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Actress Roles Over 40? 'It's a Big Fat Zero'
By: Alexandra Jacobs
November 24, 2003
Remember Remington Steele? The plush 1980's NBC detective drama with the Henry Mancini theme was very good for Pierce Brosnan, who played the title role and would go on to become James Bond and marry buxom, beatific Keely Shaye Smith. Nor did it hurt the career of Doris Roberts (office assistant Mildred Krebs), who has won three consecutive Emmys for her portrayal of consummate mother-in-law Marie Barone on Everybody Loves Raymond. But what about its third star, Stephanie Zimbalist, who played Laura Holt, the strong-willed, slightly stern private investigator who would never really let Pierce get to second base, much to the frustration of her young adolescent viewers?
Ms. Zimbalist is alive and well and living in the Valley, but metaphorically she seems to have fallen into the dark rabbit hole that lies between actresses under 35 and those safely, cuddily into menopause, like Ms. Roberts. On Nov. 11 , she emerged to host a party for her father, veteran TV actor Efrem Zimbalist Jr. (77 Sunset Strip; The F.B.I.) at the Hollywood History Museum on Highland Avenue. Mr. Zimbalist was celebrating his just-published memoir, My Dinner of Herbs -- which his daughter helped him write, personally extracting about 17 hours of oral history -- and donating some "showbiz" memorabilia to the museum: a gold-plated gun and F.B.I. credentials that had been issued to him by J. Edgar Hoover. Chairs had been thoughtfully strewn about for attendees of a certain age, and little pastries.
When Dad arrived, wearing a pinkie ring, striped tie and a rakish eyepatch (he recently had surgery to remove a basal skin carcinoma), Ms. Zimbalist gave him a big kiss on the lips. "She's the daughter," murmured a stray dowager to an inquiring photographer.
A few flash bulbs popped. The Zimbalists are quite the dynasty: Stephanie's late paternal grandfather, Efrem Zimbalist Sr., was a renowned violinist, married to the opera star Alma Gluck; her niece, Kristy Zimbalist, toiled under Kate Betts at Harper's Bazaar. Stephanie inherited some of the musical talent. "I sing," she said. "I sing, and I really should've stuck with it, because it's really what I love to do. It's probably what I'm best at, too."
Security was nervously eyeing an unidentified sixtysomething woman with double-D breast implants and a Louis Vuitton bag, wedged into a short red tube dress and mugging for the cameras. The room was full of pulled faces; Ms. Zimbalist's was not one of them. "We don't photograph like a blank slate anymore," she said. "People don't want to see wrinkles, because if they see wrinkles in actors then they have to face that they have wrinkles, too ... They'd rather see perfection up there. And so then you get rocket scientists who are 22 years old."
Softer around the edges than in her Laura Holt heyday, her hair wavy, Ms. Zimbalist wore an Eileen Fisher -- type droopy gray dress with a cuff bracelet and a slouchy black nylon bag, her very small feet in black slides, toenails painted maroon. There was something plucky about those toenails.
She was introduced to the crowd as a star of stage and screen. When the inevitable "And you all know her as Laura Holt from Remington Steele ... " came, she flinched slightly. "Did I?" she said later. "I didn't mean to. It's just ... it's been 20 years, you know?" Ms. Zimbalist is currently in rehearsal for a stage production of Defying Gravity, a play inspired by the explosion of the space shuttle Challenger in 1986, which opens on the 22nd at the Rubicon Theatre in Ventura County. She plays a character loosely based on teacher-astronaut Christa McAuliffe.
And that's the only item on her dance card for the time being.
"It's a big fat zero," she said. "There are so few roles for women of a certain age, they really have their pick of who they want. It was just a field day for me about 10 years ago; I would have my pick of movies of the week. But that market has dried up, there's no movie-of-the-week market to speak of, unless you want to do a project like the Reagan thing, which I wouldn't go near -- shame on her, by the way. You can't wait and sit for the phone to ring, so I do theater."
Ms. Zimbalist said that Ms. Roberts -- one of whose costumes from Everybody Loves Raymond was under plexiglass display at the museum -- takes care to attend many of these productions.
