Thunder in Paradise

This show was not good in the least, but it made up for it by being so incredibly corny that at least you could watch it without being bored. I think at this point in Hogan's career he was trying to wrestle very minimally and wanted to work more on his acting. Well we all know that most of his credits are very horrid, in this show it is the so bad it is kind of good category. This show would quickly run its course and he would once again wrestle quite a bit, but for what it was worth it is probably the most successful endeavor he had as an actor. The show featured him and this other dude as they used this super boat to take down criminals and strange things that borderlined on copyright infringement laws. The boat was a bit absurd as it looked like a normal speed boat on the outside, but then they go below decks and the thing looks like it is the size of a small yacht. Of course, with Hulk Hogan being the star of the show, other wrestlers made appearances which I am sure made the show seem cheap to the casual viewer, but excited young children who enjoyed wrestling back in the day. The one I remember the most is Sting. I can not say that I have seen all the episodes, in fact my best is I have seen perhaps ten or so of the shows. I usually caught it on late at night when I had nothing else to do. Was entertaining for what it was, made me chuckle at the badness of it all.

This was a largely undistinguished show. The actors were likable enough but the scripts were pretty lame.

But one thing that makes this series of interest to Disney fans is that it was produced at the Disney-MGM Studios at Walt Disney World and virtually all of their exterior locations were on property at Walt Disney World. Alert eyes familiar with WDW can spot a number of resorts and parks that were used. EPCOT Center provided international settings. Underwater scenes were shot at the Living Seas pavilion.

You won't see this very often. Disney has rarely allowed outside productions at their parks.

Thuuuuuuuuuunder, thunder in paradise. There's a hurricane a blowing near over the water. Waiting in anticipation for the action to begin.

I still remember the theme tune from when I used to watch it as a teenage. I used to like the boat and the nice location, it's kinda like poor mans Airwolf or Knight Rider (Or Knight Boat from The Simpsons.) I used to like it as a kid but i'll probably hate it now.

I first saw this not as a series, but as a movie in Italy. I was surprised because everything in Italy was dubbed, and this was not. Not even subtitles. But the audience didn't seem to mind. They loved it. Carol Alt (one of the regulars), was a huge star in Italy, and this was all about her. She gets kidnapped, and ends up in a "Morocco" type country, and has to be rescued. You get the picture. But I was surprised by the quality of the writing, directing, and especially the production values. Beautifully photographed, and just a delight. Clever. Yes, Hulk Hogan was even clever (well, the writer made him clever, and the director made him a good actor).

When I back home came to the States, I soon discovered that what I saw was once a two part episode, that had extra footage shot, and made into a feature for foreign distribution (though I think now you can get these on DVD). They did this for a few of the shows. The actual series was running on TV, and I watched them all with my kids. They got better and better. As I've read, they were all shot at Disney World, and Disney, (which was not the production company), opened up their doors. Literally. They even shot in Sleeping Beauty's Castle, and had their high-tech talking stealth boat in the moat! Jack Lemon's son, Chris was Hulk's sidekick, and showed both his father's humor, along with a new kind of intensity. Of course Carol Alt was wonderful, and my all time favorite, Patrick Macnee from the original "ADVENGERS" series gave it the foundation and roots you need. You know, like Leo G. Carroll in "The Man From "U.N.C.L.E.", or Edward Mulhare in "Knightrider". But Patrick is in a class all his own.

I'm sure TV budgets aren't that big, but every episode looked like a feature film. Lots of great guest stars, especially from the ranks of wrestling, when they had stars! Lots of original music too. This was produced, I've discovered by the same guys who brought you "Baywatch". This was so much better. Maybe because they were able to get off the hot sand! You can see a lot of the same formula, but this one actually had well written story's, good dialogue, and movie class action and special effects (the explosions were spellbinding!). In one episode I believe they blew up an entire school! And this is before CGI.

It's easy to put shows like this down. Especially when Hulk Hogan is in it. And this was long before his entire family went on TV, and then self-destructed. But really. It takes a special talent to pull something like this off… give you comedy, action, warmth, and even emotion and message! I wish they'd bring this back. I can't think of a show on TV these days that has such wonderful "escapism"! Ah, for the days of "Thunder In Paradise", and "Magnum PI"!

If Hulk Hogan hadn't been in this show, I would not have watched it. It was only the appearance of Hogan that attracted me to this show in the first place.

I always loved shows about super vehicles. In the 80's we had Airwolf (a helicopter), Knight Rider (a talking car) and Street Hawk (a motorcycle). Thunder in Paradise was about a super boat far superior to any normal boat.

I quite like Hogan's appearances in films but Thunder in Paradise was pretty unspectacular. There was one good episode where WCW wrestler Sting appeared but the rest of the series was pretty average.

This show is only really suitable for Hulk Hogan fans who can't get enough of the man (like me).