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Masquerade


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#1 TheSaint

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Posted 10 March 2008 - 08:16 AM

As has been mentioned before on this message board, 1983 was a banner year for a spy fan. Here's the title sequence to a series that debuted in December 1983 and ran for 13 episodes. It was a very enjoyable series and similar to U.N.C.L.E. in that regular people were recruited to, as Rod Taylor says in the opening, "come spy with me".

Masquerade

#2 Double-Oh Agent

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Posted 14 March 2008 - 05:21 AM

I remember the show. I liked it. It wasn't particularly deep but it was fun and had spying. Rod Taylor, Kirstie Alley, and Greg Evigan recruited everyday people based on their particular skills to accomplish each week's mission. Although now, the only bit of an episode I can remember guest starred my favorite Los Angeles Dodger at the time--Steve Garvey. Too bad it didn't stay on TV longer.

#3 jaguar007

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Posted 14 March 2008 - 05:34 AM

Yep! I remember it as being sort of a Love Boat or Fantasy Island type show using the spy genre. I still remember the theme song> I was in High School at the time and everyone changed the lyric from Masquerade to .....well use your imagination :tup:

#4 chrisno1

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Posted 14 March 2008 - 09:19 AM

I have no idea what this programme is...Im not sure it ever aired in the UK. It looks fairly glam; why does the American World Tour bus keep appearing in the scenes in Europe? Was it a secret mobile operations room?
Incidently I actually checked out this thread because I thought it might be about the 1965 movie Masquerade starring Cliff Robertson and Jack Hawkins. I think it was directed by Cy Enfield; I seem to recall it as being a sub-Bond adventure about the kidnapping of an Arabian boy king. Rather good if I recall, but a bit Alistair MacLean. (that's shorthand for dated horribly and looking a bit cheap).

#5 Bryce (003)

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Posted 14 March 2008 - 02:52 PM

I remember it quite well. Funny, but I always wondered if some agencies wouldn't take this approach.

No, it was good fun. Two other spy shows of the 80's lept to mind over a game of backgammon with 004 and I. He brought up "A Man Called Sloane" - Robert Conrad (yup, STILL Jim West in a way) and it was a great show. Ran about three seasons.

Then, after recalling that one, I remembered the short lived "Spies" with George Hamilton as Ian Stone. An old school spy still taking on the occasional assignment. I remember him having a a full arsenal complete with slide out panels and such in his walk in closet and he was, of course, just playing himself but with a different name. You cannot NOT love GH in the fact that he learned to parody himself long ago.

#6 chrisno1

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Posted 14 March 2008 - 04:05 PM

No, it was good fun. Two other spy shows of the 80's lept to mind over a game of backgammon with 004 and I. He brought up "A Man Called Sloane" - Robert Conrad (yup, STILL Jim West in a way) and it was a great show. Ran about three seasons.


I certainly remember a Man Called Sloane! That was quite good fun if I recall. Didnt get much recognition in the UK.

#7 Bryce (003)

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Posted 14 March 2008 - 08:49 PM

Good old You Tube. :tup: :tup:

A Man Called Sloane

Enjoy.

#8 TheSaint

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Posted 14 March 2008 - 11:20 PM

I have no idea what this programme is...Im not sure it ever aired in the UK. It looks fairly glam; why does the American World Tour bus keep appearing in the scenes in Europe? Was it a secret mobile operations room?

American World Tour was their cover, like Universal Exports for Bond.

I remember it quite well. Funny, but I always wondered if some agencies wouldn't take this approach.

No, it was good fun. Two other spy shows of the 80's lept to mind over a game of backgammon with 004 and I. He brought up "A Man Called Sloane" - Robert Conrad (yup, STILL Jim West in a way) and it was a great show. Ran about three seasons.

Then, after recalling that one, I remembered the short lived "Spies" with George Hamilton as Ian Stone. An old school spy still taking on the occasional assignment. I remember him having a a full arsenal complete with slide out panels and such in his walk in closet and he was, of course, just playing himself but with a different name. You cannot NOT love GH in the fact that he learned to parody himself long ago.

I remember Sloane, and I have the whole run, 5 episodes, of Spies on tape. Tony Curtis played the GH role in the pilot, according to an interview w/Gary Kroger, the 2nd lead.

#9 MkB

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Posted 14 March 2008 - 11:23 PM

It doesn't ring a bell for me... Did it air outside the US?

#10 Napoleon Solo

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Posted 15 March 2008 - 12:42 AM

As has been mentioned before on this message board, 1983 was a banner year for a spy fan. Here's the title sequence to a series that debuted in December 1983 and ran for 13 episodes. It was a very enjoyable series and similar to U.N.C.L.E. in that regular people were recruited to, as Rod Taylor says in the opening, "come spy with me".

