The Green Hornet

You often wonder why this show only was on for one season and how Batman outlived it. This has to be one of the best superhero shows to ever be shown on television and the thing that made it work was that it didn't rely on camp or the crazy quilt of villains that Batman did. Instead, it pretty much was, more or less, a straight crime drama with very little frills unlike other similarly themed shows that were on the air at the same time. Also, Van Williams and Bruce Lee showed that you can have good acting in a superhero show. Too bad that this show never really was given a chance to catch on. If given the time it deserved, it probably would have outlived Batman.

The best thing about The Green Hornet TV Series is that it is really a show for Adults that will entertain children too. The tone of the series and the storylines where so far ahead of their time and gritty back in 1966 and 1967 and as a consequence of this The Green Hornet was often (and unfavourably) cast in the shadow of the far less superior, campy Batman TV Show. The episodes often dealt with the Mafia, Chinese Triads, Drug Abuse et al, but all done in a glossy exciting way remeniscent of the Marvel comics being churned out by Stan Lee and co at the same time. The most remarkable thing is the onscreen chemistry between Van William's Green Hornet/Britt Reid and megastar in waiting Bruce Lee's Kato. Firstly Van Williams as The Green Hornet and his millionaire alter ego Britt Reid, the publisher of the Daily Centenal is as good as the best actors to play Superheroes. He is certainly as good as George Reeves was as Superman, and alot more believable than Adam West's Batman. Williams plays the role with an air of Sean Connery-esque suave, cool and confidence making for a memorable Green Hornet. Bruce Lee is simply a revelation as Kato, possesing an confidence and arrogance in the role really lifting the character of Kato off the comic book page. Together Williams and Lee work excellent. You get the impression that these guys really are the best of buddies and would die for one another. All this is met by fantastic production values culminating in the most impressive representations of superhero movie vehicles, the sublime Black Beauty. There is also the memorable opening credits set to the whirling theme tune by Billy May.

On the downside it might just be possible that the series takes itself too seriously. But there is enough here to enjoy. Five minutes of Bruce Lee in action as Kato is worth an admission fee, trust me. The writers, and producer William Dozier came up with a great representation of the Fran Striker and George W Trendle characters : an exciting, action packed series, with the odd blimp not withstanding was far too under-rated and undervalued. Kevin Smith and Jake Gyllenhall, the future of The Green Hornet is now in your hands. Do your best guys.

This was meant to be an action-adventure series about the grand-nephew of Texas Ranger John Reid (better known as The Lone Ranger) and a stacked luxury car named "Black Beauty", but ended up being a vehicle for the great Bruce Lee and his amazing exhibitions of the martial arts.

While it didn't have the hilarious campiness of William Dozier's other series "Batman", it did have some goofiness about it. I recall one show featuring Canadian actor Larry D. Mann as some kind of freaky space dude who landed at Britt Reid's home to negotiate their takeover of humanity through the Daily Sentinel. This episode also showed Reid interrupting his TV station's programming via some broadcast console in his living room (yeah, no home should be without one) to warn viewers to take shelter and stay calm.

The fact they had this false floor in Britt Reid's garage that clamps onto that bitchin' sports car, so that the floor can turn upside down and allow Black Beauty to roar out and save the day was kinda fun. Oddly, the Reid estate seems to be within a block of a seedy area of Central City, as Green Hornet, Kato and the rolling arsenal fly out from behind a billboarded wall, onto a conveniently abandoned street!!

Of course, we can forgive all the wacky inconsistencies of the show, when we see the great Bruce Lee in action. Well worth sitting through all the silliness just to see that. How sad sexy Wende Wagner watched her career nosedive after Green Hornet. I always liked the idea of a fighting reporter like Mike Axford. Britt Reid must have been a one-of-a-kind publisher, because I just couldn't imagine a maverick like Axford working for control-freaks like William Randolph Hearst.

Did I mention that I liked Bruce Lee?

I have been a Green Hornet fan since the TV series first appeared in 1966. I was very angry when ABC took it off the air after the first season without even having the decency to run reruns. I first had to do with reel-to-reel recordings to help me remember my favorite TV show, so when I finally found a source for the videotapes I was thrilled. These tapes like most pirated tapes made from the TV were not very clear and suffer horribly from the butchering TV stations do to fit in the extra commercials added to recycled TV shows. I am eagerly waiting for the day when Fox finally decides to put out official uncut epsiodes. For all that butchering, the Green Hornet series has held up very well considering that 33 years have passed since that first airing. While a lot of people like to compare the Green Hornet TV series to the Batman series, it is like comparing apples and oranges. The Batman series, although it was typical of the overblown psychedelica of the mid 60's, is considered by this long time Batman reader to be an insult to one of comicdom's most powerful characters, an error that was not rectified until the first Batman movie (Micheal Keaton?- who woulda' thought?). The Green Hornet series does not owe its style to psychedelica but is closer in feeling to the black and white detective stories of the forties and fifties, and especially to the original radio show of the 40's. Also the Green Hornet TV series was designed to be more serious in tone with James Bond in mind than that horrid Batman show. I believe that given the time restrictions of the half hour format the Green Hornet did quite well. After all, there was a lot of stuff to fit in that short time including the story set up, the story itself, and the conclusion- and adding the gadgets and Bruce Lee's Gung Fu. Especially considering that all 30 mins were not alloted to the story but time had to be allowed for commercials. The driving, jazzy theme by Al Hirt fitted the series beautifully. The Black Beauty still is the greatest, and coolest supercar to ever hit the streets. Van Williams, who played the Green Hornet, was the sexiest man on TV then- those eyes!!! And Bruce Lee was great in his first TV series. In other words see the Green Hornet, and enjoy for what it is. Don't expect Camp, or pychedelica, and don't expect to see Bruce Lee as the star of the show. Remember it is called THE GREEN HORNET. BTW re: the comment from the Irish chap- leather mask?, peaked cap? excuse me... the masks used were plastic formed to the shape of the actors' faces, and Kato's hat wasn't peaked, at least not the way I define it.

