426 Vega$

First  viewed :  Winter/Spring  1980

This  was  shown  in  different  time  slots  by  the  ITV  regions  so  it's  impossible  to  track  when  I  first  caught  it. I  always  associate  it  with  Friday  nights  at  my  gran's, its  end  titles  a  cue  to  go  to  the  chip  shop  for  my  supper. Just  hearing  the  theme  music  again  makes  me  salivate  so  it's  associated  with  happy  times.

Vega$  was  a  detective  series, its  hero  a  PI and  Vietnam  vet  Dan  Tanna  played  by  Robert  Urich, one  of  the  vigilante  cops  in Magnum  Force.  He  drove  a  distinctive  red  Thunderbird   down  the  strip  or  through  the  desert and  was  assisted  by  a  couple  of  showgirls   and  a  young  guy  called  Binzer  who  usually  provided  comic  relief.  Greg  Morris  played  irascible  cop  Lt  Nelson, the  obligatory  friend  on  the  force.

Vega$'s  USP  was  the  setting  . The  pilot  episode ,  the  only  one  written  by  its  creator  Michael  Mann ,  and  first  series  featured  Tony  Curtis  as  night  club  owner  Roth  but  he  was  gradually  edged  out  of  the  picture  and  some  real-life  entertainers  were  worked  into  the  storylines  including  singer  Wayne  Newton, one  of  those  stars  whose  name  appeared  in  the  opening  titles.

Otherwise  Vega$  was  pretty  formulaic  and  a  little  vacuous  which  is  why  I'm  struggling  to  recall  specific  episodes. I  remember  a  toecurling  guest   appearance  by  naff  seventies  duo  The  Captain  and  Tennille   and  that  an  episode  where  Dan  was  on  the  trail  of  a  rapist  was  darker  in  tone  than  usual  but  that's  about  it.

The  series  ended  in  1981   partly  because  Urich  wanted  to  move  on  and  felt the  scripts  had  deteriorated. He  later  took  a  similar  role  in  another  successful  series,    Spenser :  for  Hire   which  basically  typecast  him  for  the  rest  of  his  career. He  died  of  cancer  in  2002.