet Fowler (Jeannie Wilson) - Rick and A.J.'s doting friend and occasional love interest. Janet gives and gives. Whittaker goes to them when she needs something and does so especially when it is dangerous. She puts herself and just about every other person on earth ahead of the Simon brothers even while working with them. She even tries to rekindle her romance with A.J. who is understandably not at all amused.
Not sure what the inspiration was for this episode other than somebody really getting burned by their insurance company. Whittaker, though not quite a femme fatale in the way film noir defines the term, personifies both callous self-interest and incompetence. By the end of the episode we even find out she is in to bondage.
Notes:
Features Dennis Haskins in a small role. Haskins was a concert promoter and manager of musicians like Duane Allman and Tom Jones before he tried acting. His casting came a few episodes after "The Hottest Ticket In Town" Season 1, Episode 7, which was about the concert of a visiting rock musician. He is not listed on that as a consultant but they weren't always credited back then. He might've parlayed that in to a small role in this episode. It would've made more sense to cast him in the earlier episode though.
Episode features the avant garde modern artwork of painter Marlowe Simon.