"It's really, really sweet," Ms. Zimbalist said. She's also in e-mail contact with Mr. Brosnan's makeup guy, but not so much with the man himself.
"I envy both Pierce and Doris' bank accounts," she said, "but with all that money comes a lot of responsibility. Success is inside!"
She's dating a director named Peter Medak, whom she first knew two decades ago. "He called out of the blue last fall, he had just separated from his wife, and we've been together ever since," she said, adding that at her age, 47, "you don't want to have to explain yourself all over again -- and it's also nice to be with a guy who knew you when you were the most beautiful that you'll ever be."
Is she bitter about the way it all turned out?
"Oh, heavens, no. Pierce was the one that was bitter." (Mr. Brosnan had been offered Bond earlier but his contract wouldn't allow him to leave the show; Timothy Dalton got Bond instead.) "Pierce is the one that had the People magazine 'Take this job and shove it' cover. The fact is, when Remington Steele ended, I was the one with a picture. I was the one that had been offered the lead in Robocop, and things were at M.G.M. waiting for me. Pierce did not have Bond. And he squawked and squawked, and I was the one that had to call Paul Verhoeven (the director of Robocop) and say, 'I'm terribly sorry -- I can't do it because I have to go back to work.' But I've never been anything but grateful. That series made me solvent. I'm eternally in debt to them."
After the party, she ran next-door to Mel's drive-in to get a cheeseburger with fries and an iced-tea/lemonade mix for her pop, gave it to him with a kiss and sent him on his way. "It's funny," Ms. Zimbalist said. "When I meet people that love the show, a lot who come up to me, there's a certain quality of woman that loved that show, and they're usually very successful in their careers -- doctors and lawyers -- and they're smart and they're taking leaps in their own life, and I'm very, very touched. I was on the set of Remington when the Challenger accident happened, and I would bet money that Christa McAuliffe was a fan of Remington Steele, and was a fan of Laura Holt."
By SUSAN KING, TIMES STAFF WRITER
Maddie Hayes and David Addison weren't the only attractive private detectives on the airwaves during the '80s who were partners in a Los Angeles agency and whose quickfire bantering and bickering masked the fact they secretly loved each other.
In September, 1982, a full two seasons before Maddie met David on ABC's "Moonlighting," NBC introduced the sophisticated, though far less flashy, "Remington Steele."
There is good reason for the resemblance between the two shows: Glenn Gordon Caron, the creator and executive producer of "Moonlighting," was supervising producer of "Remington" during its first two seasons.
"Remington Steele" starred Stephanie Zimbalist, the daughter of Efrem Zimbalist Jr., as hard-working private detective Laura Holt, who opened her own agency only to discover a woman's name failed to bring in assignments. So she decided to invent an imaginary boss -- Remington Steele -- and her business started to boom. But when Holt's clients wanted to meet Steele, Holt had to scramble to find someone.
Enter a suave, mysterious con man without a name (Pierce Brosnan) who loved old movies and had exceptional taste in clothes. Laura Holt and "Remington" didn't hit it off at first, but he did prove to be adept as a private eye.
Janet DeMay played Holt's secretary Bernice Foxe and James Read of "North and South" fame was Holt's associate, Murphy Michaels.
"Remington Steele" failed to burn up in the ratings during its first season and for good reason: It was placed opposite the extremely popular CBS soap opera "Falcon Crest." But NBC renewed the series and ratings improved when it moved to Tuesdays. DeMay and Read were history after the first year; Emmy-winning actress Doris Roberts came on board as Mildred Krebs, who became the agency's secretary when she lost her job with the IRS after letting Remington beat a tax-evasion rap.
The 1985-86 season was to be the end of "Remington." Laura and Remington finally tied the knot at the end of the season so that Remington wouldn't be deported. Brosnan was in the running to play the new James Bond on the big screen but lost out to Timothy Dalton when NBC decided to bring back "Remington" for six episodes during the 1986-87 season. Finally, Laura and Remington consummated their relationship.
