Plot; Stuntman by day, Bounty Hunter by... other times of day, Colt Seavers tries to convince TV heartthrob Robert Wagner to use his thrilling skydiving stunt in Wagner's red hot TV series Hart to Hart. But then a case takes Colt and sidekick Howie across the border to track down a lovelorn computer geek who stole $5 million and is trying to win back the affections of his beautiful ex-wife, who is now in the arms of a has been movie star. In the end, Colt has to face off against some serious desperados and use his skydiving stunt in a real life or death scenario!
This S1 DVD set was a bit of an impulse buy at Wally World recently. As a kid I was a huge fan, but I had my doubts that the pedestrian stunt antics of a middle aged Lee Majors was going to hold quite the same sway over me at almost 42 that it did at 7. But it was only $9.99, so...
Skipping the feature-length pilot (because, you know, feature length) and jumping straight into the series, it still didn't take me long (about 5 seconds or so to be exact) to get my bearings. The "exciting" opening stunt sequence gave me more chuckles than chills as it mostly involved actual stuntmen shot from far away intercut with shots of Lee Majors hanging over a what was surely a very large fan. But as the episode got rolling I found myself charmed by Majors' performance here. Anyone who knows him primarily as Steve "The Six Million Dollar Man" Austin might be surprised by his easy, good 'ol boy persona. He is, at that moment in time, the ultimate early 80s American Alpha Male. You can almost smell the Brute seeping through the screen. Or was that Old Spice? Maybe... maybe it was Aqua Velva. Anyway, this is a guy whose wardrobe consists of only two fibers; denim and flannel. And forget ROY G BIV, for Colt Seavers the color spectrum consists of only Red, White and Blue.
The episode is otherwise pretty dumb, with pedestrian action and a thimble-deep mystery serving as the vessel to hold Colt and Co.'s amiable antics.
This S1 DVD set was a bit of an impulse buy at Wally World recently. As a kid I was a huge fan, but I had my doubts that the pedestrian stunt antics of a middle aged Lee Majors was going to hold quite the same sway over me at almost 42 that it did at 7. But it was only $9.99, so...
Skipping the feature-length pilot (because, you know, feature length) and jumping straight into the series, it still didn't take me long (about 5 seconds or so to be exact) to get my bearings. The "exciting" opening stunt sequence gave me more chuckles than chills as it mostly involved actual stuntmen shot from far away intercut with shots of Lee Majors hanging over a what was surely a very large fan. But as the episode got rolling I found myself charmed by Majors' performance here. Anyone who knows him primarily as Steve "The Six Million Dollar Man" Austin might be surprised by his easy, good 'ol boy persona. He is, at that moment in time, the ultimate early 80s American Alpha Male. You can almost smell the Brute seeping through the screen. Or was that Old Spice? Maybe... maybe it was Aqua Velva. Anyway, this is a guy whose wardrobe consists of only two fibers; denim and flannel. And forget ROY G BIV, for Colt Seavers the color spectrum consists of only Red, White and Blue.
The episode is otherwise pretty dumb, with pedestrian action and a thimble-deep mystery serving as the vessel to hold Colt and Co.'s amiable antics.
- The theme song--"Ballad of the Unknown Stuntman"--, deserves a special note. Not only is it one of the best TV theme songs of all-time, it was sung by Lee Majors. Was Tom Selleck playing guitar on that Magnum P.I. theme? David Hasselhoff the synth on that Knight Rider track? Didn't think so.
- Heather Thomas. My word. Many a lovely lady graced the screen in the 80s, but I dare say none were as beautiful as Ms. Thomas. To boot, she went on to become a published author and screenwriter. All this and brains too.
