Simon Simon

What a joy to have "Simon & Simon" back again. Jameson Parker and Gerald McRaney work together so well. The writing and direction is excellent. Hope they stay around forever. Berrien Dix, Arcadia

Pity the middle-aged. Youth and longevity conspire to steal our attention, especially when both are present. This weekend a Simone and a Simon, separated by 75 years, will perform at concerts, separated by a few miles and less than 24 hours apart.  On Saturday, Simone Porter, a 17-year-old violin prodigy studying at the Colburn School, will make her debut with the Pasadena Symphony as soloist in Bruch's Violin Concerto. Also making his Pasadena debut is conductor Andrew Grams, music director of the Elgin Symphony in Illinois.  Porter, who hails from Seattle and whose professional debut with the Seattle Symphony was seven years ago when she was 10, will then, with remarkable speed, go on to make more SoCal debuts as soloist with the Pacific Symphony next month and, this summer, with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl.

Now I get it! Sex, meaningless violence, humorless diatribe and attempted slapstick are in. Intelligent stories, witty, clever dialogue, ethics and real people are out. No wonder "Simon & Simon" and "Magnum, P.I." have dropped in the ratings. I don't know why it took me so long to figure it out! Deborah Sheldon, Santa Ana

Customized TV Listings are available here: www.latimes.com/tvtimes Click here to download TV listings for the week of June 9 - 15, 2013 in PDF format This week's TV Movies     SUNDAY Neil Patrick Harris hosts "The 65 Annual Primetime Emmy Awards" … in September. Tonight, he's hosting the "The 67th Annual Tony Awards. " We'll let you know when he's not hosting an awards show. 8 p.m. CBS Last night we dreamt of a three-eyed raven.

Our family thinks the only new show worth seeing in the new season is "Tour of Duty." The actors are great and the camerawork is magnificent. We wish CBS would advertise it as much as they do some of their other shows, particularly since it's up against "The Cosby Show." We are also glad that "Simon & Simon" is back again. Juanita M. Ferrey, Harbor City

I am overjoyed that CBS finally has decided to stop feeding my favorite show to the Cosby lion. I consider "Simon & Simon" to be an hourlong situation comedy about (hallelujah!) an adult family. (They exist, you know.) And if the two very different brothers ("same father, different mood") choose to solve a mystery or two along the way, I'm always happy to be included in the adventure. Eileen Cooley, Los Angeles

The "Simon & Simon" episode on March 5 was excellent. It brought out not only what our soldiers went through 20 years ago, but also what these same men are experiencing now. My only criticism is that the episode should have been longer, maybe a two-hour special. When dealing with a subject such as this, handled as well as this was, CBS should have given it more air time. Congratulations to Gerald McRaney and everyone else who had a part in this episode. Lindsay Soderlund, Glendale

Customized TV Listings are available here: www.latimes.com/tvtimes Click here to download TV listings for the week of June 9 - 15, 2013 in PDF format This week's TV Movies     SUNDAY Neil Patrick Harris hosts "The 65 Annual Primetime Emmy Awards" … in September. Tonight, he's hosting the "The 67th Annual Tony Awards. " We'll let you know when he's not hosting an awards show. 8 p.m. CBS Last night we dreamt of a three-eyed raven.

Pity the middle-aged. Youth and longevity conspire to steal our attention, especially when both are present. This weekend a Simone and a Simon, separated by 75 years, will perform at concerts, separated by a few miles and less than 24 hours apart.  On Saturday, Simone Porter, a 17-year-old violin prodigy studying at the Colburn School, will make her debut with the Pasadena Symphony as soloist in Bruch's Violin Concerto. Also making his Pasadena debut is conductor Andrew Grams, music director of the Elgin Symphony in Illinois.  Porter, who hails from Seattle and whose professional debut with the Seattle Symphony was seven years ago when she was 10, will then, with remarkable speed, go on to make more SoCal debuts as soloist with the Pacific Symphony next month and, this summer, with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl.

Starring in a popular TV series is a highlight of any actor's career -- but it can also be a trap. Once a series is over, it's hard for many stars to get off what one veteran called "the island of lost actors." For Gerald McRaney, getting off that island was doubly hard since he was identified with two hit series, "Simon & Simon" (1981-89) and "Major Dad" (1989-93). But McRaney has made the great escape in fine fashion, and today the 62-year-old actor finds himself much in demand for movie, stage and TV roles with some of the top talents in Hollywood, including J.J. Abrams ("Lost")

Simone Simon, 93, a French actress best known to American film audiences for her roles in the 1942 horror film "Cat People" and the 1944 sequel "Curse of the Cat People," died Tuesday in Paris. Born in Bethune, France, Simon grew up in Marseilles and Paris and attended schools in Berlin, Budapest and Turin. Her sensual good looks brought her work as a fashion model. She made her screen debut in 1931 in "Le Chanteur Inconnu," which helped establish her as a favorite pin-up in France.

In these days, when "a play on Broadway is something an audience goes to on the night the musicians forgot to show up," there is one boulevardier who refuses to turn in his East Coast passport and pledge his full allegiance to Hollywood.

Not only do I tell you, at the outset, that I hugely enjoyed reading Neil Simon's memoir, I hereby state my willingness to do physical battle with any other reviewer who displays the effrontery to differ with my opinion. There very probably will be nonesuch, of course. If they do emerge, they will have nothing to fear from Simon, since his good fortune as the most successful playwright since Shakespeare presumably renders him immune from their paltry slings and arrows.

Television actor Jameson Parker, shot twice allegedly during an argument with a neighbor in October, took the witness stand Friday in the trial of the man accused of the attack. Robert St. George, 53, is on trial in Van Nuys Superior Court on charges of attempted murder and assault with a deadly weapon. Parker, 45, best known for playing the role of A.J. Simon, the clean-cut younger brother in the "Simon & Simon" series, said he had gone to St.

What a joy to have "Simon & Simon" back again. Jameson Parker and Gerald McRaney work together so well. The writing and direction is excellent. Hope they stay around forever. Berrien Dix, Arcadia

It's 7 in the morning at Balboa Park, and let's see if you can figure out what's wrong with this picture: A) A lone, curly-mopped troubadour sits on stage and plays to the empty seats of the Spreckel's organ pavilion. B) A speed walker looks like he's working too hard for the ground he's covering; joggers pat-pat-pat in opposite directions, and a husband and wife walk his-and-hers full-size poodles past the art museum. C) Two cops on horseback flush out the homeless from beneath the shrubs.

Not only do I tell you, at the outset, that I hugely enjoyed reading Neil Simon's memoir, I hereby state my willingness to do physical battle with any other reviewer who displays the effrontery to differ with my opinion. There very probably will be nonesuch, of course. If they do emerge, they will have nothing to fear from Simon, since his good fortune as the most successful playwright since Shakespeare presumably renders him immune from their paltry slings and arrows.