Gangster Story on Action Theater is Walter Matthau Classic

Walter Matthau had been batting around Hollywood as a character actor for several years when he decided that the only way to be a star was to make his own movie. The result was Gangster Story. He got his wife Carol Grace to co-star and bankrolled a spartan but very decent potboiler.
Matthau also directed the flick, which was the last time he ever tried that! Interesting to see that he saw himself as a Mike Hammer type detective. The gambit worked and Matthau made the transition from character actor to star. Time, of course, saw him as one of filmdon's finest character comediens.

The Master - The Worst Network Show Ever Made?

When NBC debuted 'The A Team' in 1983, it ushered in a TV era of crashing cars, great stunts, and no blood or death. No matter how nasty the crash or explosion, everyone - even the bad guys- we seen continuing on with the show. It also ushered in a slew of copycats. There were good ones like Starsky and Hutch. There were fawning ones like ChiPs. And then there were absolutely terrible ones like The Master. Since the early 80's was the height of the cocaine era in sports and entertainment, one can only surmise that The Master was conceived in a coke induced state of exectives, agents, and egos. So a year after the surprise success of the A Team, NBC unveiled The Master, who was basically a ninja version of George Peppard. They wheeled out a half dead aging, out of shape Lee Van Cleef to play The Master (he was soon to be completely dead, but thats another story). It was a so so bad it was...well terrible. Van Cleef could barely move and sported a paunch. His doubles were so obviously not him that you'd find yourself laughing out loud as the scenes cut from grandpa to the stuntman. Mercifully, it only lasted 13 weeks, and the entire cast receded into ingonimity. One interesting tidbit....Demi Moore as a guest star as she was starting her Hollywood career.