Though "Remington Steele" only cracked Neilsen's Top 25 during the 1984-85 season, the series was attractive, entertaining fun. Since "Remington," Zimbalist has starred in such TV films as the Emmy-winning "Caroline?" and "The Story Lady." The Irish Brosnan, who previously to "Remington" had appeared in the 1981 ABC miniseries "The Manons of America," recently hosted the Golden Globes telecast and has appeared in such features and TV flicks as "The Fourth Protocol," "Mister Johnson" and "Victim of Love."
"Remington Steele" airs weekdays at 3 p.m. on KTTY and weeknights at 7 on KDOC.
GRAPHIC: Photo, COLOR, SYNDICATED SNOOPS: Stephanie Zimbalist and Pierce Brosnan team in reruns.
What: Remington Steele.
Where: TV4.
When: 6.30pm, Sunday.
May 6, 2002, Monday: FEATURES; ENTERTAINMENT; Pg. 15
BEFORE he was Bond, Pierce Brosnan charmed the ladies in the humorously romantic private detective series Remington Steele.
Stephanie Zimbalist stars as Laura Holt, a young woman who has opened her own detective agency. But she worries that her gender may scare off prospective clients, so she invents a male "boss" and names him Remington Steele.
The ruse pays off and business flourishes as Laura resourcefully manages to explain Steele's constant "unavailability" to clients and the media.
However, when one of her major clients insists Remington Steele personally handle his case, Laura fears the game may be up. As luck would have it, a mysterious and charming man (Brosnan) suddenly turns up claiming to be Steele.
This momentarily solves both of their problems - but it creates a host of new ones. Remington Steele first played in 1982 and had a successful 91-episode run. The series was created by Glenn Gordon Caron, who covered similar territory in his other series Moonlighting.
Brocolli Productions asked Brosnan to play Bond, beginning with 1995's Goldeneye. He has since played the role in Tomorrow Never Dies and The World Is Not Enough and is currently putting the finishing touches on Die Another Day, directed by New Zealander Lee Tamahori.
Remington Steele features a host of before-they-were-famous guest stars, including Oscar winner Geena Davis, Sharon Stone, Paul Reiser and Brosnan's then-wife Cassandra Harris, who played a Bond girl in For Your Eyes Only.
She died in Brosnan's arms from ovarian cancer in 1991.
PRIVATE EYES - Stephanie Zimbalist, Pierce Brosnan and Doris Roberts star in Remington Steele.
STAR LEAPS FROM 'STEELE' TO STAGE
By Gene Seymour, Knight-Ridder Newspapers
September 6, 1988 Tuesday
In a time when last year's Hot Show is this year's Black Hole, it's little wonder that people look back fondly on "Remington Steele."
"Steele" never made a big splash in your consciousness, but it never let you down, either. In its five years on television (1982-87), the classy detective series served a rich, low-fat diet of tart, spicy dialogue, thick, zesty plots and smooth, delicious acting from its sexy leads, Pierce Brosnan and Stephanie Zimbalist.
At the very least, it also has earned something of a footnote in TV history for spawning the legendary "Moonlighting."
"Steele" writer Glenn Gordon Caron left the relatively laid-back show in the middle of its run to do a righteous riff on "Steele's" original theme of a salt-pepper, male-female detective team.
In jazz terms, if "Steele" is Meade "Lux" Lewis, then "Moonlighting" is Jelly Roll Morton. So popular was "Steele" that loyal viewers, distraught over the show's original cancellation in 1986, made enough noise to force NBC to pull it back onto the air for yet another year. Among other things, this deprived Brosnan, the rakish, flaky Mr. Steele, of a clear shot to be the next James Bond.
The extra year came and went, the series ended and life went on. Brosnan didn't get Bond, but he is deep into the movies these days.
As for the dauntless, dazzling Zimbalist, she has forsaken the cold cathode eye of television for the hot lights of legitimate theater. She is in the midst of a six-day run of "Carousel" at the Valley Forge (Pa.) Music Fair. The new version of the Rogers and Hammerstein classic costars Zimbalist, Rex Smith and Patrice Munsel and has played in St. Louis and Long Island on its four-week tour.
In her New York digs, Zimbalist, 31, sounds as if she is enjoying her new life-enough, anyway, to hold off on any immediate plans to return to television.
