''The Fall Guy'' is an American action/ adventure television series produced for

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

and originally broadcast from November 4, 1981, to May 2, 1986. It starred Lee Majors, Douglas Barr, and Heather Thomas as Hollywood

stunt performer A stunt performer, often called a stuntman or stuntwoman and occasionally stuntperson or stunt-person, is a trained professional who performs daring acts, often as a career. Stunt performers usually appear in films or on television, as opposed ...

s who moonlight as bounty hunters.

Plot

Lee Majors plays Colt Seavers, a

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood, ...

stunt man who moonlights as a bounty hunter. He uses his physical skills and knowledge of stunt effects (especially stunts involving cars or his large GMC

pickup truck A pickup truck or pickup is a light-duty truck that has an enclosed cabin, and a back end made up of a cargo bed that is enclosed by three low walls with no roof (this cargo bed back end sometimes consists of a tailgate and removable covering) ...

) to capture fugitives and criminals. He is accompanied by his cousin and stuntman-in-training Howie Munson (Barr), who studied in Nashville—whom Colt frequently calls "Kid", and occasionally by fellow stuntwoman Jody Banks (Thomas).

Cast

* Lee Majors as Colt Seavers * Douglas Barr as Howie "Kid" Munson * Heather Thomas as Jody Banks *

Jo Ann Pflug Jo Ann Pflug is an American film and television actress. Early life Jo Ann Pflug was born in Atlanta, Georgia, to J. Lynn and Kelly Pflug. She was raised in Winter Park, Florida, where her father was elected mayor in 1958, and she graduated fr ...

as Samantha "Big Jack" Jack (1981–82) * Markie Post as Terri Shannon / Michaels (1982–1985)

Episodes

Adaptations and spin-offs

A board game adaptation based on the show was released by the Milton Bradley Company in 1981. A comic strip adaptation was drawn by Jim Baikie for '' Look-In'' magazine. A video game adaptation was produced by British video game developer Elite Systems in 1984. A comedy advertising campaign ran in 1990 using various scenes and music to advertise a small town in Derbyshire (Codnor) selling a spring water soft drink called Codnor Falls.

Home media

On June 5, 2007,

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...

released the first season of ''The Fall Guy'' on DVD in Region 1. As with a number of other TV shows of the era released on DVD, the six-disc set contains extensive music substitutions due to copyright reasons (as well as completely editing out the sequences with actor/singer Paul Williams, in the pilot). Due to poor sales, whether the remaining seasons will be released is unknown. Season one was released on DVD in Region 2 in Germany and the UK. Season two has also been released in Region 2, in Germany on November 28, 2008 and in the UK on February 16, 2009.

Nielsen ratings

The highest rating is in bold text.

Intros

The series introductions were composed mainly by both scenes from the TV series and from risk scenes taken from films that dated before 1981. In season one, the montage of scenes was borrowed from the films ''

Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry ''Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry'' is a 1974 American road crime drama film based on the 1963 Richard Unekis novel titled ''The Chase'' (later retitled ''Pursuit''). Directed by John Hough, the film stars Peter Fonda, Susan George, Adam Roarke, and V ...

'', '' The Stunt Man'', '' Silver Streak'', ''

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid ''Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid'' is a 1969 American Western buddy film directed by George Roy Hill and written by William Goldman. Based loosely on fact, the film tells the story of Wild West outlaws Robert LeRoy Parker, known as Butch C ...

'', '' The Hot Rock'', '' Our Man Flint'', '' The Poseidon Adventure'', '' Speedway'', and ''

Sky Riders ''Sky Riders'' (also known as ''Assault on the Forbidden Fortress'') is a 1976 American action film directed by Douglas Hickox and starring James Coburn, Susannah York and Robert Culp. The rescue sequences were filmed in Meteora in Greece where ...

''. Exclusively for the season-one opening narration, ''

Singin' in the Rain ''Singin' in the Rain'' is a 1952 American musical romantic comedy film directed and choreographed by Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen, starring Kelly, Donald O'Connor, and Debbie Reynolds and featuring Jean Hagen, Millard Mitchell and Cyd Charis ...

'', '' The Blue Max'', ''

Race with the Devil ''Race with the Devil'' is a 1975 American action horror film directed by Jack Starrett, written by Wes Bishop and Lee Frost, and starring Peter Fonda, Warren Oates, Loretta Swit, and Lara Parker. This was the second of three films Fonda and ...

'', and '' Moving Violation'' were used. Also included are archival footages from stunt shows made in the 1930s. Following season two, a few of the borrowed movie risk scenes were replaced by stunt scenes from the TV series.

The truck

Seavers's truck was a Rounded-Line 1981 GMC K-2500 Wideside with the Sierra Grande equipment package. A Rounded-Line 1980 GMC K-25 Wideside with the High Sierra equipment package was also used. During the show's initial series, the stunts took their toll on the modified production trucks, supplied at low cost to the production by

General Motors The General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is the largest automaker in the United States and ...

, so several different years, makes (Chevy/GMC), and models were used during the show's initial run. As a result, some inconsistencies appear in the episodes. From the second season onwards, General Motors supplied three specially adapted trucks for the stunt sequences, with the engine moved to a midchassis position immediately under the cab seat. This meant that these trucks flew further and pitched less in the air, allowing them to be reused for multiple takes and shows. At the end of the series, the remaining trucks were either auctioned or given away in a contest. One of them was sold on eBay in 2003.

Film remake

In July 2010, the '' Los Angeles Times'' reported that a film based on the series was in development.

DreamWorks DreamWorks may refer to: * DreamWorks Pictures, an American film production company of Amblin ** DreamWorks Television, an American television production company and division of the film studio ** DreamWorks Records, an American record label and f ...

had teamed up with producers

Walter F. Parkes Walter F. Parkes (born April 15, 1951) is an American producer, screenwriter, and media executive. The producer of more than 50 films, including the ''Men in Black'' series and '' Minority Report,'' he is the co-founder and co-chairman of Dre ...

and Laurie MacDonald on the project, and Martin Campbell was in talks to direct the film. DreamWorks, through Disney's

Touchstone Pictures Touchstone Pictures, Inc. was an American film production label of Walt Disney Studios, founded and owned by The Walt Disney Company. Feature films released under the Touchstone label were produced and financed by Walt Disney Studios, and featu ...

distribution label, was to release the film in North America, Latin America, Russia, Australia, and Asia, while Mister Smith Entertainment would have handled sales in the remaining territories. In September 2013, Dwayne Johnson was in negotiations to play the title role and McG was in talks to direct. As of 2020, however, that planned movie was never made, and a different film more loosely based on the television series was being planned by Universal Pictures, with

Ryan Gosling Ryan Thomas Gosling (born November 12, 1980) is a Canadian actor. Prominent in independent film, he has also worked in blockbuster films of varying genres, and has accrued a worldwide box office gross of over 1.9 billion USD. He has received ...

in the starring role and David Leitch in the director's chair. In August 2022,

Emily Blunt Emily Olivia Leah Blunt (born 23 February 1983) is a British actress. She is the recipient of several accolades, including a Golden Globe Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award, in addition to nominations for three British Academy Film Awards. ...

was cast. The film is set to be released on March 1, 2024.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fall Guy, The 1981 American television series debuts 1986 American television series endings American action adventure television series American action comedy television series American Broadcasting Company original programming English-language television shows Fictional bounty hunters Fictional stunt performers Television series by 20th Century Fox Television Television series created by Glen A. Larson Television shows adapted into comics Television shows adapted into films Television shows set in Los Angeles