lois-lane33 Raymond Burr had just done a 1957 to 1966 stint as Perry Mason-probably the TV detective that is most known in the history of television when he embarked on this project that was to run well into the 1970's. I watched the 1968/69 season and I was surprised to see that the burgeoning US space program, and at the opposite end of the spectrum-the Vietnam War-seemed to make no appearances in any form in any of the episodes. The 68/69 season overlaps the the first time man walked on the moon as well as one of the most turbulent periods of the Vietnam War. Watching this show you would think that the US was the epitome of ordinariness-where nothing bad happened and also nothing particularly interesting ever happened either. In that way I thought the show was curiously out of step with the times it was set in which is unusual. The show would appear very dated if ran back to back with say a newer episode of Hawaii Five 0 or NCIS. For fans of the 'whodunit' genre this show will go over well. For people who demand a bit more in the way of period accuracy-keep going.

Emil Bakkum This is a very personal review, since my memories of Ironside date back from the early adolescence. At the time I simply liked the series. Still it was and is hard to identify or empathize with Robert T. Ironside. The middle-aged chief in his wheelchair is simply too brilliant. His personality appeals to your admiration, like a guru. In fact Ironside has a close resemblance to the present hero House M.D., with his stubbornness, sarcasm and cynicism, and his contempt for bureaucracy and conventions. Both have a hearth of gold (Ironside: "You don't quit a loser"). It seems odd, and in the sixties I missed the point, but Ironside and House are both sex symbols, although not in a very healthy manner. For instance the episode "Barbara who" is clearly a romance of Ironside. Now, half a century later, I assume and appreciate the irony and sarcasm in its dialogs (Ironside to Barbara: "Don't worry, we'll find him!"). Many other episodes hint at romance in a subtle way. For instance Ironside: "I'll take you up on that some time". Woman: "And bring a friend". Or nurse: "What are you doing in those clothes?" Ironside: "I could ask the same to you" Nurse: "What do you mean?" Ironside: "Raw passion". The life style of Ironside is truly bizarre. He lives and sleeps in his office, together with his black assistant. What does this mean? Ironside has two deputies, called Ed and Eve. To them their work seems like paradise. I like such puns. Of course the series stirs up suspense, but the main attraction are the moral and the ethics of the stories. A few examples: the episode "In a days work" reflects on police violence. The episode "Due process of law" promotes the rights of suspects. The episode "Trip to hashbury" stresses the importance of education. The episode "The fourteenth runner" seems to criticize the morals of the CIA. Etc. Note that the scenery is San Francisco in the late sixties, the Vietnam war escalates, and flower power blossoms. The respect for authority wanes, thank God. Its influence on the script writers is apparent. In a scene at the start of a rather violent episode Eve says to a singer: "Do you know 'Flower Children'?" The handicap and the wheelchair are also a target for puns. For instance some hippies reject police violence. Ed: "How do you think he got in this chair?" Or a guy says: "I'll break both of his legs". Ironside: "That is good enough for me". To be fair, such puns depend on the writer of the particular episode, and their quality fluctuates. There is also plain humor, for instance Ironside: "Tell the boys of the press that we expect an arrest within the next 48 hours" Detective: "Do we?" Ironside: "No, but we tell them 48 for years". Forty years ago I could not really connect to the series, and preferred the flood of competing private eye shows. But the tide has changed, and now I enjoy Ironside. The series, not the guy. The morals and the puns work for me. Don't forget to check off the "useful: yes" ballot.

sofiamusa2002 I didn't know much about Ironside, apart from my mum, explaining to me what Raymond Burr did apart from Perry Mason. So, in 1999, the BBC started to do re-runs of it, and i watched a few, and I liked it alot. Channel five showed the 1967 TV Movie, and the Priest Killer (1971, scary and a bit controversial) and it was the best i've ever seen. It blows all the other cop shows out of the water, and quincy jones's score, is addictive. the support cast, proved their worth, especially Ed and Mark, and Eve's razor sharp wit. It shows that people (the characters) who are from different backgrounds Mark, a young black ex-con, Eve's upper class background, to Ed's (i'm assuming working class catholic boy, who lost his way when his fiance died) can gel quite well, but, that was what San Francisco was like from 1967 onwards, a melting pot, of people from different backgrounds.It is worthy of a big screen remake, but they have to it justice and not go for the starsky and hutch spoof hollywood have managed to botch together. It needs a director who is a fan, rather than somebody who sees this as another remake of an old show, it's more than that. and what i can't get, is that what actually happened to the actors from Ironside, Galloway has appeared on Perry Mason a couple of times, looking 10 years older than his real age! but in comparison to him in Ironside galloway aged 30 was a catch.enough of my female observations. It's a great programme, but i think it needs to be brought to attention of a new audience, i'm 22 years old, and i think that the programmes of today are trash!!

raysond Actor Raymond Burr just couldn't relax after nine seasons as defense lawyer/super sleuth Perry Mason. So,after many years on the Tiffany network,CBS-TV,the actor switched networks this time over to the Peacock Network,NBC-TV where the majority of its programming was in living color.The show is called "Ironside" and when it premiered in the fall of 1967,it came around a time where the fight of the civil rights movement was being followed(three years after President Lyndon B. Johnson sign in into law the civil rights act in 1964),the protest of the Vietnam War,and at a time where the nation was at a crossroads with the death of two of the nation's most famous leaders were cut down at the peak of their prime(Bobby Kennedy,and Dr. Martin Luther King,Jr.)not to mention at the same time the nation's most rioting of its cities and the summer of love and so forth. This show also came about during the escalation of the Vietnam War,the fall of Watergate and ended its run with the final Presidency of Richard M. Nixon. All of this occurred during the show's run. It is also to note that this series was Raymond Burr's second successful show,after playing America's most recognizable lawyer for more than a decade. "Ironside",was a consistent ratings winner throughout the eight years that it ran on NBC-TV from its premiere episode in September of 1967 through the show's final episode of the series in April of 1975."Ironside" was the first crime drama series to show a person who had a disability but at the same time had a knack for catching the baddies and so forth and Raymond Burr was a master actor at what he did. Just like Perry Mason,Ironside also knew the law and how it was to be used and not abused. Burr's character was the chief of police of the San Francisco Police Department who was in charge of special cases along with his partners Don Galloway,Don Mitchell,and Barbara Anderson who were all police officers. If there was something going down,you know that Ironside was on the case! The show had everything and I do mean everything that included crooked officers not to mention social issues of its day and so forth. Oh yeah,the music....was composer Quincy Jones the greatest ever! Yes,the best theme score ever made! Also to note that this show had a array of guest stars to boot as well that made their appearances including one episode which featured a very successful and popular Motown singer making his acting debut. The others including a array of stars that were regulars or special guest starsone of which including veteran actors Severn Darren and Bernie Hamilton. The series also show some of the best drama and high octane drama anywhere and you'll see this in some of the episodes too. You also got the chance to see Ironside's helper Mark Sanger go for being his assistant, to private detective,to police officer,and by the final season of the series go from getting married to being a district attorney and from there district court justice of the peace.The pilot was a made for TV-Movie that premiered that same year before it became a TV series as part of NBC's Saturday Night Special. The series ran on NBC-TV from 1967-75,and after it went off the air twelve years later,the peacock network brought Burr back as Ironside in a made for TV-Movie called "The Return Of Ironside" in 1987,reuniting Raymond Burr with former cast members Don Galloway and Don Mitchell and a special guest appearance from Barbara Anderson. Recently,TV-Land brought back the reruns to this classic series and it needs to be seen for those of us who have fond memories of this show from the late 60's and part of the early 70's.