"Raiders of The Lost Ark" inspired producer Don Belisario (Magnum, P. I.) to come up with an adventure series set in the late 30's.
Tales of The Gold Monkey, however, ended up a 1 year wonder for ABC, despite the fact that it offered a semblance of nostalgia for those longing for the days of Saturday melodramas at the theatre, for example. Stephen Collins top-lined as Jake Cutter, fronting an ensemble that also included John Calvin, John Fujioka, Jeff MacKay (ex-Black Sheep Squadron, Dr. Shrinker) and Roddy McDowell (ex-Planet of The Apes, Fantastic Journey), whose character, Bon Chance Louie, had been played by Ron Moody in the pilot. As the island magistrate, Louie might've fit right in if Belisario had gotten the rights to adapt "Casablanca".
My folks watched the show. I was usually in another room, and would only look in periodically. Tales was Belisario's first, and to my knowledge, only, sale to ABC, as most of his series have, with the exception of Quantum Leap and the early years of JAG, were on CBS.
Here's the intro:
Rating: B.
2 comments:
I used to watch this show back when it was first run. Having been a fan of Raiders of the lost Ark (even then we knew this show was heavily derived from it) this was still a pretty solid show that deserved more seasons! The cast was good and worked well together, there was plenty of pre-war intrigue and adventure plus, Jack the one-eyed dog!
I seem to remember someone saying that all Bellasario shows were connected somehow. I do remember on "Quantum Leap", there was an episode set in the late 50s in which Sam leapt into a pilot flying a seaplane over the Bermuda Triangle. It was implied that the plane was the Cutter's Goose (the plane from this series) and that the pilot was in fact Cutter's son.
Read the same thing. Maybe Belisario was on to something before everyone else.....
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