USA TV - Roger Moore as `The Saint` every Friday night on BBC America

Before taking over from Sean Connery as 007, Roger Moore portrayed Simon Templar, hero of Leslie Charteris's "Saint" novels — here's a man who dons a wet suit, swims at night to infiltrate a K.G.B. safe house and emerges with hair beautifully coiffured, looking like a male model.

BBC America has 43 color episodes of Seasons 3 and 4 and has been screening the show since April; it will be restarted this Friday at 9 at the beginning of the third season.

It is amusing to see Mr. Moore as the vain and charming Templar, whose less-than-saintly past as a jewel thief is glossed over — his notoriety, in fact, only seems to help him. Templar's mysterious background is never explained — he's a loner who travels to help those in need, always with the cloud of his rumored profession hanging over him. This week's episode is a typical one for "The Saint": a Russian scientist wants to defect, the scientist disappears, his beautiful daughter seeks Templar's help.

Mr. Moore graduated from the series to replace Connery as James Bond, where he removed the lethal, angry edge Ian Fleming had written into that character. His blithe characterization works better on "The Saint": Mr. Moore's portrayal may be shallow, but he looks great and everyone goes home happy.

Thanks to `Peter` for the alert.

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