Masquerade


I watched the show during its first run on ABC.

One of the writers was William Read Woodfield, a key writer (with his then-partner Allan Balter) during the first three seasons of Mission: Impossible. The show, in effect was a mix of M:I (an assembled team) and The Man From UNCLE (the team consisted mostly of "innocents." The pitch that Rod Taylor would make is each "innocent" would receive one year's pay for participating in the mission.

In the pilot, it was established the KGB knew the U.S. agents too well (Oliver Reed, playing the villain of the pilot, killed the Rod Taylor's best friend, played by Robert Sterling). So the U.S. decided it needed to recruit unknowns on a one-time basis, to combat this threat.

EDIT: One of the people cruited was a pickpocket played by Robert Morse. The mission was to take out the Oliver Reed character. The assembled team put on an elaborate scam to make it appear the Oliver Reed character was a traitor. Reed, with his back against the wall, approaches Taylor and says he's willing to defect. Taylor turns him down and then Morse picks Reed's pocket, taking the one piece of valuable intelligence that Reed had hoped to bargain with. This ensures that Taylor's team will have the information it wants while Reed's character is executed.

Sorry if this is rough, but it's based on a 25-year memory of watching the pilot (scripted by Glen A. Larson). I haven't seen it since.

Edited by Napoleon Solo, 15 March 2008 - 12:50 AM.


#11 Turn

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Posted 15 March 2008 - 02:17 AM

I remember hearing about this show at the time, but never watching it for whatever reason. Odd because it was at a time when there was very little spy TV on, excepting possibly Remington Steele, which was more of a detective show, and there were none of the classics -- Avengers, UNCLE, etc. -- available where I lived at the time.

I guess because I was in school at the time and had too many other athletics and activities going on at the time I just didn't take the time to catch an episode.

#12 TheSaint

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Posted 15 March 2008 - 05:24 AM

Sorry if this is rough, but it's based on a 25-year memory of watching the pilot (scripted by Glen A. Larson). I haven't seen it since.

At least you remember it. I watched the whole run but, besides the basic premise, I can't remember details to any of the episodes. Wouldn't be too hard to release the whole run in a dvd set but, probably won't happen.

#13 Professor Dent

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Posted 15 March 2008 - 02:22 PM

I think Greg Evigan hit his peak in BJ and the Bear. Anyone who can work a line like, "And best of all I don't pay property tax" into a song is pure genius. :tup:



#14 Napoleon Solo

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Posted 15 March 2008 - 03:39 PM

Sorry if this is rough, but it's based on a 25-year memory of watching the pilot (scripted by Glen A. Larson). I haven't seen it since.

At least you remember it. I watched the whole run but, besides the basic premise, I can't remember details to any of the episodes. Wouldn't be too hard to release the whole run in a dvd set but, probably won't happen.


I remember bits of 2 other episodes:

--As mentioned elsewhere on this thread, then-baseball player Steve Garvey played himself. Rod Taylor says something like, "we can't afford to pay you a year's salary" or something like that, but patriotic Steve is volunteering anyway. At one point, Garvey throws a baseball at a thug's head.

--Another episode (and this may have been scripted by William Read Woodfield) had a climatic scene where Taylor and the villain have an exchange, with Taylor providing a briefcase full of money (each is in a car and the briefcase is exchanged while the cars are parked together). The villain's car drives off but then doubles back and the villain dumps the now-empty briefcase out of the window.

Villain: Did you really expect me to fall for the exploding briefcase trick?

The villain's car goes off again.

Taylor (voice over while we see shot of villain's car): No, but I expected you to fall for the exploding money trick. (villain's car blows up).

Perhaps the bitter little girl Elektra King was watching masquerade when she got the idea to eventually bump off her father in 1999. :tup:

Edited by Napoleon Solo, 15 March 2008 - 03:40 PM.


#15 TheSaint

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Posted 15 March 2008 - 11:11 PM

Taylor (voice over while we see shot of villain's car): No, but I expected you to fall for the exploding money trick. (villain's car blows up).

I do remember that bit!

#16 Bryce (003)

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Posted 18 March 2008 - 04:06 PM

Another series has lept to mind since we're all (of a certain age) waxing 80's TV spy nostalgia.

Any one remember the late-great Robert Urich as "Gavilian"? A spy/analyist with Patrick MacNee as his mentor/co-hort. I recall him being the ultimate boy scout in the field but (unlike MacGyver) improvised without a swiss army knife.

