Good news for fans of mystery, adventure, and titular puns: the classic series Hart To Hart is in the process of being remade… with a twist. The project will revolve not around the hijinks of a wealthy man and wife, but rather around the exploits of gay couple Jonathan Hart and investigator Dan Hartman.
Lawyer Jonathan Hart looks to be – for lack of a better term – the “straight man” of the duo. His by-the-book attitude will likely serve to contrast with the free-spirited investigative methods of his partner, Dan. According to Deadline, Jonathan and Daniel will work to balance the action-packed crime-solving with the domesticity of their life together. The project is being written thus far by Christopher Fife of Revenge and Private Practice fame and produced by Carol Mendelsohn and Julie Weitz. Currently, it only has a script commitment, but if it moves forward, it will air on NBC.
The original Hart To Hart was an ABC venture that was quite a success story, airing for five seasons from 1979 – 1984 and then returning in the 1990s for eight 90-minute TV movies. The show starred Robert Wagner as CEO of Hart Industries Jonathan Hart and Stefanie Powers as glamorous freelance journalist Jennifer Hart. Their wealth and occupations allowed the couple to live a jet set life and travel all over to inevitably stumble upon crimes and mysteries to be solved.
There’s no saying how much the premise of the new Hart To Hart will depart from that of the original. The reboot trend of recent years has ranged from continuations of long-cancelled series to entirely new settings. For Hart to Hart, the jet-setting lifestyle is somewhat dated, and the protagonists’ jobs as attorney and investigator make it unlikely that they will have the same financial freedom as their predecessors. Nevertheless, there’s no reason why the men can’t travel domestically for the sake of greater realism.
As this remake of Hart To Heart currently has only a script commitment plus penalty and the project is far from becoming an actual series, we’re a long ways off from getting to see Hart and Hartman on screen. Still, there’s a certain fun in speculating about the project. Will audiences be as receptive to the premise in the 21st century as in the 20th? Did Hart and Hartman get together because their names are so similar and there was a mix-up at an event featuring name tags? Does Hart To Hart 2.0 take place in a universe where Hart To Hart 1.0 was a television series, and the boys bonded over their love for the old show? Will the scripts avoid slipping into clichés about gay couples for the sake of a laugh track? At this point, we can only wonder and hope.
