Well here we are. The final instalment in the ‘Carter’s Classics’ mini-series.
The list of cult television programmes, games, films etc. could easily continue
for a rather long time. However, the weather is getting better and sitting hour
after hour in front of my computer now seems rather less attractive. I believe
a life beckons outside the confines of my front door.
Last month I featured a
selection of the programmes created by Gerry Anderson, a living legend. This
month the emphasis is on those involving Glen A.Larson. A name that you may not
be too familiar with, but I’m sure you’ve watched one of his many television
programmes. ‘Magnum P.I.’ (which he co-created along with
Donald P.Bellisario), ‘The Fall Guy’ (the show responsible for me at an early age
wanting to be a stunt man when I grew up!), ‘Knight Rider’, ‘Battlestar
Galactica’ and many others.
"A shadowy flight into the dangerous
world of a man who does not exist…”
‘Knight Rider’ starred a
young actor by the name of David Hasselhoff (a legend nowadays in
The pretence of the programme
was that Michael, along with his trusted stead, well car, championed the cause
of the innocent in a world where criminals operated above the law. Well that’s
what the opening credits used to say anyway. But let’s just take a look at that
car more closely. What a car! The Knight Industries
Two-Thousand, K.I.T.T. for short. It was actually based on an 1982 Pontiac Trans-Am, with a number of changes here and
there of course. General Motors did however release a ‘Knight Rider’ Edition of
the car off the back of the success of the television series apparently, but
this was withdrawn after somebody tried to ‘Turbo Boost’ over a train and
succeeded in injuring themselves in the process. The line between reality and
fiction can for some remain a blur.
In an article that appeared in TV Zone Magazine in
1994, David Bassom revealed that there were actually 4 cars used for filming
the show. One was a 'picture car' kept polished and perfect at all times which
was used for most shots, another was especially modified for K.I.T.T.'s famous
jumps, a third featured line-lock brakes and such safety devices as 'roll bars'
for dangerous stunts and a fourth featured a semi-functional ejector seat!
During the series, K.I.T.T.
regularly performed jumps of over 55 metres courtesy of carefully hidden 3ft
high ramps and air compressors, and even appeared to drive across water,
courtesy of a motor-driven submerged platform. When K.I.T.T. appeared to drive
itself, it was not the result of remote control but was in fact the work of
stunt-driver Jack Gill lying on the floor of the car and watching through a
small hole in K.I.T.T.'s bonnet to steer. Although this may sound like a
special skill, Gill later admitted that the key to his success was 'guesswork'!
For the high-speed driving, K.I.T.T. was taken up to 290km on open roads, while
on other times the film was speeded up - hence the occasional pedestrian can be
seen walking at speeds of over 50mph! Hasselhoff enjoyed performing many of his
own stunts, including K.I.T.T.'s distinctive 180-degree turns, but was banned
from doing so after one such turn went wrong, ruining one of the cars in the
process!
For enthusiasts of the show,
you can in fact turn your 1982 Trans-Am into ‘K.I.T.T.’. A company in the
states specialises in doing just this. You can either buy the bits and do it
yourself or buy one already made and ready to go. It does really look like the
real thing, but that’s because they managed to strip one of the actual cars
used in the television series and took note of every detail. Did you know that
K.I.T.T. didn’t actually work? The dashboard only worked when plugged into the
mains. Kind of shatters the illusion somewhat. If you want to find out more
then check out www.markscustomkits.com You haven’t got a
spare $40,000 have you?
K.I.T.T. was virtually
indestructible and possessed artificial intelligence capable of accepting voice
commands, as well as interacting with its operator and making decisions on its
own. The voice of K.I.T.T. was provided by William Daniels and you may also
remember K.A.R.R. – The Knight Automated Roving Robot, K.I.T.T.’s prototype
which had no regard for human life, unlike K.I.T.T. Anyway, this is now getting
sad so time to move on. Let’s just say ‘Knight Rider’ was very popular and
still is to this day, with video and DVD releases still planned over the next
year along with various re-runs worldwide. Rumours are also rife that David
Hasselhoff plans to bring ‘Knight Rider’ to the big screen. We shall wait and
see.
Another Glen A
Larson creation was ‘Battlestar Galactica’. Back in 1978, ‘Battlestar Galactica’ was seen as a
cutting-edge science fiction television show and it had an incredible budget,
$1 million per episode. This may be why it only ran for one season. The
original idea by Larson was to create a 'Wagon Train in Space'.
