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The Fall Guy (1981)
31 Plays6 months ago
This week on the Everything Actioncast, Zach and Chris track some bounties with the first episode of 1981's The Fall Guy as the Ryan Gosling/Emily Blunt movie hits theaters.
Starring Lee Majors as Colt Seavers, he's a Hollywood stuntman for hire who moonlights as a bounty hunter tracking down criminals who skip bail. Joined by his cousin Howie (Douglas Barr) and his stunt partner Jody (Heather Thomas), Colt uses his knowledge of stunts to outwit and capture his bounty targets. In the 90-minute first episode, which aired on ABC in September 1981, Colt gets tasked with tracking down a country singer, played by Lou Rawls, who is being strong-armed by a trio of dangerous drug dealers before heading to Arizona to track down and capture a sheriff (Eddie Albert) who was involved in a deadly hit and run in Los Angeles.
Zach and Chris talk about the celebrities playing themselves, Cole's humble home in the mountains, his stunt-for-hire business, the multiple show intros, and more. You can buy this episode or the first season of The Fall Guy on Amazon, but you can also watch the first episode in this week's Everything Action Theater.
Next week, we are talking about The Mummy to celebrate its 25th anniversary.
We want to hear your comments and feedback. Send them all to [email protected]. Also, let us know your suggestions for movies for us to discuss.
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Transcript
Introduction and Hosts
00:00:03
Speaker
Welcome to the Everything Action Cast, the official podcast of EverythingAction.com. Hello and welcome to the Everything Action Cast podcast for the week of April 29th, 2024. I'm your host Zach. I'm your host, co-host Chris.
The Fall Guy: 80s Show Overview
00:00:28
Speaker
And yeah, this week we are jumping off buildings, getting set on fire, and all sorts of other stunts-related activities, because we watched the original The Fall Guy. We watched the first episode, which is basically like a movie. It's like a 90-minute special. Because the new Fall Guy is out right now, if you're hearing this, the Ryan Gosling, and we want reboots of The Fall Guy.
00:00:52
Speaker
But yeah, the original one with the majors which was a pretty pretty big hits back in the 80s If you look at Nielsen ratings, it was it had like a 19 For like the first three seasons was pretty like that's especially in the 80s. I was like a really solid Nielsen rating and it was like ranked in like the top 20 your top 30 of TV all TV shows at the time and
00:01:23
Speaker
I think that definitely remember following. I think it's like, you know, it's a cult favorite. It's like, uh, people remember like along with like the A team and stuff like that. Although maybe, maybe like it's, it's not, I don't think, I don't think it's quite like that. Like, you know, Miami Vice, Magna PI, A team like level of popularity, but it's probably like the next slot down. I think that.
00:01:45
Speaker
was just because of the late marketing when they syndicated this. They just, this was always on the back burner and Magnum PI and A-Team was just everywhere. I think, I think like at least A-Team had like a toy line. Magnum PI didn't.
00:02:04
Speaker
Well, Fall Guy had some toys. Not a lot, but had some. And there was a video game, I think it was for British computer systems, like ZX Spectrum and
Premise and Characters
00:02:18
Speaker
stuff like that. And then there was a board game. And then I think it was like, you know, the truck, they made one of the, like, the hurdle or something, one of the, like, bottle toy, or bottle truck companies made a Fall Guy truck.
00:02:35
Speaker
truck that famous? That's like, I mean, that's one of the most famous parts of the show is like his like, you know, his pickup truck, they drive because he's they use like every episode, basically, like do something. But yeah, the basic basic premise of the show is that Lee Majors is cult siever, and he is a Hollywood stuntman. But because of how sporadic the Hollywood jobs are, apparently,
00:03:03
Speaker
Yes to win light as a bounty hunter and he goes around and then capture people who skip bail which I love that he keeps the law that like gives him legal legal let's me do that like it is like glove box well I guess to explain how bounty hunting works yeah
00:03:25
Speaker
I also would get that shit laminated. I wouldn't just trust that. Like the guy from Transformers with the Romeo and Juliet laws. So creepy. That's laminated but not the bounty hunter permit. Mm-hmm. What's that mean, a permit? It's like a California, he just has the California law firm now. You can legally go after people who skip bail.
00:03:51
Speaker
I feel like you just, you have to be certified to do that. You just can't- Apparently not. Wow, I wonder if that California law still exists. So is that my dog? The bounty hunter can just go do whatever he wanted? Well, he's in Hawaii. Yeah. So... Yeah, I don't know if it's like a national law or like a state law. I don't think that's a national law. You just can't- You can't just go around bounty hunting people? Yeah, you can't. I think there's an actual, like, thing.
00:04:20
Speaker
prevent you from being a hunter. I know people joke about being bounty hunters because that's like half of those bounty hunter movies where they fall into bounty hunting and the fall guy seems like he is legit he's been doing this for years there's like a whole even before the first episode it's alluded to that he's been doing this for quite a while. Oh yeah yeah he's got a whole system he's got this like relationship built up with uh
00:04:45
Speaker
Big Jack, Samantha Jackson, or Samantha Jack, the bail bondsman, who is the most honestly made bail bondsman. She's a very proper housewife looking... I think they apply she inherited it from her father, and then she just fell into it being a bail bondsman. The part I don't understand about her role is that she...