"Television has been good to me," she said. "It's enabled me to go off and do things like 'Carousel' and live quite well. I'm very grateful for what I've done on television, but the problem is, you tend to repeat the little you know instead of trying new things."
Asked whether the theatrical grind compared favorably or unfavorably with the weekly series grind, she replied, "Work is never a grind. It's validating whenever and wherever you get it. It's more of a grind to be unemployed."
She did work in a made-for-TV movie, "The Man in the Brown Suit," with Edward Woodward and Rue McClanahan. But ask her whether she'll do another long-term series, or even work on any revival of "Steele," and you can hear the shrug over the wire. "It's like saying you plan to live in Hidden Hills in 15 years. It's just too far off. I'm learning too much right now to think about what's far off in the future."
She has not talked to Brosnan since the last "Steele" was shot but has "talked a few times since" to Doris Roberts, who played "Steele" operative Mildred Krebs.
In general, "Steele" is already part of Zimbalist's distant past.
"I get stopped in the aisles and asked about it. But that's about all. I really don't think about 'Steele' that much. It's something that happened yesterday. I'm proud of it, but you grow up; you go on."
GRAPHIC: PHOTO PHOTO:ÊStephanie Zimbalist.
NBC Will Revive Canceled Series
July 15, 1986, Tuesday, PM cycle
NBC-TV will revive the canceled series "Remington Steele" because its ratings have improved during summer reruns and because viewers have showered the network with protest letters, a spokesman says.
The MTM Productions detective show will be ready for broadcast in November, though there currently are no slots open in the schedule, said the network spokesman, who discussed the matter on condition that he not be identified. There should be room for the show because of the high attrition rate for fall television shows.
The decision to revive "Remington Steele" marks the second time in recent history that viewer protest has helped put a canceled series back on the air. "Cagney and Lacey" on CBS was revived after a similar letter-writing campaign.
The NBC spokesman said "Remington Steele" would return with its original cast including Stephanie Zimbalist, Pierce Brosnan and Doris Roberts. Brosnan has been rumoured as the next movie James Bond, and the spokesman said he had no idea how the network's decision might affect his chances at the role.
BROSNAN PROVES NO MATCH FOR THIS WILY SCENE-STEALER
BY: DEAN P
Thursday, October 2, 1986
Brosnan proves no match for this wily scene-stealer THEY really shouldn't put poor Pierce Brosnan up against such scene-stealers as the wily Barrie Ingham, who can play hams better than most. Not only is the title character in Remington Steele almost impossible to play, but also to pit what scraps of dramatic force Brosnan is able to dredge out of it against Ingham's long experience is tantamount to matching Don Knotts with Arnold Schwarzenegger.
In tonight's repeat spasm at 7.30 on Channel 9, Ingham plays a has-been actor, Derek, reduced to making food commercials with a ""silicon blonde", Heather (Gwen Humble). Some rapscallion poisons a plate of comestibles, Derek's parrot, Olivier, nibbles at it and promptly keels over. Who is trying to ruin production? It sounds like a case for Steele (Brosnan) and Laura (Stephanie Zimbalist). But writers Michael Gleason (also co-creator and executive producer), Joyce Armor and Judie Neer try to make it as much farce as thriller, and succeed heartily.
The painfully thin Brosnan is required to cross foils with Derek while discussing the latter's swashbuckling films. Though Derek is a formidable boozer he is supposed to be able to fence for three hours without even breathing heavily. And so the farce begins. Bibi Besch plays a lady called Wagenbacher who produces the commercials, which she describes as ""The E.T. of frozen foods", and the director, Stan (Paul Kreppel), goes into a tizzy when someone disturbs his food composition because it interferes with the statement he is trying to make.
He is married to Mady (Faith Prince) whom film buff Steele recognises as a one-time child star, now occupied on menial tasks around the set. Meanwhile, Heather rants about being contemporary in the commercials, which only require her to lean over so that her almost-exposed bosom floats across the TV dinners she and Derek are promoting. When Heather's wardrobe is slashed it becomes clear that there is a lunatic about armed with a knife.
Steele thinks he has a clue when he finds Wagenbacher having a tete-a-tete with a rival frozen food packager called Mother Trust (Frances Bay), who is a tough, conniving, boozy old biddy, despite the name. Zimbalist, a competent performer, does what she can, but gets few useful lines and can only appear outraged for much of the time.