After a surprise
attack by the Cylons, a race of alien beings who seek the total eradication of human life the last and only
surviving Battlestar ‘Galactica’ sends word to all remaining humans to join a
crusade. A search for somewhere new to set up home and allow
mankind to re-establish itself. Numerous battles ensue as the Cylons
give chase and to be honest I can’t really remember if they ever did find
happiness. Part of the Battlestar crew included Apollo
(Richard Hatch – no relation to he who co-hosts with Lynne Duffus on BFBS Radio
1 – not that I know!) Starbuck (Dirk Benedict –
Remember Face from the A-Team?) and Boomer (Herb Jefferson Jnr – who I had the
chance to meet last year at Galileo 7 in
Imagine being in
suspended animation for over 500 years and then returning to Earth…The year was
2491 and astronaut William ‘Buck’
The character
first appeared as Anthony Rogers in a short space opera, Armageddon-2419 A.D.
by Philip Francis Nowlan. This was published in the August 1928 issue of
Amazing Stories. The character was an enormous success and ran as a syndicated
newspaper strip between 1929 and 1967. Buck Rogers was in fact the inspiration
behind Flash Gordon and many other superheroes. The updating of ‘Buck Rogers in
the 25th Century’ was the brainchild of Glen A.Larson again. It was seen as a
light-hearted, tongue-in-cheek show that blended elements of ‘Star Wars’ with
the old TV series, ‘Wild Wild West’. Gil Gerard and Erin Gray played the
characters of Buck and Wilma Deering and you may also remember Twiki, the
little robot “Hiya Buck”, which was voiced in the first season by Mel Blanc, of
Bugs Bunny fame, well I never.
“In 1972 a crack commando unit was sent
to prison by a military court for a crime they didn't commit. These men
promptly escaped from a maximum security stockade to the
In total there
were 90 one-hour episodes and 4 two-hour episodes produced. Following on from
his role as Starbuck in ‘Battlestar Galactica’, Dirk Benedict played Lieutenant
Templeton Arthur “Faceman” Peck in the
A-Team series. He was joined by Lieutenant Colonel John “Hannibal” Smith played
by the late George Peppard, Sergeant Bosco “Bad Attitude (B.A.)” Baracus played
by Mr. T and Captain H.M. “Howlin’ Mad” Murdock played by Dwight Schultz.
Week after week the A-Team would find themselves
helping the cause of the underdog whilst also avoiding capture from the
Military Police who were after them since their escape, but they always managed
to stay one step ahead. The amazing thing was the number of times the A-Team
ended up with their back against the wall and suddenly out of nowhere, in the
shortest possible time and with hardly any materials could suddenly build
something out of nothing to save the day. The show was phenomenally successful in the
Donald P.Bellisario is another name of significant
notoriety for cult television programmes of yesteryear. He was responsible for
‘Airwolf’, a Mach 1+ attack helicopter equipped with cutting-edge on-board
computer, surveillance and radar systems, able to fly quicker than the fastest
jets, and armed with awesome fire-power. Not bad eh? The actual helicopter was
modelled on a
In the series, ‘Airwolf’ had been constructed by
"The Firm", a mysterious, top secret division of the CIA, distinguishable by its agents’ all-white dress code (I
bet their dry cleaning bill was enormous!). However, whilst Airwolf showed off
to an assembled crowd on the occasion of its first test flight, its creator
decides to steal it to meet his own ends.
I suppose it was kind of a blackmail standoff between
the two really, in exchange for information, Hawk agreed to fly Airwolf on
certain missions. The show ran for four seasons overall. Sadly the aircraft
used for Airwolf crashed in
Bellisario’s best show for me was ‘Quantum Leap’.
Scott Bakula, he who currently plays Captain Jonathan Archer in Star Trek’s ‘
“Theorizing that one could time travel within his
own lifetime, Dr. Sam Beckett led an elite group of scientists into the desert
to develop a top secret project, known as Quantum Leap. Pressured
to prove his theories or lose funding, Dr. Beckett prematurely stepped into the
Project's Accelerator and vanished.
He awoke to find himself in the past, suffering
from partial amnesia, and facing a mirror image that was not his own.
Fortunately, contact with his own time was maintained through brainwave
transmissions with Al, the Project Observer, who appeared in the form of a
hologram that only Dr. Beckett can see and hear.
Trapped in the past, Dr. Beckett finds himself
leaping from life to life putting things right that once went wrong and hoping
each time that his next leap will be the leap home.”
