Tuesday 8 October 2013

One direction

You know when you hear a familiar song that you've not listened to in ages and a flood of memories suddenly spring forth from the recesses of your mind?

Well, there I was at the kitchen sink yesterday evening, washing up and listening to Planet Rock. It took a few bars and some stern staring into space for me to click that it was 'American Woman' by... oh, what were they called? Then all thoughts of the group's name were thrown aside as the tidal wave of memories gushed through my pondering mind.

This song was included on the original soundtrack cd to a television series from way back. It was compulsive viewing for the whole family and always saw us fighting for space on the sofa. Ah, heady days, indeed. When I managed to find the cd for sale on the internet, but on another continent, it was a special moment. The cherished recording finally arrived and spent much time living in the cd player, either in the lounge or in the car. In fact, long journeys and holidays weren't complete without it blaring out from the car speakers and the four of us trying to sing along as best we could.

A quick check of our cd library soon unearthed the disc in question and the mystery group were revealed as The Guess Who. No, it's not a question, they are called The Guess Who.

So what was the television series?

It ran through the mid to late nineties.

With sixty eight episodes.

It was a crime drama/comedy.

Though set in a particular city in a particular country, it was filmed in a different city in a different country.

Apart from the one episode that featured the different city, where the supposed city was used!

One of the three stars wasn't human.

This post title is a big clue. Oh come on, did you think I meant the boy band?!

Here's another clue...


A suavely-dressed Italian American?

A Husky?

A Canadian Mountie?

Yep, it's Due South!

And the odd thing...

The really odd thing...

The really, really odd thing...

about all this...

is...

that's exactly the opposite direction to the one we're going in.

8 comments:

laligalover said...

Very clever bro'

Imperfect and Tense said...

Just telling it like it is.

Thank you kindly.

Anonymous said...

As you're going in the opposite direction will you be aquiring a Defenbacker?
Or some snow shoes,
Nice one.Another great fan
Cpt.Sundial

Imperfect and Tense said...

Probably not the wolf or the footwear (unless I've seriously miscalculated the weather), but I will try to be more polite and swear less!

holdingmoments said...

Oh this brought back memories.
I used to love this show, back in the days when I had a TV. Great stuff.

Imperfect and Tense said...

It could almost be said "back in the days when there was stuff worth watching", eh?

Tales of a Bank Vole said...

Hang about callow youth, some of us remember the family gathering round the magic lantern in the 1970s to watch McCloud - A lawman from New Mexico, who with four legged friend (his oss) found himself rounding up the bad guys in New York.

This in turn was based on Coogans Bluff, where in 1968 a young Clint Eastwood played an Arizonan lawman in New York.

Clearly this modern South Direction thing was a shameless rip off of previously transported cops - but by reversing the direction of flow hoped to avoid the comparison.

In fact improbable lawpersons have been shipped up and down and around the globe since time immemorial.

Do I sense a new career opportunity for a young Tense?

Imperfect and Tense said...

It's clear to see that you haven't wasted your life in front of the tv!

I suspect those canny Canadians knew fine well what they were up to when filming Due South. They don't seem to miss an opportunity to poke fun at the good ol' US of A.