Ein Colt für alle Fälle

LOTS of us were Lee Majors fans coming out of the 60s and 70s. From his first big splash as Heath Barkley through the Six-Million-Dollar Man, Majors entertained us with his good looks and leading-man charisma. I can say that even as a guy. LOL

The Fall Guy was a great idea. Combining stunts with the first popular bail-bond agent concept. This was years before that long-haired guy in Hawaii. ;-)

"Howie" was more irritating that entertaining, but the show survived that, and ran a surprising five seasons. I'd have given it two, and that's probably how long we watched it before it ran it's course with us. Now we've picked it back up where we can binge it, and we'll likely watch all five seasons now. The episodes were entertaining but forgettable, so we'll be surprised at the stories all over again.

Some time back I was visiting David Sommerville, lead singer for the 50's doo-wop band The Diamonds ('Little Darlin'/'Why Do Fools Fall In Love') who was at the time, living in David (Kung Foo) Carradine's shack (literally) above Mulholland Drive in the Hollywood Hills. Looking around I joked with him that he must have stolen the idea for the outdoor bathtub from the opening credits of 'The Fall Guy' where Lee Majors is seen soaking with a stogy clenched firmly in his teeth. I was informed it was quite the opposite -

David was hired to do the music for a couple of TV specials chronicling the life of stuntmen by his friend and fellow composer; television producer Glen A. Larson. Shortly after, David began writing in anticipation of another installment of the series which never saw the light of day. While vacationing at Glen's place in Hawaii, he'd discovered the unused sheet music buried in his guitar case and as he began playing he caught Glen's attention. Wheels spinning, he changed the original name in the opening verse to Farah; "Well, I'm not the kind to kiss and tell but I've been seen with Farah", and picked up the phone -

As fate would have it, the 'The Six Million Dollar Man' had just been canceled so, with Majors on the other end they sang him the (soon to be theme) song; 'The Unknown Stuntman' and the television series 'The Fall Guy' was born. Now, about that bath tub -

Having been to the quirky Carradine/Sommerville "ranch" with it's tree-house house, outdoor plumbing and combination horse stables/guest quarters, Glen thought it was the perfect setting for the residence for his new lead character; Stuntman/Private Investigator, Colt Seavers..... Only in Hollywood!

Another classic teatime viewing experience from Glen Larson. Totally mindless, relaxing formulaic Larson stuff. The success and longevity of his series prove that old formulas work and this 5 year series was no exception. Colt , Howie and Jodie (most male viewers reason to watch!) were to the 80's what Xena is to a new generation.

The Fall Guy was just one in a whole list of classic 80's fare such as The A-Team, Dukes of Hazzard and Knight Rider. It featured Lee Majors as bounty hunter Colt Seavers and he was joined by his sidekick Howie Munson who was a bit naive at times. They were also joined by the beautiful Heather Thomas who played Jody Banks.

Like many 1980's action shows The Fall Guy was not to be taken seriously. The plots were crazy, the characters were crazier, the stories were rather mad at times and what can I say about the stunts-they were out of this world. Week after week Lee Majors topped his stunts and did things such as jumping from a plane without a parachute and jumping from tall bridges into water below.

Highly enjoyable series-but when will anyone release it onto video?

80s shows that you can still enjoy today. This cannot be said about many of the other shows out there at that time (Knight Rider, A-Team, all the ones I can't even recall anymore). Got to love that title tune sung by Lee himself as well :)