Legend

If there ever was a show that deserved a fair chance to find its audience, or for its audience to find it, it was Legend. It had everything going for it. Everything except network executives with the discernment to recognize what they had. Anderson and de Lancy were the perfect actors for the roles of Pratt/Legend and Bartok, and the chemistry between them was pure magic. I haven't enjoyed a show with such an outrageous premise and sly humor since The Wild Wild West.

I place Legend in the small and sad category of TV shows that truly died before their time.

Legend ranks up there as one of the best vehicles that Richard Dean Anderson has ever done. His character(s) of Ernest Pratt/Nicodemus Legend were unique to anything he had ever done before. RDA admits that this was the project that he loved the best patterning Ernest Pratt after his grandfather. It would be wonderful if Paramount, who still owns the rights to the show, would allow Mr. Anderson and Mr. de Lancie to reprise their roles in a made for TV movie. Both have said that they would be delighted to do so. For anyone who hasn't seen this delightful show, check with TVLand who has shown it at least once in the past.

Funny, well written, decent characters. Bartok was a great character, especially in his scenes with the German hunters. Ramos, with his indeterminately long Harvard stay, really went beyond the stereotypical "Mexican sidekick".

Pity it never found an audience and joins the ranks of The Adventures of Brisco County Jr. and Wild Wild West, sci-fi westerns that have gone too soon.

As webmaster of The Unofficial Nicodemus Legend Page (please use a search engine if you want to find it, as IMDB requests that URLs not be included), I've been in a position to learn much about "Legend" in the five years since its untimely demise. This was a show almost universally loved, yet killed when a station not yet available in most of the country couldn't get ratings. Richard Dean Anderson and John DeLancie both cite "Legend" as among their favorite projects of all time. It is my hope that Paramount (or whoever currently holds the rights to this program) will eventually release the episodes to videotape. Or better yet, maybe some company could get the rights to a new series. Given a chance to GET the audience (which UPN never gave it) this is a show that could be very successful.

If "The Wild, Wild West" and "Maverick" had a child, it would have been "Legend." How could anyone ask for a better issue? I watch my home burned DVD's often. The 11 episodes, plus the double length pilot film are smart, funny and exciting. While I don't think there will be a new series (Anderson, it seems, has left SG-1 because of the time it takes him away from his family), it would be a great thing should the occasionally TV film could be brought out. It would be wonderful to see what Bartok could use to bring Pratt out of retirement. Perhaps if a young impersonator calling himself Legend was involved in something illegal, that might be enough. Whatever it would take, I would be right there to watch. Here's hoping.