‘Quantum Leap’
ran for a total of 96 episodes over five seasons with a rather unfair show
finale for the fans. Sam never gets home or at least we never know what happens
to him. Dean Stockwell played Al, his aide from the future with a liking for
the ladies and a rather loud dress sense. A number of special guests also
appeared on screen during the life of the show including Brooke Shields, Terry Farrell and it also helped
to launch the careers of several stars, Teri Hatcher and Jennifer Aniston.
We never, in the television series, find out who or
what is causing Sam to leap from person to person, as he tries to put right
something in their live’s in order to make the next leap, however for the
enlightened, who have read the books, there may be an answer. One of the publications is written as a
prequel and gives a lot more detail about what happened prior to Sam stepping
into the accelerator and leaping. Even though it never tells us who’s
controlling the leaping process it does go someway to explaining why he can’t
get back, espionage. Whilst Ziggy (the Project Quantum Leap supercomputer) is
being programmed, false information is fed into the machine. You see, you learn
something new every day.
The whole premise of ‘Quantum Leap’ was cool, I think I watched every episode, eventually. Dean and
Scott really worked well together on screen and with the constant playing off
of both characters it managed to escalate the show to its cult status, which it
today enjoys.
Another television show that managed to catch our
attention in the mid 1980’s featured not a car this time, or even
a helicopter, but a motorbike, but unlike any other you may have seen before.
‘Streethawk’ was a motorbike designed as a top secret government project,
capable of speeds of up to 200 mph or 300 mph with hyperthrust. It also
featured a laser cannon, machine guns, a rocket
launcher, infrared cameras and even a compressed air
vertical lift system. The series was somewhat short lived,
it only lasted for one season, 13 episodes. The show’s plot was simple enough.
A police officer named Jessie Mach is picked to test Street Hawk. His
partner Norman Tuttle, the designer of the motorcycle, is in charge of the
project. Jessie cruises the streets of
For some, the mere mention of the name
‘Streethawk’ brings back fond memories of growing up, however, for most a blank
expression would be the expected response. Despite its short run, the show had
its fair share of guest appearances from actors who, at the time, were I
suppose not that well known at all. Christopher Lloyd for example who went on
to be the mad doc from the Back to the Future Trilogy and a young actor by the
name of George Clooney, I wonder what happened to him!
I can easily recall Saturday afternoons
during my youth-spent watching ‘Wonderwoman’. An absolutely gorgeous young
actress, Lynda Carter, no relation I hasten to add, played the part of Miss
Diana Prince. An Amazonian Princess who, after an initial
trial leaves her home inside the Bermuda Triangle and heads to civilisation in
her invisible plane. Lynda Carter filled the role of Wonderwoman
perfectly and as many a teenage boy may say, in more ways than one. Armed with
her super human powers, lasso of truth, kinky boots, figure hugging bustier and
bullet proof golden wrist cuffs, Wonderwoman time and time again sought to save
America from the plans of evil conspirators and mad scientists. Here’s
something however I didn’t know, the only
restriction on Wonderwoman’s superhuman abilities was simple and rather ironic.
If her bracelets were linked together by a man, she lost her strength. Being
"bound by a man" was considered punishable by the goddesses. She also
lost her powers if her golden belt was removed and unlike Superman, she wasn’t
physically invulnerable.
Plans are still afoot to release an up-to-date feature
film at some point in the future. Rumours seem to be flying about to suggest
that Teri Hatcher, already famous for playing the part of
Well, as Bugs Bunny once said, that’s all folks! No
time to discuss ‘General Lee’ and the merits of Daisy, Bo, Luke, Uncle Jessie
or Boss Hogg in the ‘Dukes of Hazzard’.
I haven’t even got time to tell you about ‘Chips’ and how Frank
Poncherello played by Erik Estrada used to look like BFBS’s Kal Sutherland’s
long lost twin. And what about ‘The Bionic Woman’, ‘The Six Million Dollar
man’, ‘Miami Vice’ or even ‘Monkey’? Maybe a few to think
about for the future.
A number of the classic shows I’ve mentioned in this
months article are in fact now available on DVD from Universal. Check them out
online www.universal-playback.com
and whilst surfing don’t forget to visit www.neilcarter.net/classics.htm
for links to your favourite television programmes of yesteryear and catch up on
any of the previous articles which you may have missed over the last 5
editions. I hope I’ve at least managed to stir up a few memories during this
nostalgic look back at years gone by. Have a good summer.
Remember you can listen to Neil Carter on BFBS Radio
1’s Germany Breakfast Show every weekday from 6 til 9am.