Today's Tuesday TV Touchbase is about Hudson and Rex, a TV series that Andrea and I have begun following a couple of months ago. No sooner than we discovered this show that we're dealing with some profound changes to the status quo.
Before we get into those changes, what is the status quo?
Hudson & Rex is a Canadian police procedural television series based on the Austrian–Italian drama Kommissar Rex.
Played by John Reardon, Detective Charlie Hudson is a policeman in the Major Crimes Division of the St. John's Police Department in Newfoundland.
Played by Diesel vom Burgimwald and several of his relatives, Hudson's K-9 partner Rex is a German Shepherd dog who is a "highly trained, law enforcement animal".
Rex is adept at comforting people in distress, tracking scents, and sniffing out drugs, weapons, electronics, illnesses, and blood.
Rex's keen nose and ears are instrumental in helping Detective Hudson advance the investigations in each episode.
The duo receives assistance from Superintendent Joseph Donovan, Forensics Chief Sarah Truong, and IT specialist Jesse Mills every episode in gathering and interpreting evidence.
When we first started watching Hudson & Rex, we were there mostly for the dog. Whenever the action focused on the people, Andrea and I were all "Enough of that! Let's get back to the dog!"
Because Rex is 100% good boy!
But over time, we became more aware of the quirks and foibles of the human cast. Poor Jesse, unlucky at love but God bless 'im, there was not a sci-fi/fantasy thing he wasn't a total nerd for.
And sweet Sarah, emersed in science facts and probing dead bodies, she has a remarkable sense of empathy and compassion that Charlie sometimes lacks.
Over the course of the series, Sarah and Charlie become a thing.
And Charlie can be endearing and charming. He's a very good detective but he knows his place on the team, that it's Rex's super sensitive nose and ears that provides the vital breaks in the cases he solves.
Charlie Hudson is cool with that. He and Rex have a close and special bond.
Charlie: "So Rex, you want burgers or pizza?"
Rex: "Bark! Bark!"
Charlie: "Burgers? OK!"
Andrea and I came to Hudson & Rex for Rex but we stayed for Hudson.
Which makes the changes as of season 7 kind of hard to deal with.
Episode 2 of Season 7 is "A Room with a Clue" which is a variation of Alfred Hitchcock's Rear Window but with Rex in the Jimmy Stewart role. Rex is home alone when he witnesses a neighbor murdering his wife, leaving Rex to try to communicate this to Charlie.
This episode marks the final appearance of Diesel vom Burgimwald as Rex. Diesel passed away in August 2024. From episode 3 onwards, the role of Rex is played by a variety of Diesel's cousins.
The transition from Diesel to his cousins is mostly consistent with previous episodes but not always seamless.
Also with episode 3, we started getting Hudson & Rex... without Hudson.
Suddenly Rex is paired off with Joe, Sarah and Jesse.
Suddenly the gang is doing field work normally left to Charlie.
Charlie is reduced to voice cameos when he calls Sarah. Apparently he's in Mexico trying to sort out some sort of problem involving his brother.
What gives with that?
Actor John Reardon was diagnosed with cancer and had to take time off from the series to focus on his recovery. By all accounts, Reardon's recovery is going very well but he will not be returning to Hudson & Rex.
Even though the series has been renewed for season 8.
Hudson & Rex without Hudson?
How pray tell is that gonna work?
Andrea and I were really hung up on Rex at the start but we really came to like Charlie, the ol' charming lug.
That is that for this week's Touchbase.
Coming up in future installments:
The secret episode of Game Changers
The season finale of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds
The season 5 debut of Only Murders In the Building.
The season 2 return of High Potential
The return of Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy!
Until next time, remember to be good to one another and try to keep it down in there, would ya? I'm trying to watch TV over here.
What's happening on this show right now is a travesty. They fired John Reardon while he was still battling cancer. Then he recovered and got cleared to get back to work and could have been there for season 8, but the production never got him back. Instead, they've got a new (and completely awful idea): Get rid of 7 seasons of storylines and get a random guy to come and be the lead for S8. And the cherry on top of this shitty cake? They named the guy Mark Hudson! That's right, a cheap ploy to keep the title, and the branding.
ReplyDeleteFans are outraged, of course, for the production's awful treatment to John Reardon but also for the way they've treated us. They've been ignoring and then hiding our questions since S7 ended. They don't profit from clarifying things, they believe that the ratings will benefit if viewers get back to watching the show without being clued in to what's going. Their official accounts have even blocked prominent fan accounts who did a lot of the work to let other fans know.
I'm not going to watch it. For me, Hudson & Rex ended in S7 episode 2, and it had a great run. Unless they bring back John Reardon after the ratings plummet.