Derek casually tries to ravish Laura and mildly explains later to an indignant Steele: ""But it's expected of me. I'm the Errol Flynn of the eighties." Such is Zimbalist's fate. Brosnan obviously feels he is there to add good looks and a certain ability with comedy lines.
One could hardly argue with the first (if you like the emaciated sort) but the second amounts to dangerous self- deception. He would be better employed in costume drama, striking noble poses against a background of crinolines and cowed natives. Here it is a constant battle for him not to be overwhelmed by the talents of Zimbalist and Doris Roberts, who plays the detective agency's resident middle-American.
This series was threatened with termination earlier this year, but a display of support from its US followers saved it. I hope Brosnan is grateful to them and has promised not to crinkle his eyes in future every time he says a line.
NBC RESTORES 'STEELE,' BUT IS BROSNAN'S CONTRACT A BOND?
By LEE MARGULIES
July 15, 1986, Tuesday, Home Edition
Two months after being left for dead in the scrap heap of old TV series, "Remington Steele" was revived Monday by NBC, which changed its mind and decided to bring back the four-year-old detective show next season after all.
Mel Blumenthal, executive vice president of MTM Enterprises, which produces the show, said NBC had ordered six episodes and will bring back the series as a midseason replacement. It will return with stars Stephanie Zimbalist, Pierce Brosnan and Doris Roberts.
An NBC press release attributed the network's change of heart to a recent upsurge in the show's ratings and to an outpouring of letters and telephone calls from fans of the romantic detective series.
NBC's decision would appear to put a damper on Brosnan's chances of starring in the next James Bond movie. He was said to have been the leading candidate to succeed Sean Connery and Roger Moore as the renowned British spy, but an official announcement had not been made, reportedly because he was still under contract to MTM for "Remington Steele."
Blumenthal said MTM would try to accommodate Brosnan if possible so he could do both the movie and the series. A spokesman for the actor said negotiations were under way to try to resolve the situation and that Brosnan would have no comment for the time being.
Mystery Shows
BY: Lori Hlaban
September 30, 1985
I love a mystery! That's the name of an old myster show, but it's also true for me, which is why I've decided tto review the women characters on the current TV private eye/dectective mystery shows. This does not include the new police shows (e.g. Cagney and Lacey) or spy shows (e.g. Scarecrow and Mrs. King).
The current mystery shows on TV are:
CBS' Crazy Like a Fox, I had Three Wives, Magnum P.I.; Simon and SImon, and Murder She Wrote.
ABC's Moonlighting
and NBC's Riptide and Remington Steele. Three of the eight have women in central roles: Murder She Wrote (Jessica Flectcher), Moonlighting (Maddie Hayes), and Remington Steele (Laura Holt).
I'm not including the infamous I had Three Wives, since I consider the central male character's three ex-wives who help him solve crimes tto be throwbacks to the 'cute as a button helpful secretary; previously the only (almost central women character seen on mystery shows.
As a little background, the professional woman dectective is a fairly new character in mystery literature. Famous women dectectives have traditionally been amateurs who fall into it as nosy busybodies (Agatha ChristieÕs Miss Marple), women in other professions who get involved in detecting by accident (Amanda CrossÕs Kate Fansler), or wives of athe male central character ( the LockridgeÕs Mrs. North or Dorothy L. Sayer's Harriet Vane).
Where have the counterparts to Ellery Queen, Spenser, Mike Hammer, or even Lord Peter Wimsey been? If we are to believe the literature, they've ben waiting for their senior male partners to die violently, leaving them the agency (in debt of course) as wellas a juicy murder to solve (as happened to Susan Steiner's dectective in Murder on Her Mind and P.D. James's female dectective, Cordelia Gray).
Television has been somewhat kinder -- typically there have been no deaths propelling any of our main characters into the leadershipÊroleÊof a dectective agency. Television seems to be trying to attract the 'new woman' by offering many female main characters -- with 'dectective' being one of the most recent. My question is: Is television showing us real women who are capable of rational thought and physical action in these new detectives? Or are they creating new glorified girl fridays? The answer seems to be "yes." The networks are giving us all of the above.
