Adventures in Paradise

The music was haunting. I can almost, just almost, grasp it now. Yes, even though I was a lot older than the previous commentator, the pull of exotic places was a good part of the programme's attraction, the desire to be far away doing anything and being anyone than where and what I was. However, for some reason I saw nothing of the last season.

ADVENTURES IN PARADISE held itself out to be a product of James A. Mitchener before I knew who he was, although Mitchener was already famous as the author of HAWAII which was published in 1959. The title came from his early work, but I cannot recall if he had anything substantive to do with the programme, but probably not given the notes on this web site.

This might be a mix-up with another series, but I think the first time any television episode was set in South Viet Nam was an ADVENTURES IN PARADISE number. One does recall, however, the knock-about Captain Troy was all over and a part of me wanted to be there under palms leaning with the night wind.

I was a fan of Adventures in Paradise (AIP) many years ago as a kid. It's nice to find a web site that has some info on it. Kudos to IMDB. I remember little more about this show than a big sailboat, a cute dark-haired girl, and a lot of exciting episodes. Oh, and of course, the theme music, which, by the way, you can download from a link on page 13 of this IMDB site. Many of these old TV shows were not preserved. Wouldn't it be nice if AIP was still available? I don't know if it is or not, but it would be fun to share it with my young ones. It beats much of what's on now. Makes you wonder what our kids will be reminiscing about years from now. Scary... I'm still looking for a site with photos from this series.

I was only eleven when the series debuted, but immediately developed a major crush on "Adam Troy". Yes the music was great. I know I would recognize it if I heard it but couldn't begin to tell you how it goes. Many balmy summer nights as I tried to get to sleep, I would fantasize about living in Tahiti on a white beach with turquoise water lapping at my feet, learning to surf, sailing a catamaran, sailing to exotic locales with "Adam" etc etc. You get the picture. Gardner McKay's life story was unique. Not your typical Hollywood ego maniac hunk. He seems to have been much more interested in the world than in having the world interested in him. Was very sorry to hear of his death in Nov 2001.

One of my first television memories - Born in 1956, my parents watched it faithfully, and I can still remember, as a young lad, being fascinated with faraway places such as shown on this show. The theme is still with me to this day. Perfect music. I wish I could now see the shows today, and see if they bring back more memories.

My call to the producers and owners of the rights of the series: Why not transcript all the episodes in a beautiful DVD box set, before thousands of meters of film are waisted in some remote forgotten draw... Like many of the fans, many young viewers would be delighted to discover what their elders have watched with so much passion in their youth! They would then understand why some of their parents became either sailors, adventurers or travellers, and had their lives changed by watching Captain Troy and his schooner Tiki!