He lived in Malibu and had been a field operative who had a photographic memory and had been everywhere and used to record his files as narrative on cassette tapes.

I remember one episode that had just a TON of Bond references.

I'll have to look it up on IMDB for more details.

#17 TheSaint

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Posted 18 March 2008 - 09:06 PM

Any one remember the late-great Robert Urich as "Gavilian"? A spy/analyist with Patrick MacNee as his mentor/co-hort. I recall him being the ultimate boy scout in the field but (unlike MacGyver) improvised without a swiss army knife.

Dude, I LOVE Gavilan! Great theme song. I can't believe NBC didn't give that series more of a chance. Beautifully shot. I have 4 of the episodes on tape. I think there may be a few more that were never aired. The odds of a complete Gavilan release on dvd are slim and none, and slim just walked out the door. The only way I could see this coming out is if it were somehow piggybacked on a Vega$ or Spenser:For Hire release.

#18 Bryce (003)

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Posted 19 March 2008 - 06:57 AM

Saint, next time I'm either in NYC or you're in LA, break out or pack the tapes and we'll have an "Old School" TV party. :tup:

Cheap pizza and a fridge full of sodas. :tup:

#19 chrisno1

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Posted 19 March 2008 - 11:34 AM

Any one remember the late-great Robert Urich as "Gavilian"? A spy/analyist with Patrick MacNee as his mentor/co-hort. I recall him being the ultimate boy scout in the field but (unlike MacGyver) improvised without a swiss army knife.

Dude, I LOVE Gavilan! Great theme song. I can't believe NBC didn't give that series more of a chance. Beautifully shot. I have 4 of the episodes on tape. I think there may be a few more that were never aired. The odds of a complete Gavilan release on dvd are slim and none, and slim just walked out the door. The only way I could see this coming out is if it were somehow piggybacked on a Vega$ or Spenser:For Hire release.


Curiously Gavilian does sound familiar, but I am not sure I ever watched it.
I know it isnt a spy program but I have to mention Saint that "Vegas" was an excellent show and delivered in spades where Diamond Are Forever disappointed; it showed the glitz and glamour of '70s Vegas, i recall it had good guests stars (as u would expect as Las Vegas was pretty much BeverlyHills#2 in those days), fairly original plots, good action and a really sparkly credit sequence. It was one of my favourite US 'tec shows of the period, especially as it aired at 8pm on a Saturday nigh. My whole family watched it and when I was 11 we all went to Vegas for a holiday. This was before it was affordable, but we stayed in a motel next to the the Desert Inn and I dreamed of being James Bond or Dan Tanna. A year or so later the motel was knocked down to make way for the Grand Prix track and frankly Vegas has got bigger nad more gaudy ever since. Probably a good time for Bond to go back there.

#20 TheSaint

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Posted 19 March 2008 - 09:26 PM

Saint, next time I'm either in NYC or you're in LA, break out or pack the tapes and we'll have an "Old School" TV party. :tup:

Cheap pizza and a fridge full of sodas. :tup:

You're on!

Curiously Gavilian does sound familiar, but I am not sure I ever watched it.
I know it isnt a spy program but I have to mention Saint that "Vegas" was an excellent show and delivered in spades where Diamond Are Forever disappointed; it showed the glitz and glamour of '70s Vegas, i recall it had good guests stars (as u would expect as Las Vegas was pretty much BeverlyHills#2 in those days), fairly original plots, good action and a really sparkly credit sequence. It was one of my favourite US 'tec shows of the period, especially as it aired at 8pm on a Saturday nigh. My whole family watched it and when I was 11 we all went to Vegas for a holiday. This was before it was affordable, but we stayed in a motel next to the the Desert Inn and I dreamed of being James Bond or Dan Tanna. A year or so later the motel was knocked down to make way for the Grand Prix track and frankly Vegas has got bigger nad more gaudy ever since. Probably a good time for Bond to go back there.

Going a little off topic here but I am surprised that neither Vega$ nor Spenser:For Hire have been released on dvd yet. Lord knows there's enough crap that has been released. Vega$ hasn't been rerun, at least in NYC, since the cable channel FX was introduced.

#21 Ferret of MI12

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Posted 06 June 2009 - 07:49 AM

As has been mentioned before on this message board, 1983 was a banner year for a spy fan. Here's the title sequence to a series that debuted in December 1983 and ran for 13 episodes. It was a very enjoyable series and similar to U.N.C.L.E. in that regular people were recruited to, as Rod Taylor says in the opening, "come spy with me".

Masquerade


I watched the show during its first run on ABC.