"The Green Hornet" first started his long crime-fighting career-and remains to this day-an urban variation of the Western cowboy hero The Lone Ranger. In fact,the popular version of the "Green Hornet",a vigilante superhero,was first imagined by Lone Ranger originator George W. Trindle,and writer Fran Striker in the late 1930's,first appearing on radio,and later on during the 1940's made the transition from radio to theaters with two low budget but very popular multi-part serials which starred Gordon Jones as the heroic Britt Reid and Keye Luke as his ever devoted sidekick Kato. "The Green Hornet" being so very popular in the movies and on the radio made the leap into the comics too. Over the years the character has appeared in comic books series from publishers Holyoke to Harvey Comics,Dell Comics,and finally to coincide with the Gold Key in the 1960's,as part of the TV series,and most recently in DC Comics. As part of the story of The Green Hornet is concerned,the story genealogically speaking,was a man who was bent on fighting for justice and triumphs over the forces of evil. In fact,The Green Hornet,Daily Sentinal owner and millionaire Britt Reid,was the grand-nephew of John Reid,The Lone Ranger. More to the point,Britt modeled his life on his famous ancestor,right down to his life's mission,choice of sidekick and job-related gear. Instead of an Native American sidekick(Tonto),Britt Reid worked with another "ethnic" outsider,the Asian adversary and humble servant and sidekick Kato. Instead of a great white steed named Silver,Britt chased down criminals in a rolling black arsenal called The Black Beauty. Both heroes fought their criminals with masks and hats,to hide their secret identities. The Green Hornet's main nemesis was the mob and corruption,rather than rustlers,nefarious cowboys and Indians,but if you think about it his dedication to fighting crime was about the same as his grand-uncle's in which the setting was the mean streets of the big city instead of the wild west.

Despite these variations,especially during the mid-1960's that "The Green Hornet" continued onward in popularity in the new format of the series created by William Dozier,who was executive producer of this series under his company Greenway Productions and produced through Twentieth Century-Fox Television. In the spring of 1966,after the runaway success of "Batman",every major television network at the time was looking to repeat the success of the Adam West-Burt Ward series which was a huge hit for ABC. Usually with the other silly or campy which consisted of shows like "Captain Nice and Mister Terrific",or for that manner the spy genre of "Get Smart",and "The Man From U.N.C.L.E.", Dozier was behind the brains of adapting "The Green Hornet" for television,though he also had the rights to create other projects for television,DC's Wonder Woman(which wasn't produced until the 1970's),and Dick Tracy. The TV series starred Van Williams as Britt Reid,and Bruce Lee as his loyal companion and fierce sidekick Kato. For the most part,the series was more serious than Dozier's "Batman",since most of the attention went toward Bruce Lee,who would go on to become one of the greatest International action stars of all time,due to this series. But the real star of "The Green Hornet" was a customized 1966 black Chrysler Imperial. As far as the villains were concerned,this was a show that did not have freaks who wore outrageous outfits,but some of the villains on the show were either counterfeiters,bootleggers,thieves, corrupt politicians,drug runners,crooked cops,and arsonists. For the most part this was basically your average "crime drama" with a kick. As far as the action were concern,the fight scenes were often brutal with Bruce Lee showing some of his breathtaking martial arts action,which was the best part of the entire show. The series also starred Wende Wagner,Lloyd Gough and Walter Brooke. Only 26 episodes were produced for ABC-TV which ran for one season from its premiere episode on September 9, 1966 and ended on March 17,1967. The show was on Friday nights and had some stiff competition against the fantastically inventive and popular,"The Wild,Wild West"(CBS,1965-1969), and also against the Ron Ely series "Tarzan"(NBC,1966-1969). It was preceded by the Irwin Allen action/science fiction series "The Time Tunnel"(ABC,1966-1967). In order to save the show and boost ratings,the two superheroes met on an "Batman" episode titled "A Piece Of The Action"(3/1/67),and its continuation "Batman's Satisfaction"(3/2/67)where The Green Hornet and Batman(along with Robin and Kato)take on a diabolical villain played by Roger C. Carmel. As the result of low-ratings,The Green Hornet was cancelled by ABC after just one season,but with the episodes it was rarely run or rarely seen in its original form in syndication,which is still rarely seen today but can be seen again through the advanced technology of video and DVD. Shortly after the demise of the series,the success of Bruce Lee proved phenomenal beyond belief. After his death in 1973,he was still quite popular,and a compilation film consisting of Green Hornet episodes was released here in the states to great acclaim. The films were released between 1973 and 1976. The second Green Hornet film called "Fury Of The Dragon",released in 1976 was a smash hit with audiences.

In recent years,there has been talk of bringing the adventures of The Green Hornet to the big screen,and there is a feature film in the works directed by Kevin Smith and starring Jason Mewes as Britt Reid and Jet Li as Kato.