for my wife and I, this is one of our favorite TV series of all time. Stingray managed comedy, action, spy motifs, sci-fi, social relevance, romance, and just plain fun all at the same time. Nick Mancuso brought it off with a remarkable charm that sold the show.I have read recently that the series stopped because Mancuso could not see himself being tied down to a series any longer. Having read many times of Mancuso's quirky and independent slant regarding life and career, I had no trouble believing that to be true. However, its too bad. This was the role of a lifetime for any versatile actor, and looking back, I'll bet he realized that he could have stood a few more years of a quality role such as Ray, compared to some of the weak supporting roles he was stuck with in years thereafter. Like many actors, he probably eschewed the TV bird in the hand feeling that a long string of strong leading roles was within his grasp. And like many actors, he found that future to be ultimately elusive.The show's concepts of mercenary help for barter, and a supremely mysterious main character, were very different and highly enjoyable. Mancuso's ability to mold himself into many personas ... just as enjoyable. His southern accent? Not so good, but forgivable in view of the hours of entertainment he brought otherwise. LOL I managed to buy a serviceable set of DVDs of this series from the recent release, but unfortunately the DVD production is not as good as one might hope.

One of the things I admired about the show was the quality of the scripts. Not only did the plots vary considerably as to genre (mystery, science fiction, crime drama, psychological drama) but there appeared to be a concerted effort to explore different writing styles and devices.For example: I recall one episode that was a 'Mission Impossible'-style caper with a unique twist-- the first half of the show was how the caper was SUPPOSED to come off, while the second half was how disastrously wrong it (nearly) turned out. Another show featured a mystery writer who appeared to write what was happening to Ray as it was happening-- that Ray's actions and the plot were under the writer's control, not Ray's.

This was one of my favorite shows. I guess I like stories in which the good guy always makes the "clever" bad guys look like idiots and still make it believable. But then, I'm very easily fooled and was more so when I was 25 and this show was new. Nick Mancuso was convincing and the co-stars were always experienced actors such as Robert Vaughn.

I got hooked on the late night reruns of the show during the late 80s. The show had interesting storylines, an intriguing main character, and some beautiful songs. My favorite songs being "I'll Fly Away", "Ether", and the song from the episode featuring the construction project over the sacred Indian burial ground. I just love rewatching those episodes and I never get sick of those songs.