Danger Theatre

THE SEARCHER is absolutely one of the true lost treasures of all time - hilarious stories , and Dietrich Bader is nothing short of a comic genius - it is amazing that this potential cult classic hasn't found its way onto DVD yet ,as i know my copies are hardly watchable , but i do , over and over - don't know how you would ever get to see this today , i as believe it was of FOX early in its lifetime , but if you get a chance do not miss it - if you have never seen it at all , i would describe it almost as SUPER DAVE MEETS THE GREATEST American HERO MEETS POLICE SQUAD in spoofs of such classics as SILENCE OF THE LAMBS AND GORILLA'S IN THE MIST - ABSOLUTELY MAGNIFICENT ! and if you know how to get this , SHARE IT WITH THE WORLD !

I watched this show while it was briefly on and thought it was hilarious. Keep in mind I was about twelve at the time. Bader is a black leather clad agent-type guy who goes around trying to find lost things/people. In one episode he goes to an elderly lady's house and while he is talking to her he keeps falling off of her plastic encased couch, due to the slipperiness of his leather outfit. The show is filled with lots of physical humor, probably why it was cancelled. This show was one of Fox's early mid season replacement filler's, and will go down in history right next to "Babes"

and "Herman's Head".

I remember seeing this on fox in the summer of 1993 - probably a 4 episode summer try-out. It was shown back to back, i recall, within the same 'theatre' with a mostly forgettable Adam West lead show called "tropical punch" - a bad bad parody of 'Hawaii 5-0' insulting to Jack Lord fans everywhere.

Diedrich Bader played a leather clad 'investigator' ala the 'hitchhiker' but at every turn he was killed. Comic violence in the style of 'itchy and scratchy' purposely put to live action. Great Stuff - the lasting memory is when he's investigating a crime or something on the Universal Studios lot in LA and opens the door to the stage where they are shooting 'backdraft' with incinerating results.

This show was not on for long - only a handful of episodes before being pulled; but we did get it in the UK, on BBC2, out of hours. It was a collection of 2 or 3 short themed comedy sketches crammed into twenty-five minutes.

Tropical Punch saw Adam West and co. as Hawaiin - or possibly Floridian, I can't remember - detectives, hot on the trail of a variety of small time crooks. For West, at least, it was kind of a reprise of his old Batman character but as a modern day detective. This and other skits were forgettable, but...

The Searcher, starring Diedrich Bader was pure slapstick gold. Bader played a leather clad biker-investigator with a heart of gold - a kind of one man A-team without all the guns etc. He was incredibly accident prone; the writers seemingly intent on having him really injured in any unlikely and painful way whenever possible; but like cartoon violence he was always OK and so it was dead funny.

Now, if only there was somewhere I could get these episodes to watch again - any suggestions anybody?

Although I remember the Robert Vaughn intros, what really stayed with me - to the point that years later I find myself trying to quote it - was The Searcher.

The Searcher could hear his own theme music (hmmm - catchy tune!) and had sound effects when he kicked, punched and jumped on his motorbike. He walked around saying things like "I search for things. I am.... The Searcher!" (whcih means the comedy was in the delivery and you had to be there!)

And no matter how many safes they pushed off tall buildings they never seemed to quite hit him. Slight but beautifully formed comedy.