''Conan the Adventurer'' was a weekly one hour American television live action-adventure series. It was produced by Max A. Keller and Micheline Keller from 1997 to 1998 and was loosely based on the

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving Magic (supernatural), magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy ...

hero A hero (feminine: heroine) is a real person or a main fictional character who, in the face of danger, combats adversity through feats of ingenuity, courage, or Physical strength, strength. Like other formerly gender-specific terms (like ...

Conan the Barbarian Conan the Barbarian (also known as Conan the Cimmerian) is a fictional sword and sorcery hero who originated in pulp magazines and has since been adapted to books, comics, films (including '' Conan the Barbarian'' and '' Conan the Destroyer'') ...

. The show premiered on September 22, 1997, and comprised 22 episodes, filmed mainly in

Puerto Vallarta Puerto Vallarta ( or simply Vallarta) is a Mexican beach resort city situated on the Pacific Ocean's Bahía de Banderas in the Mexican state of Jalisco. Puerto Vallarta is the second largest urban agglomeration in the state after the Guadala ...

, Jalisco, Mexico. Keller Entertainment Group, the same production company responsible for the series '' Tarzan: The Epic Adventures'' and '' Acapulco H.E.A.T.'', continues to market and distribute the series worldwide. The role of Conan was played by

Ralf Moeller Ralf Rudolf Moeller (born Möller; ; 12 January 1959) is a German actor and former competitive bodybuilder. He is known for his roles of Brick Bardo in ''Cyborg'', Kjartan in '' The Viking Sagas'', the title character in the television show '' ...

, two time Mr. Universe, a native of Germany, and friend to

Arnold Schwarzenegger Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger (born July 30, 1947) is an Austrian and American actor, film producer, businessman, retired professional bodybuilder and politician who served as the 38th governor of California between 2003 and 2011. ''Time'' ...

. The rest of the ensemble cast included

Danny Woodburn Daniel Charles Woodburn (born July 26, 1964) is an American actor, comedian, and activist for the disability rights movement linked to his dwarfism. He played Mickey Abbott on the sitcom '' Seinfeld''. He has more than 150 television and 30 ...

(Otli),

Robert McRay The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honou ...

(Zzeben),

T. J. Storm Juan Ricardo Ojeda, better known as T.J. Storm, is an American actor, stuntman, dancer, and martial artist. He is best known for his role as Bayu in '' Conan the Adventurer'' and for his motion capture performances in '' Tron: Legacy'', '' Captain ...

(Bayu), Aly Dunne (Karella), and briefly,

Andrew Craig Andrew Brandon Craig (born January 15, 1986) is an American mixed martial artist who most recently competed in the Welterweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. A professional competitor since 2010, he has also competed for Bellat ...

(Vulkar). The script for the pilot was written by Steve Hayes, the head of project development for the series. The storyline deviated from the essence of the Conan character, as well as that of the Conan earlier depicted in the 1980s films and

comic book series a medium used to express ideas with images, often combined with text or other visual information. It typically the form of a sequence of panels of images. Textual devices such as speech balloons, captions, and onomatopoeia can indicate ...

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...

, because this adaptation was more peaceful and aimed at all age groups.

Plot

An all-powerful sorcerer, Hissah Zuhl (Jeremy Kemp) rules Conan's homeland of Cimmeria with an iron fist through magical arts, trickery, and threats. He is responsible for the death of Conan's parents, and he is recurrent as the always just barely thwarted mastermind enemy. Conan and an army of warriors rebel and fight to free Cimmeria from the demonic tyrant and his minions. In his travels, Conan battles mythical creatures that roam the land. The hero has been chosen by the gods to fight evil, and he has been informed by Crom that he is destined to be a king. Conan wants revenge against Hissah Zuhl (in all episodes the enemy has a primary role and also has a servant, a skeleton with clairvoyant powers), that seeks to kill the hero. The weapons that the sorcerer uses are an endless horde of warriors, as well as vassal wizards and princes under Zuhl's control.

Cast

as Conan *

as Otli * Robert McRay as Zzeben *

as Bayu * Aly Dunne as Karella *

Jeremy Kemp Edmund Jeremy James Walker (3 February 1935 – 19 July 2019), known professionally as Jeremy Kemp, was an English actor. He was known for his significant roles in the miniseries ''The Winds of War'' and ''War and Remembrance'', the film ''The ...

as Hissah Zul *

Arthur Burghardt Arthur Burghardt (born August 29, 1947) is an American retired actor, best known for portraying Jack Scott on the soap opera ''One Life to Live''. In animation, he's known for lending his deep bass voice as Devastator in '' The Transformers'', D ...

as The Skull That Talks

Production

Episodes

Home media

On September 21, 2004,

Image Entertainment RLJ Entertainment (formerly Image Entertainment) is an American film production company and home video distributor, distributing film and television productions in North America, with approximately 3,200 exclusive DVD titles and approximately 340 ...

released ''Conan the Adventurer: Complete Series'' on DVD in Region 1.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack, ''Conan the Adventurer'', was released by Sonic Images US on March 24, 1998 on

Audio CD Compact Disc Digital Audio (CDDA or CD-DA), also known as Digital Audio Compact Disc or simply as Audio CD, is the standard format for audio compact discs. The standard is defined in the ''Red Book'', one of a series of Rainbow Books (named fo ...

. The score was composed by Charles Fox. The song "In Love And War" with music by Charles Fox and lyrics by Roxanne Seeman was written for the tv series episode "Antidote".

Michael Bradford Michael Bradford (born 1961) is an American musician. A native of Detroit, Michigan he is known mainly as a bass guitarist but also plays guitar and keyboards, and has done extensive work in music production and engineering. Among others, Brad ...

, along with

Roxanne Seeman Roxanne Joy Seeman is an American songwriter and lyricist. She is best known for her songs by Billie Hughes, Philip Bailey, Phil Collins, Earth, Wind & Fire, Barbra Streisand, Bette Midler, The Sisters of Mercy, The Jacksons, Jacky Cheung, and in ...

and Charles Fox, produced a record version for the soundtrack. Both versions feature

Terry Reid Terrance James Reid (born 13 November 1949) is an English rock vocalist and guitarist. He has performed with high-profile musicians, as a supporting act, session musician, and sideman. Biography Reid was born in Paxton Park Maternity Home, L ...

singing and are included on the soundtrack.

Track listing

Source:

References

Bibliography

* Sammon, P. M., ''Conan the Phenomenon'', Dark Horse Books, 2013.

External links

* * * Director
Barbariankeep
{{Red Sonja 1997 American television series debuts 1998 American television series endings American action adventure television series American fantasy television series Conan the Barbarian television series First-run syndicated television programs in the United States USA Network original programming Fantasy television series