First, Maddy Hayes (Cybil Shepard) in "Moonlighting"
Premise: Former top model has entire fortune embezzeled, leaving her broke except for a few tax shelter investments that make no money. One tax shelter is the Addison Dectective Agency. She intends to sell, but is convinced not to by David Addison (Bruce Willis), the agency head. The agency is renamed the Blue Moon detective agency (Blue Moon shampoo was the source of Maddy's lost fortune), and Maddy becomes an "equal partner" -- with no experience in dectection.
The premise is shaky and the show is shakier. The writing tells the tale. Typical dialogue consists of one character repreating what another character just said at a highter pitch, and the original character repeating what was just repeated, etc. Both characters are made to look dumb, with Addison always getting the 'good' lines, as in this example of 'snappy repartee:' ÊÊ Maddy: David, I just don't think...
Addison: That's o.k. -- you look great.
This sort of sexist dialogue is added to nonstop sexual innuendo. Addison takes every opportunityÊtoojoke about Maddy being an "ice queen" or to explain the agency name by saying "It's because she only wants to do it once in a blue moon." If I were Maddy, I would seriously reconsider selling to regain self-esteem, if nothing else.
Second, Jessica Fletcher (Angela Lansbury) of "Murder, She Wrote."
Premise: Jessica is a famous mystery writer who also solves crimes in her spare time, thereby amazing police and creating publicity for her books. It's hard to point out this show's flaws when Jessica is suca a likable character. However, she is too perfect. She always has the right answers and we never see her trying to work out the solution. She seems so nearly sexless that it's easy to imagine someone saying "Let's remake the TV series based on the Ellery Queen character, but do it with a woman this time." The writing on this show is excellent. It's truly difficult to figure out "whodunnit" before Jessica reveals the culprit, but there should be more conflict more human error and more emotion in this main character.
Third Laura Holt, (Stephanie Zimbalist) of "Remington Steele."
Premise: Laura apprentices as a private dectective and opens her own agency. She changes the agency name when it becomes obvous that a woman detective is not attracting clients, adn creates a fictional male boss. A mysterious man steps in to assume the boss's identity and Laura must choose to either go along with his charade or produce the "real" boss.
This show probably comes closest to showing a real woman dealing with some of the real problems that women in our modern society deal with, from job discrimination in the public world to agonizing over her personal relationship with this man who suddenly appears to assume the identity of her fictious boss. Those of us who have watched the show regularly have also seen both maind characters grow more dependent on each other, both professionally and personally. The characters have not remained static and cardborad, but have developed realistic personalities with all their attendant quirks. For example: Laura's chocoholism, which is shown as a hysterically funny obsession when she's offered candy, and "Remington's" penchant for attempting to solve all mysteries by comparing them tto plots of movies.
I must also give the writers credit for handling the personal relationshipe between Laura and "Remington" in an intelligent and restrained manner. Rather than go for the easy laughs with innuendo and tasteless jokes, a la "Moonlighting," the character's frustrations and worries are explored. The personal attraction is there, but how do they handle it and remain professional? The show has been broadcast for three seasons and they have yet to manage a real date. They ahve walked into bedrooms together and discovered dead bodies, not romance. Because this show in its attention to detail draws the viewer into the characters' world and makes that world real, even the most tired mystery plots become interesting. The exploration of women's roles and male/female relationships is particularly enjoyable, as the writers do not opt for the "easy answers." As an aside, this show even has a "helpful secretary" (Mildred Krebs, ex IRS investigator, played by actress Doris Roberts) whom you can enjoy as a full character who contributes more to the plot than a pretty face or nice legs for the detective to admire. This show has my recommendation for a pleasant, relatively nonsexist hour of action and humor with a believeable female main character.
All three shows discussed above will be returning to the fall schedule. "Remington Steele" and "Moonlighting are both aired on Tuesday evenings; "Murder, She Wrote" is broadcast on Sunday evenings. The other new private eye series being aired by the regular networks this fall "Lime Street" and "Spenser For Hire," appear to have no regular central female characters.
