Editing Hart to Hart (section)

==Production==
Screenwriter and novelist [[Sidney Sheldon]] had originally written a script in the early 1970s for [[CBS]], titled ''Double Twist'', about a married couple who were spies. The script remained unfilmed for several years until producers [[Aaron Spelling]] and [[Leonard Goldberg]] decided to update the idea for a potential television series. They offered the script to screenwriter [[Tom Mankiewicz]], who had by that time written several screenplays, including three [[James Bond]] films.

They instructed Mankiewicz to make the script more contemporary for a potential weekly series. They proposed to Mankiewicz that if his draft was successful, he could direct the pilot episode.<ref>{{cite news|title=PRIMING FOR PRIME TIME: PRIME TIME|author=Tom Buckley|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=Sep 9, 1979|page=SM114}}</ref> Mankiewicz reworked Sheldon's original script and renamed it ''Hart to Hart'', emphasizing the romantic aspect of the couple. As planned, Mankiewicz made his directorial debut with the pilot episode, and remained a creative consultant to the series. The first ten episodes were developed by Mankiewicz and the series's original story editor, Bob Shayne.

Spelling's and Goldberg's initial choice for the role of Jonathan Hart was [[Cary Grant]]. However, Grant (seventy-five years old at the time) had effectively retired from acting over a decade earlier; his last film, ''[[Walk, Don't Run (film)|Walk, Don't Run]],'' had been released in 1966. They then decided to find a younger actor who might embody the same style, zest and persona that Grant was famous for, and offered the role to [[Robert Wagner]]. No one else was seriously considered for the role; [[George Hamilton (actor)|George Hamilton]] had a high profile at the time and was suggested, but [[Aaron Spelling]] said that if he was signed for the role, "the audience will resent him as Hart for being that rich. But no one will begrudge RJ [Wagner] a nickel."<ref name="tom">Tom Mankiewicz, ''My Life as a Mankiewicz: An Insider's Journey Through Hollywood,'' with Robert Crane. University Press of Kentucky, 2012, p. 222.</ref>

ABC wanted Wagner's then-real life wife [[Natalie Wood]] to co-star with him as Jennifer Hart, but Wagner did not think it was a good idea. (Wood did make a cameo appearance in the pilot, as an actress playing [[Scarlett O'Hara]].) Initial choices for the role of Jennifer Hart included [[Suzanne Pleshette]], [[Kate Jackson]] (months removed from ending a three-year turn starring as detective Sabrina Duncan on ''[[Charlie's Angels]]'') and [[Lindsay Wagner]] (no relation), but Wagner suggested [[Stefanie Powers]], who had previously worked with him when she made a guest appearance in an episode of his action-adventure series ''[[It Takes a Thief (1968 TV series)|It Takes a Thief]]'' in 1970.<ref name="tom"/>

Wagner wanted [[Sugar Ray Robinson]] to portray Max, but ABC-TV executives were worried about a black man as majordomo for a rich white couple. Eventually they signed [[Lionel Stander]], who had also worked with Wagner in an episode of ''It Takes a Thief.'' In that episode, "King of Thieves", he had also played a character named Max, who was likewise a lifelong friend.

The main title theme for the series was scored by [[Mark Snow]].

Fashion and jewelry designer [[Nolan Miller]], who later designed the clothes for ''[[Dynasty (1981 TV series)|Dynasty]],'' was the costume designer for the show.

The [[ranch-style house]] used for exterior filming had previously belonged to actors [[Dick Powell]] and his wife, [[June Allyson]]. Powell was an old friend of both Robert Wagner and Aaron Spelling. The actual estate, known as Amber Hills, is situated on {{convert|48|acres}} in the [[Mandeville Canyon]] section of [[Brentwood, Los Angeles]]. In the series, the Harts' address is given as 3100 Willow Pond Road, Bel Air: the real address of the house is 3100 Mandeville Canyon Road. One episode was shot in [[San Diego, California]].<ref>(1983-12-01). ''Spotlight on filming in SD County''. ''[[Daily Times-Advocate]]'', 52, 56-57.</ref>

As with most of the Spelling library series under the control of [[Sony Pictures Television]], the series was remastered from the original masters in the 2000s for [[widescreen]] [[high-definition television|high definition]] presentation. This version of the series is currently a regular part of the schedule for [[Hallmark Movies & Mysteries]].