Classic TV

Classic shows that have almost been forgotten, as well as shows that should probably have been forgotten

Classic TV

Lost Gems: The Green Hornet (1966)

25 June 2010 Rob Buckley Post a comment

The Green Hornet

Back in the 60s when Batman was at the height of its popularity, the ABC network looked around for a similar superhero show to cash in on Batman‘s success. They hit upon an old radio programme, The Green Hornet, about newspaper proprietor Britt Reid who pretends to be the eponymous masked criminal so that he can stop actual criminals.

The producers soon cast Van Williams as Reid, but that was actually the least important bit of casting on the show. One notable aspect of the story format was that Reid was assisted in his fight against crime by his Asian man-servant, Kato. The producers looked far and wide before eventually landing upon a little known Hong Kong movie star for the coveted role.

That star was Bruce Lee.

As a result of that casting, The Green Hornet became possibly the only show in history where nobody really gave a toss about the lead character. The only character anyone was interested in was Kato, thanks to Bruce Lee’s incredible martial arts prowess. In Hong Kong, The Green Hornet was actually called The Kato Show.

Unfortunately, it was a short-lived show, lasting only a season. The fact that rather than camp and cheesy, the producers opted for straight-laced probably didn’t help, but having a dull lead character really didn’t help either.

Nevertheless, The Green Hornet‘s legacy lives on. Chinese martial artist Jet Li (best known here from Lethal Weapon 4) did more or less an entire film in the Kato costume, and Kill Bill Volume 1‘s massed fight scene sees “the Crazy 88” all wearing Kato masks. And in 2011, Seth Rogen (Knocked Up) and Asian martial arts star Jay Chou will be starring in a movie version of The Green Hornet.

Here then, for your delectation is the weird old title sequence of The Green Hornet, a clip of the show’s most famous fight scene, followed by an absolute treat – Bruce Lee’s original screentest for the show, which shows you simply how impressive a man he was.

Classic TV

Weird old title sequences: The Magician (1973)

18 June 2010 Rob Buckley 4 Comments

Bill Bixby as The Magician

I was ever so tempted to do The Equalizer today, what with Russell Crowe having been lined up this week for the movie remake. But somehow, I still couldn’t resist doing The Magician.

Before Bill Bixby ever got angry and changed into The Incredible Hulk – but some time after he was best pals with My Favorite Martian – he was the adventurous Anthony “Tony” Blake (Anthony Dorian in the pilot before someone pointed out that was the name of a real magician).

Like The A-Team, Blake had been wrongly convicted of a crime, and sent to prison overseas. However, with his cellmate, he discovered a way to escape. On the outside, the cellmate died and left Blake a fortune, enabling him to pursue a career in his new interests of escapology and stage magic – and to help people who were the victims of injustice. He also got to live in a Boeing 737 and a castle.

Notably, other than in the pilot, Bill Bixby insisted on doing all the magic tricks depicted himself – after the series was cancelled, Bixby went on to host a string of magic specials on NBC and a syndicated magic series as well.

It lasted two seasons, and managed to have two weird title sequences. Love the voice over on the second, but the animation on the first is killer.

Classic TV

Lost Gems: The Ritz (1987)

11 June 2010 Rob Buckley 9 Comments

The Ritz

You know what British TV is sorely lacking right now? Entirely studio-based comedy-dramas in which Northern bouncers have relationship issues, talk to camera and sing the hits of Cole Porter. We need more of these, I feel, since The Ritz hasn’t been on in over 20 years.

The Ritz was based on the stage play, Bouncers, also written by John Godber, and was a six-part BBC series set in newly established night club The Ritz. Three bouncers (Chike played by Paul Rider, Skodge played by Andrew Dunn and Kenny played by Andrew Livingstone) helped to protect the club from rival club owner Mad Mick (Richard Ridings), while simultaneously juggling their love lives. It was very weird, but very popular, so when it ended, a sequel series called The Continental got commissioned.

But don’t take my word for its enjoyability: watch an episode of it on YouTube.

Classic TV

Weird old title sequences: It Takes A Thief (1968)

28 May 2010 Rob Buckley Post a comment

It Takes A Thief

Ah, what tangled TV webs we weave. We’ve done a lot of ‘cult’ American TV shows over the last few months and that gives us a certain set of building blocks to work with. Let’s try joining them all up.

Take Tales of The Gold Monkey. That was created by Donald P Bellisario, who also created Magnum, Quantum Leap and various other shows.

He learnt his craft working with Glen A Larson, creator of Knight Rider, Battlestar Galactica and, of course, Manimal.

Then there was Hart to Hart, which was created by neither of them, but starred Robert Wagner and Stefanie Powers. What links all these shows?

Well, it was It Takes A Thief, one of whose producers was Glen A Larson, and which starred the then movie actor… Robert Wagner. Oh, and Stefanie Powers guest-starred on the episode Fortune City.

So that’s Tales of the Gold Monkey linked to It Takes A Thief. Easy.

Actually, I could have done it with Switch, as well, which Glen A Larson created, Donald P Bellisario wrote for and Robert Wagner starred in, but that would have been way too easy. And I’m doing It Takes A Thief this week, so ner.

(God, long intro this, huh?)

Anyway, It Takes A Thief (originally called Magnificent Thief) starred Wagner as cat burglar, pickpocket and thief, Alexander Mundy, who steals to finance his playboy lifestyle. He’s in prison when the US government’s SIA (secret intelligence agency) proposes a deal: steal for the government in exchange for his freedom. He takes the deal and for over two seasons, steals things for his SIA boss Noah Bain (Malachi Throne) – who later turns out to be the police detective who caught Mundy in the first place

Sounds a bit like White Collar, doesn’t it? They’re both the properties of 20th Century Fox. Hmm, coincidence?

Robert Wagner and Malachi Throne

I never watched any of this – way before my time – but I am intrigued to learn that Fred Astaire popped up during the third season playing Alistair Mundy, Alexander’s father who is also a master gentleman-thief. If you want to know more, there’s a lovely Cinema Retro article on it.

But what I do know right now is that it had a weird – but very cool – old title sequence:

“Let me get this straight – you want me to steal.”

Here’s an old promo for it: in case you recognise the voice, it’s the guy who did the voiceover at the start of… The Invaders. See, everything’s linked.

And here’s the entire pilot episode, which I might watch at my convenience, too.

Classic TV

Weird old title sequences: Pipkins (1973-1981)

21 May 2010 Rob Buckley 2 Comments

Hartley Hare

Death. Always a good thing in kids’ stuff, hey? Bambi’s mum dying – that was great, wasn’t it? Ditto Simba’s dad in The Lion King.

Back in the day, there was a TV programme called Pipkins. Or at least, that’s what it eventually became known as. It started as Inigo Pipkin, the main character being an elderly puppet maker called Inigo Pipkin played by George Woodbridge. During the course of Inigo Pipkin, Pipkin brought to life a series of puppets including Topov the monkey and Octavia the ostrich.

However, Woodbridge died during the recording of the second series. In a first for children’s television, Inigo’s death was worked into the programme. From this episode onwards the show was renamed Pipkins, and Inigo’s assistant, Johnny (Wayne Laryea), took over. The direction of the programme also changed, the show no longer centering around a puppet workshop and the characters becoming “The Help People”, helping anyone in need.

Most iconic of all the puppets was Hartley Hare, a very arch hare who loved to be the centre of attention. As this weird old title sequence and series of clips shows you.