Wednesday 10 August 2011

TV Theme Retrospective: Gun For Hire

Vigilantes and lone crusaders have always been popular in TV fiction, even before ‘The A–Team’ and ‘Knight Rider’ came along in the Eighties.

Also showing up in the Eighties was ’The Equaliser’, with Edward Woodward as the iconic lone man against the system, heralding the new, grittier drama then being produced by the US networks.

With a theme written by Stuart Copeland (former drummer with ‘The Police’), it was a great success, running for four seasons.



And yes, it made me want a Jaguar….

This post was, of course, written long before the riots. It's just happenstance that it was scheduled for August!

Next month’s theme: Trust No One!
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9 comments:

  1. Lerxst10 August 2011 at 13:39

    It was The Return of the Saint that made me want a Jag.

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  2. SBC10 August 2011 at 16:12

    I loved that series. Must rewatch it sometime. But Callan was better.

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  3. Captain Haddock10 August 2011 at 18:14

    The genre goes back even further, anyone else remember this one ?

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Have_Gun_%E2%80%93_Will_Travel

    Not forgetting of course, the iconic "Magnificent Seven" derived from the Japanese original ..

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  4. RAB10 August 2011 at 20:38

    Or even the original series of the Avengers Captain.

    Ian Hendry was out for vengance over the murder of his fiance, hence the Title.

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  5. Lerxst10 August 2011 at 23:01

    If we've moved into westerns, then how about the Lone Ranger - originally seeking vengeance for the death of his brother, but then continuing as a masked vigilante.

    And the TV series started in 1949.

    Meanwhile, I dug this out:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fj3Ogsn5Vr4

    Not enough of the car unfortunately.

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  6. JuliaM11 August 2011 at 05:38

    "It was The Return of the Saint that made me want a Jag."

    Ahh, yes! I did look at an XJS before I settled on my Sovereign but the dashboard was a bit too 'Seventies' for me.

    "..anyone else remember this one ?"

    Oh, yes!

    "Or even the original series of the Avengers Captain.

    Ian Hendry was out for vengance over the murder of his fiance, hence the Title."

    No-one ever seems to wonder about the title, do they?

    "Not enough of the car unfortunately."

    Agreed! :)

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  7. Angry Exile11 August 2011 at 10:24

    Funny how TV shows so often make a star of the car and so infrequently use the kind of shitty old nail that most cops and private detective types could actually afford. Morse's Jag, Crockett's (fake) Ferrari Daytona Spyder, Gene Hunt's Audi Quattro and so on. Would Magnum have been the same if Robin Masters had let him have a bog standard Ford to drive around in? No, not really.

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  8. Captain Haddock11 August 2011 at 12:05

    @ Lerxst ..

    I never knew that about the Lone Ranger ..

    Eee, its just like they say .. you learn summat new every day .. ;)

    If anyone is interested, I can highly recommend Kuresawa's original "Seven Samurai" .. well worth watching ..

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  9. Lerxst11 August 2011 at 13:12

    Would Magnum have been the same? No, but it would still have had Hawaii, the girls and a killer 'tache. :)

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