Sea Hunt

Back in the late 1950's, "Sea Hunt" was one of the biggest hits on TV. It inspired a small score of short-lived knockoffs like "Aquanauts" (from the same producers, Ivan Tors and Ziv TV) and "Assignment Underwater", as well as an airborne "Sea Hunt" called "Ripcord" (also from Tors and Ziv).

Today this gem sits in the Sony Pictures archives, gathering "seaweed". Which is a crying shame, because this was a cool adventure show, the ultimate in shows for the man's man. Former B-actor Lloyd Bridges escaped the obscurity list to take on the role of no-nonsense scuba diver Mike Nelson. There simply couldn't be any other actor made for such a rugged role... Bridges was the one, bar none. His craggy, determined looks made him a natural. That was proved 26 years after the last original "Sea Hunt" aired, when Ron "Tarzan" Ely was cast as Nelson in a tepid remake. Ely was rugged, but he simply wasn't Lloyd Bridges. At least the character of Nelson obviously led a charmed life, for the revival added a hottie for his daughter, played by Kim Sissons.

Add in some impressive underwater photography, courtesy of Ricou Browning and Courtney Brown, and some serious stunts (many courtesy of Bridges himself), throw in some taut scripts, and you have a show that is dying to be resurrected on DVD.

Note: Avoid the 1987 revival like the plague. Boring as sin.

"Sea Hunt" is a Ziv Television Production, produced with the cooperation of Marineland of the Pacific, Los Angeles. Owned by the MGM division of Sony Pictures. 155 episodes were filmed between 1957 and 1961.

What a night. Perry Mason then Have Gun, Will Travel followed by Gunsmoke (when it was a half hour) and finally at 10:30PM came 'Sea Hunt' with its wonderful opening theme music and Mike's boat sailing off to a new adventure. Terrific.. Regardless of the story it was the lead character (played by Lloyd Bridges), strong, honest, sincere. A Man's Man and a Boy's Man. This brought on an interest in boats that lasted for years. Why they don't show on cable or make it available on video, no idea.. Too bad.

Gee I miss Sea Hunt. I probably started watching and remembering it when I was eight or nine years old. By that time it was already four or five years in re-run. I can't remember any specific episodes but, I do have very fond memories of Mike Nelson and every shows promise of adventure with a pleasant finale. No tremendous explosions or unrealistic battle scenes, just a good solid yarn that always seemed like a recounting of a real event. The undersea photography, supported by background sounds of Mike's breathing through SCUBA gear, remains etched in my mind!

In a sense, today's Bay Watch, in a "cheesecake" sort of way carries on the tradition of simple honest story line, lack of violence and down-to-earth adventure telling. I'd still rather watch Sea Hunt, I must be getting old.

I don't think my family ever missed an episode of Sea Hunt! We all looked forward to seeing it every week. I remember that I wanted to experience all the adventures that Mike Nelson (wonderfully portrayed by Lloyd Bridges) and go off with him wherever he went. To heck with running off with the circus - I'd have run off with Mike Nelson! This was good stuff for boys to watch. I seem to recall that my mom liked it as well. PLEASE show this on some cable channel! I want to tape every episode.

Lloyd Bridges will always be Mike Nelson of Sea Hunt. I'm sorry but I just can't think of this late actor any other way. He did some comedy and was in several films and another TV series but this Scuba diving series of his was tops. His voice over narration really was unique and made the show what it was. It doesn't seem to be anywhere on any cable channel which is too bad.