NBC is updating the early ’80s drama Hart To Hart, about a wealthy couple who solve crimes while mingling with the upper crust. This time around, the show has a setup unthinkable when the original debuted in 1979: the lead couple is gay.
Instead of being married to Jennifer Hart (Stefanie Powers), Jonathan Hart (Robert Wagner, in the original) marries Dan Hartman (see what they did there?), and like the original couple, tries to balance their relationship with solving murders, blackmail, and the occasional bit of espionage. Another less obvious, but significant change: The new couple are a lawyer and a private detective, so solving crimes is actually their job, as opposed to the original Harts, who just happened to stumble onto one dead body after another while jet-setting around the world.
The original was created for Aaron Spelling by longtime James Bond screenwriter Tom Mankiewicz, ran for five seasons, and was revived in the ’90s as a series of TV movies. The new series comes from writer/producer Carol Mendelsohn, who has worked on both Melrose Places and all of the CSIs. A tone somewhere between those two is just about perfect for Hart To Hart, so all Mendelsohn has to do now is cast a good gravelly-voiced butler.
[h/t Deadline]