initial differences you see S8 vs. S1

The music changed with the synthesizer added to the theme. The writing toward the end was sometimes not as strong and the humor returned near the end and was at the beginning, but was missing somewhat in the middle. The relationship of Mark with the Chief changed the most. When Mark moved out when he got married, it ended a relationship that went from hate to fierce loyalty. Those moments with just the two of them in the scene were some of the best of the series. Ed's relationship became more central in the later part of the series. The set changed when Ironside was moved into Mark's old bedroom from the beginning when Ironside slept in the office area. And of course, the pool table and barber's chair disappeared at the beginning of the fifth season. One other thing I noticed is the opening of the area where the window was located to allow the Chief access when he wanted to look out on the city to solve problems. Of course, one of the biggest changes was the change in cast between Barbara Anderson and Elizabeth Baur. Two quite different personality, but both devoted to the Chief.

One thing that struck me is that in the early episodes they mention Ed's military past a few times. The military are clearly the good guys. In one of the later seasons though there's an episode where the gang help out a group of draft-dodgers. Signs of changing times! I can't see them having done that earlier on.

Mark changes the most, growing from an angry young man to a qualified lawyer, even joining the police force to better understand the legal system - certainly not something that he would have considered back in season one! I also like the way that Ed turns more and more into Ironside mkII as he ages. They make jokes about it here and there, and it seems to have been quite a conscious decision, as they share a number of mannerisms.



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Mark is obviously very different. There is one episode in the last year when he has a full afro, a big mustache, and he's wearing a blue velvet suit with a big bow tie. I wonder what he thought about that in his later years. I know it was the 70s, and what the look was like then. I remember it all too well - I'd like to get rid of some of my yearbook photos.

There was another episode where Mark was supposed to be impersonating an Army officer just back from Vietnam. But he didn't cut his hair, and the sight of him in uniform with his hair was just ludicrous. This was a common problem in the 70s, finding actors to play people in the military, while trying to hide their long hair by combing it back behind their ears. There was an episode of Hawaii Five-O where McGarrett temporarily goes back onto military duty. I think every actor in that episode had non-regulation hair. Even Donna Mills had hair that was too long.



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