McMillan and Wife : The Complete First Season

Review by David Woodward

McMillan and Wife was one of a number of TV shows that were screened on a rotating basis as part of the NBC Mystery Movie series which started in 1971.

These other shows included Banacek and McCloud all three of which have been recently released for the first time on DVD by Madman.

Like George Peppard in Banacek, Rock Hudson was a high profile movie star who turned to TV when his movie star status was fading. Hudson luckily chose McMillan and Wife which was a lighthearted crime drama series that ultimately aired between 1971 and 1977.

The show centred on a San Francisco police commissioner, Stewart McMillan (Rock Hudson) and his wife Sally (Susan Saint James) who - although half his age - was attractive and bright, but slightly daffy.

Together, they solved robberies and murders over 72 minutes in each episode.

Regular co-stars included John Schuck as Sgt. Charles Enright and Nancy Walker as Mildred, the couple's maid.

I really enjoyed McMillan and Wife when it first aired, especially Susan Saint James who I had watched consistently in her earlier series The Name of the Game. However, with the show’s actors wearing long hair and sideburns, McMillan and Wife seems to have dated more than other TV shows of that era. 

Hudson himself had the worst taste in clothes, often wearing mismatched colours and styles!

The comical first episode "Murder by the Barrel" is a good example of the show’s key elements of success - Rock Hudson’s confidence and Susan Saint James’ kookiness. In the second episode, we learn Mrs McMillan’s maiden name. Also watch for a rare brief appearance by Yale Summers (from Daktari) as the guilty husband.

"Husbands, Wives and Killers" guest stars Cesare Danova and a blond Tyne Daly (in just one scene). The football-oriented fourth episode has an unusually big list of guest stars, including Andrew Duggan (in a surprisingly comic role) and (a long-haired) Don Stroud.

"The Face of Murder" is about a string of jewel robberies and has some good sequences, including a plane dog fight and emergency landing over Palm Springs. The next one "Till Death Do Us Part" is a fairly routine episode.

The final episode has a good guest star line-up (including Barbara McNair and Michael Ansara) and an interesting twist with Susan Saint James’ real-life pregnancy written into the story. Interestingly, this situation was never mentioned or seen again for the remainder of the series!

Like the Banacek and McCloud DVD boxsets, McMillan and Wife has been impressively packaged by Madman and is a great example of early 1970s US television drama.

DVD Special Features

This boxset includes some noteworthy special features, especially the 91-minute pilot "Once Upon A Dead Man". It sets up the relationship between McMillan and his wife as well as the San Francisco setting, especially the bike-riding sequence down the steep San Francisco streets. 

Despite Rock Hudson’s big name movie status, the pilot strangely has a focus on Susan Saint James - and she certainly impresses!

The NBC Mystery Movie Opening Titles are also included and are worth looking at as a piece of 1970s TV memorabilia.

A re-print of the original 1971 pressbook is featured too. Unfortunately, I did not find it as interesting or informative as the Viewing Notes by Grant Taylor in the other Mystery Movie releases by Madman.

There is also (what I tend to think is) a useless special feature in these sort of DVD releases – textless versions of the opening credits.

Finally, there is a Photo Gallery of publicity shots in a slideshow format.

Conclusion: Episodes 90% Extras: 75%