Written and produced by
Stephen J. Cannell,
Tenspeed and Brown Shoe is a made-for-TV program broadcast for the first time in early
1980. It starred
Ben Vereen as silver-tongued
con artist E.L. 'Tenspeed' Turner and
Jeff Goldblum as clean-cut and idealistic
Lionel Whitney. The original show involved the fated meeting of these two in the middle of a predictable cat and mouse game between
neo-nazis and
organized crime. The TV movie was a pilot which led to a short-lived TV series of the same name and featuring the same actors.
Despite several painful coincidences in the story, like how Goldblum's character just happens to know karate and gunfighting and whatever would get them out of trouble, or how Vereen's character manages to get in and out of his various predicaments by pure chance and a snappy comeback, this show's a lot of fun. Particularly if you have enjoyed the works of Goldblum or Vereen in the past, seeing them work together on the same screen is a real treat. Though hard to find in video stores, if you happen upon it, it's worth a rental.