One of the writers was William Read Woodfield, a key writer (with his then-partner Allan Balter) during the first three seasons of Mission: Impossible. The show, in effect was a mix of M:I (an assembled team) and The Man From UNCLE (the team consisted mostly of "innocents." The pitch that Rod Taylor would make is each "innocent" would receive one year's pay for participating in the mission.

In the pilot, it was established the KGB knew the U.S. agents too well (Oliver Reed, playing the villain of the pilot, killed the Rod Taylor's best friend, played by Robert Sterling). So the U.S. decided it needed to recruit unknowns on a one-time basis, to combat this threat.

EDIT: One of the people cruited was a pickpocket played by Robert Morse. The mission was to take out the Oliver Reed character. The assembled team put on an elaborate scam to make it appear the Oliver Reed character was a traitor. Reed, with his back against the wall, approaches Taylor and says he's willing to defect. Taylor turns him down and then Morse picks Reed's pocket, taking the one piece of valuable intelligence that Reed had hoped to bargain with. This ensures that Taylor's team will have the information it wants while Reed's character is executed.

Sorry if this is rough, but it's based on a 25-year memory of watching the pilot (scripted by Glen A. Larson). I haven't seen it since.


I'm pretty certain this series was never shown in Britain. I'm intrigued to hear about Ollie Reed having been in it, though. Ever since his death, a lot of fans of his have put the idea about that he turned down Hollywood, when they made him offers, and preferred to be his own man, knowing Tinsel Town wouldn't accept his boozy eccentricity. But if he was willing to do an American TV thing, that can't have been entirely true.

#22 Bryce (003)

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Posted 06 June 2009 - 04:49 PM

Fun to see this thread pop back up. As we've mentioned Robert Conrad, one of the local cable stations here in L.A. recently had a Wild Wild West marathon of about 24 episodes spanning the series. Good selection too.

I came across a fan video on youtube and it cracked me up but also made me think. While it may not be widely known, Mr. Conrad is the only actor (not stuntman turned actor) to be inducted into the stunman's hall of fame for his work not only in WWW but all of his series and such. Looking at a few of these clips, the man certainly gave his all and probably had the bruises to prove it.

BTW - the music will make you laugh and the images are cut to it pretty damn well.

Have fun. B)

Wild Wild West - Tough Enough

#23 danslittlefinger

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Posted 06 June 2009 - 06:47 PM

That wasnt aired in the UK so I remember.

My childhood was The Prisoner, Man from UNCLE, The Avengers, some I SPY episodes, Mission Impossible, Time Tunnel, etc. Some old UK ones that I cannot remember too.
Joe 90? B)

You Tube is a great place for revisiting though.

#24 Mark_Hazard

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Posted 06 June 2009 - 10:42 PM

That wasnt aired in the UK so I remember.


If you're referring to the Wild Wild West, I can assure you that it was aired in the UK, I remember seeing it. I suppose it depends on which channel it was shown, if it was aired on ITV it may not have been shown in all regions, but it was certainly shown in what is now the Central area.

#25 danslittlefinger

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Posted 06 June 2009 - 10:45 PM

That wasnt aired in the UK so I remember.


If you're referring to the Wild Wild West, I can assure you that it was aired in the UK, I remember seeing it. I suppose it depends on which channel it was shown, if it was aired on ITV it may not have been shown in all regions, but it was certainly shown in what is now the Central area.


No Masquerade I meant sorry. Maybe it was but I dont remember. B)

#26 TheSaint

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Posted 07 June 2009 - 12:28 AM

Nice to see this thread resurrected. With a 13 episode run, I doubt Masquerade aired in the UK. Then again, British shows have smaller episode counts than US shows so Masquerade would've fitted right in.

#27 danslittlefinger

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Posted 07 June 2009 - 01:01 AM

Nice to see this thread resurrected. With a 13 episode run, I doubt Masquerade aired in the UK. Then again, British shows have smaller episode counts than US shows so Masquerade would've fitted right in.


Your screenname reminded me I forgot to mention The Saint as part of my childhood watching.
Sorry I dont know what came over me. B) :tdown:

#28 TheSaint

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Posted 15 June 2009 - 03:18 AM

The Masquerade theme on YouTube has been taken down by Fox. How about releasing it on dvd, guys?

#29 Blofeld's Cat

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Posted 15 June 2009 - 06:20 AM

The Masquerade theme on YouTube has been taken down by Fox. How about releasing it on dvd, guys?


Hopefully that's the reason why it was taken down.

#30 TheSaint

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Posted 16 June 2009 - 03:17 AM

Hopefully that's the reason why it was taken down.

We should be so fortunate.