SPECIAL NOTICE DESERVED: PBS"s "Mystery!" series is beginning its new season on Thursday, October 24 with an adaptation of P.D. James's Death of an Expert Witness. This is to be the first in a series of five adaptations of works by women writers. Support women's works -- if you like what you see this season on "Mystery!" let KETC/Channel 9 know. They are viewer-supported. .
Article copyright UM-St. Louis Institute for Women's and Gender Studies.
STEPHANIE ZIMBALIST/'REMINGTON STEELE' -- WHO'S IN CHARGE?
BY MICHAEL E. HILL
November 27, 1983, Sunday, Final Edition
"When I took this series," said Stephanie Zimbalist, star of "Remington Steele" on NBC, "I was sold a bill of goods. I wasn't always very happy last season.
"I'd rather not be specific," she said. "All I can say is it's better this year."
"Steele," now in its second season, has been doing well amid a sad season for NBC, combining with the network's only run-away hit, "The A Team," to give NBC a decent Tuesday evening of Nielsens.
Zimbalist was stingy on specifics, but she offered a number of nonspecifics concerning her unhappiness last season and her relative contentment this year. What emerged was at least a sketch, if not a full portrait, of a star who's had to adjust to the intensity of the spotlight on her costar, Pierce Brosnan, the Irish import featured recently on the cover of People magazine, as well as some shifts in the story line of a show in which she's supposed to be the more-equal of two partners. She pointed out that she really didn't have to let herself in for the aggravation in the first place.
"I was doing just fine before the series came along," she recalled. "I was doing two movies-of-the-week a year. I thought the series would be good for me."
The first year contained some lessons. "We were both overwhelmed by it all," she said. "There was a lot of pressure on both of us. I learned about ego, too. If I'm there and someone says to Pierce he's wonderful, you go ouch! You have to put those things aside. You have to recognize ego as a negative force."
Then there's the question of keeping the show on course. The original premise for "Remington" was that Zimbalist's character, Laura Holt, is a crack private investigator. But she's hampered by the reality that potential clients shy away from a female PI. Solution: Give the agency a male name: Remington Steele. Then along comes Pierce Brosnan as a playboy with a mysterious past and sporting the same name as her agency. As a private investigator, he can't find his way around a corner; but as a front man, he's perfect.
In some episodes, however, there's been a tendency to lapse into a traditional TV stereotype, with the man calling the shots and the woman doing a lot of screaming. "The only thing I'm troubled by is when they go away from the show's premise," said Zimbalist. "I'm troubled when they forget that she's in charge. Although Remington is coming along as a detective, they sometimes forget that I control the agency and the purse strings.
"When they change that relationship, they change my character. That (a strong Laura Holt) is why I took the show."
There have been other changes in the show that have gone over well with its stars and the audience.
Doris Roberts has been added to the cast and has had some nifty comic turns as an IRS investigator who becomes a member of the firm.
And there's a different look to the characters this year. "For me," said Zimbalist, "they wanted a softer look --fewer business suits, more silks. Whenever he can, Pierce gets out of suits and into more casual things. It loosens things up considerably.
"And we got rid of my house--it was blown up in the first episode this fall. Now I have a loft. It says more about the character--it's more expressive."
Zimbalist brings to her role a full background, including 12 movies, two miniseries, "Centennial" and "The Golden Moment." She attended Foxcroft School in Middleburg, Va., Strasberg Institute and Dance Center West in Los Angeles, the Juilliard School in New York, and Canada's Banff School of Fine Arts.
Her mother, Stephanie, whose parents live in Georgetown, shows horses, belongs to a fly-fishing club, attended art school in Sweden and has taught skiing.
Her actor father, Efrem, son of a concert violinist father and opera star Alma Gluck, holds a lofty place in series television, having starred in "The FBI." Zimbalist played Inspector Lewis Erskine, the unflappably cool and professional FBI agent, from 1965 to 1974. Stephanie has a sister and a brother and has always enjoyed the backing of her family.
"The help for me is the moral support. No matter what we do, the family supports each other," she said. "Today my father's taping 'The Tempest.' I sent him flowers."
GRAPHIC: Picture, Stephanie Zimbalist: "I thought the series would be good for me."