The Red Circle

Eddie: Hey I’m Eddie. How d’you like me so far?

Long Good Friday – Keen Eddie (2003)

By Ryan Brlecic

First up, Keen Eddie

Created by J.H. Wyman in the early part of the decade, the show was the tale of a New York cop stuck in London solving crimes as a fish out of water. Unabashedly influenced by the films of pre-Madonna Guy Ritchie (i.e. the good ones, okay Rock’n'Rolla was a step towards a return to form, but I digress) and seemingly further influenced by the 80s British series Dempsey & Makepeace. The show was held together by great writing and an amazing ensemble cast, lead by the completely underrated Mark Valley. More often then not, episodes were stolen by side exploits of Julian Rhind-Tutt as Inspector Monty Pippin. To top it off, any show worth a damn has learned you need Colin Salmon to be an authority figure. Cast here as the ever present Superintendent Nathaniel Johnson (often foil to Valley’s Eddie Arlette), he delivers in spades.

From the pilot on you find yourself getting sucked into Eddie’s exploits, often accompanied by the perfectly chosen soundtrack music by Orbital. The show gave you everything that you had seen before and yet somehow made you love it anew. The character of Eddie was comprised of equal parts Magnum P.I., Hunter and “Faceman” Peck. He had a gruff, but loveable dog straight out of Turner and Hooch and K-9. His partner was annoying, insane, and the perfect comedic accompaniment. His boss was sternly disapproving, but able to capitalize on Eddie’s unpolished methods. And you even had shades of Three’s Company between Valley and Sienna Miller (at the time a nobody, now…well she’s older) as his straight from university live in tart. Everything about Keen Eddie was cliche, but that was the point. The delivery was infectious and the dialogue perfectly in step and defined each character.

As with so many other good shows Keen Eddie unfortunately found itself on FOX, which meant that it would be cancelled (see also Firefly, Profit, and Arrested Development). Meant as a mid-season replacement, it was given a botched launch in the summer of 2003. To their credit, they tried to shuffle the show around to a better time-slot, but the World Series and the abysmal lead-in of American Juniors (Editors Note: Go ahead, I dare you to remember it) made the show hard to find. Keen Eddie died after a re-run of all the episodes on Bravo. J.H. Wyman and literally most of the crew responsible for Keen Eddie have since moved onto Fringe and made it to a second season. Mark Valley although initially on Fringe (he’s been killed off, spoilers), learned from past mistakes and this time around married his hot blonde co-star.

Netflix it. Buy it. Steal it. You will watch it and then re-watch it.

Choice Words:
[Asking about Superintendent Johnson]
Eddie Arlette: Is he gay?
Monty Pippin: No, just going places.

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