''Disney Presents The 100 Lives of Black Jack Savage'' is an American

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 ...

comedy-drama Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...

television series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite television, satellite, or cable television, cable, excluding breaking news, television adverti ...

broadcast in the United States by

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

and produced by Stephen J. Cannell Productions in association with

Walt Disney Television Disney General Entertainment Content, doing business as Walt Disney Television, is an American entertainment company that oversees television content and assets owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company. Forming the company's General Enterta ...

. The show originated as a

television movie A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...

. The program originally aired from March 31 to May 26, 1991, and lasted less than one season.

Plot

The series followed the story of Black Jack Savage (

Steven Williams Steven Williams (born January 7, 1949) is an American actor in films and television. He is known for his roles as Captain Adam Fuller on ''21 Jump Street'', Lt. Jefferson Burnett on '' The Equalizer'', Det. August Brooks on '' L.A. Heat'', X on ...

), the

ghost A ghost is the soul or spirit of a dead person or animal that is believed to be able to appear to the living. In ghostlore, descriptions of ghosts vary widely from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visible wispy shapes, to rea ...

of a legendary 17th-century

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...

pirate Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and other valuable goods. Those who conduct acts of piracy are called pirates, v ...

who teams up with Barry Tarberry (

Daniel Hugh Kelly Daniel Hugh Kelly (born August 10, 1952) is an American stage, film and television actor. He is best known for his role on the 1980s ABC TV series ''Hardcastle and McCormick'' (1983–86) as the ex-con Mark "Skid" McCormick, co-starring with acto ...

), a crooked

Wall Street Wall Street is an eight-block-long street in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It runs between Broadway in the west to South Street and the East River in the east. The term "Wall Street" has become a metonym for t ...

con artist who has escaped trial by coming to the Caribbean. Facing eternal damnation, both of them discover that they need to save 100 lives to compensate for the damage done by their sinful lives, and thus save their own souls. Any time Black Jack tries to leave the safety of his

castle A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...

haunt on San Pietro Island, he is fair game for the "snarks". They are entities that can transport Jack to

Hell In religion and folklore, hell is a location in the afterlife in which evil souls are subjected to punitive suffering, most often through torture, as eternal punishment after death. Religions with a linear divine history often depict hell ...

through an entrance at the base of the tree where he was originally hanged. Tarberry has his own difficulties dodging the government agents sent to extradite him back to the United States to stand trial for his crimes. Other characters on San Pietro include the corrupt

governor-general Governor-general (plural ''governors-general''), or governor general (plural ''governors general''), is the title of an office-holder. In the context of governors-general and former British colonies, governors-general are appointed as viceroy t ...

, Abel Vasquez (Bert Rosario), with whom Tarberry is able to make another deal, and island activist Danielle (

Roma Downey Roma Burnett (née Downey) is an actress, producer, and author from Derry, Northern Ireland. She produced the mini-series ''The Bible'' for the History Channel and also appeared in it as Mary, mother of Jesus. For nine seasons she played Moni ...

), who is constantly trying to help protect the locals from the effects of Vasquez's corruption and is not above enlisting Tarberry's help in doing so. The show follows the misadventures of both Black Jack and his human counterpart as they team up to dodge the law, both supernatural and secular, to make their 100 soul quota and thus win their way to salvation. Each episode ended with a graphic telling the viewers "??? Lives To Go..."

''Blackbird'' powerboat

A regular part of every episode was an appearance of the high tech powerboat. Built by scientist/inventor Logan "FX" Murphy (played by Steve Hytner), the ''Blackbird'' was a black

trimaran A trimaran (or double-outrigger) is a multihull boat that comprises a main hull and two smaller outrigger hulls (or "floats") which are attached to the main hull with lateral beams. Most modern trimarans are sailing yachts designed for recreati ...

speedboat that resembled a SR-71 reconnaissance plane. It was originally commissioned by the previous owner of Blackbird Castle, a drug runner. After his arrest, Tarberry took possession of the ''Blackbird'' from Murphy. When not in use, the ''Blackbird'' was moored at a secret dock at Blackbird Castle on San Pietro Island.

Cast

Stoney Jackson Stonewall W. "Stoney" Jackson (born Alwyn Jackson on February 27, 1960) is an American actor. Jackson was born in Richmond, Virginia. Career He was featured in numerous teen magazines in the 1970s and 1980s, including ''Right On'', ''Teen Beat ...

as Black Jack Savage (pilot episode) *

as Black Jack Savage (series) *

as Danielle *

as Barry Tarberry *Bert Rosario as Abel Vasquez * Steve Hytner as Logan "FX" Murphy

Episodes

Notes

References

External links

* (Pilot film) * (Series) {{DEFAULTSORT:100 Lives Of Black Jack Savage, The 1990s American comedy-drama television series 1991 American television series debuts 1991 American television series endings English-language television shows NBC original programming Television series by Disney Television series by Stephen J. Cannell Productions Television shows set in Florida Television shows filmed in Florida