cal42 wrote:This is real spooky
. I saw this episode a couple of months back and even took VERY similar screen grabs
. I was just about to do the exact same post when I decided people would think I was either being really anal or berating me for watching the Fall Guy
.
Anyhow, suffice it to say, The Fall Guy was a major draw for me as a kid. I just loved it to bits and, sad as I am, pre-ordered the first season as soon as I saw it was being released (I was at work at the time and my whoops of delight caused some unwanted attention when I should have been working). I've nearly finished the season now and it's obviously a product of its time but I still find some of it really fun - like this episode, as it happens! I can't get over the fact, though, that the stuntman who doubles for Lee Majors (and it seems to be the same guy throughout) is so obviously NOT Lee Majors. Why didn't I notice this as a kid? The innocence of youth? Lower definition TVs? Anyhow, the only episode that I really didn't like was
the Adventures of Ozzie and Harold, which I thought was a real drag. And I think I was a little too young on first viewing to appreciate what Heather Thomas brought to the series!
Anyway, back on topic, it
is definitely Chang Cheh's
Water Margin shown in the clip.
My biggest wish as an 11-year-old was to have Colt Seavers' GMC Sierra Grande some day. Now
those were wheels, man! Hell, I probably figured I could pull off the same four-point landings, too, never once realizing how much modification had to be done to pull that off!
Nevertheless, the best I could muster at the time was the model kit (which is still in storage somewhere!) and the little die-cast version, which is one of the few trinkets that actually sits on my bookshelves, but I eventually did own a big-ass shiny new 4x4 for a time in the mid 90's, even if it was a different model. I wonder if I got it just so I could play that
theme song while I was driving around! Geez, no shame here, eh?
I had a feeling the show would be a product of its time, so I went with the half-season Vol. 1 set just to be safe. The pilot is still pretty cool (and one of the few places you can hear the
complete theme song), but there's such a heavy lean towards stunt footage from other movies being intercut with the Lee Majors footage (something I knew even as a kid), as well as that cheapo 80's technique of shooting non-action outdoor footage without sound, and dubbing in dialogue after-the-fact (when the camera's on one person, the other speaks in voice-over only, and vice-versa). And you're so right about Majors' stunt double!
That "samurai" fight at the end was pretty ridiculous! Gotta love how Seaver's stunt training (which in reality would be built at least partially around illusion), always gets him out of even the worst situations - like swordfighting!
This 'Hawaii' episode was particularly galling in that it was so obviously not really shot in Hawaii, and most of the stock footage of the place clearly dated to the late 60's (you can always tell by the cars!). I haven't finished watched disc 3 yet, but I do notice there's a two-part Hawaii episode, so I wonder if they actually went to Hawaii for those ones after taking some flack for faking it so poorly in this one!
I know Heather Thomas brought
something to the series right from the get-go, although it certainly wasn't a knack for great acting. But I do know for certain what she REALLY brought to the series: that legendary blue bikini, which I'm told didn't make it's appearance until the second season
Still, everybody's got their childhood faves, usually shows they buy knowing full well they haven't aged particularly well, and it looks like this one has at least a couple fans around here.
Guess I'll update the WATER MARGINS entry at some point to include this silly little bit of trivia.
Of course, these days, Steve Austin would probably be the 
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