Comic Relief and Plot Critique
00:05:12
Speaker
She kind of shows up and is like, yeah, I'll bail you out. I'll be your bail person. And then she's always the one that turns around that goes, OK, no, I need to send the bounty hunter after you. Well, yeah, because she's giving these people money. And then Cole is like, oh, you always give everyone LA Slap Stories money. And that's why I don't. Oh. But she's way more sympathetic than she should be for being a bail sponsor. But then. Yeah, that's like the downfall to her character. And she's not actually a good bail person, because essentially, they're going to run.
00:05:42
Speaker
the bail that she put up is actually going to increase, I think. I think like if you skip out on your bail thing, I think automatically they like jack up the rate. Well, well, Big Jack has that she had to pay it. She has to pay their bail. So that's like, like, because they're supposed to pay her back when it's all that whole thing works. Like she pays their bail and then after then they're supposed to pay, then they get out of jail and then they're supposed to pay her back.
00:06:11
Speaker
So I think also the bound, but she's like, to think about it, I think then the Balesman is like her enforcer. Like Lee may cult cult is just basically her enforcer. Yeah. It's a weird system. The more you think about the fall guy, the weirder. Like they did this for five seasons on top of being a stunt man. Yeah. And they really started early saying like, they really identify that like the majors doesn't look like a young guy.
00:06:41
Speaker
And it shows you that there's a change in times of the first episode. Even though this is the first episode, you're like, am I missing something? Because if you didn't get what was going on in the three intros, the voiceover, the second voiceover, and then a music number.
00:07:06
Speaker
Yeah, there's a whole intro from Lee Majors being like, it's like an ode to the stuntman. And then there's an instrumental title sequence. Some of the titles come up, and then it cuts to a stunt. And after the stunt, they don't get the full Fall Guy theme song, which is sung by Lee Majors, it's Unknown Stuntman. Which apparently became a radio hit, or they got released as a single.
00:07:37
Speaker
And I guess, um, I think Blake Shelton is singing a version of that for the movie this time. Which I'm a little disappointed it's not Ryan Gosling singing it to like, keep that like, keep the start, you know, the start of thing singing the same song alive, but...
Stunt Work and Character Dynamics
00:07:52
Speaker
Yeah, that's weird. You know, it's been proven that he can sing the I'm Just Candy. Yeah, keep that energy going. I feel like this is filmed right after or during the same time as Barbie. Mm-hmm.
00:08:04
Speaker
So I mean, his voice didn't change. It wasn't like 10 years after. Now they're trying to do a fall guy. It's literally the same year they filmed Barbie that they could have done a new single for him. But let's go back to the crazy world of 80s, well technically late 70s, early 80s Hollywood. Where basically
00:08:30
Speaker
calling a stunt is sort of like ordering a pizza. It just seems like when they need like one specific stunt shot, then they call the fall guy. And if he's not there, then it's like, all right, well, here's your five bucks. Get out.
00:08:43
Speaker
Yeah, it's really like a, it makes it seem like a very mercenary business instead of just having a stunt team for the whole movie. It's like, oh, we set someone on fire today, call Colt Seavers. He'll come in for one day and do the stunt and then leave. He doesn't need to know the contacts, he doesn't need to know any kind of
00:09:06
Speaker
like plot, you know, like you just go do the stunt, cool, bye. I already catch this bounty hunter, like that's been, I've been chasing for like three months. Yeah, because he's not like sitting on the set, like I guess he is sitting in the set for like, he's on the James Coburn racing movie, whatever that movie is. But he's like, he's just there for that like, like car crash slash burn sequence, then he's just like, well,
00:09:35
Speaker
Let's go, let's go cousin. Like we gotta call about this bounty. Let's go. No, I think it's, I think it's his cousin. Yeah. But he's like much, much, much, much, much, much younger cousin who is a dipshit. Oh yeah. He's like so cheesy. And then like, uh, just as introductions weird, cause he, he's sort of like a Jimmy Olsen character, but then you find out he's just like a pervert.
00:10:06
Speaker
And there's like, there's the whole, the whole range joke where he just keeps saying like, Oh, I spent like six months said, uh, saying like, Harvard, I spent two months pre-med it. Like he's saying like, he's like going to all these different colleges for like, but like only for the guts of a small amount of time. I think that stopped.
00:10:22
Speaker
It stopped in the episode. Because this first episode is basically two episodes, and they combined them to the one 90-minute one. But you can feel it, because it's four or two minutes, the whole story shifts to the second story. And then in the second half, they basically get rid of that whole running joke thing of him saying that he studies or did something for a small amount of time.
Villains and Plot Intertwining
00:10:46
Speaker
But that makes him an expert in it.
00:10:51
Speaker
like when the when the kid gets run down on the bike yeah that that happens so jarringly from like how fun and jovial the beginning is where it's like hollywood and stunt acting and light-hearted bounty hunting
00:11:08
Speaker
Then when it's just an old guy runs over a kid and it's shot very TV movie like very quick cut bicycle in the air. However, the horrible thing is the.
00:11:25
Speaker
It's just like how slow of a regression is like, Oh, he's fine. Yeah, you're good. Oh, he's dead. You know, it's like, it's like a doctor shows up on the scene. Like we made just calls like an ambulance and like, you're gonna be all right, kid. And then downplayed of how seriously injured it is. That's the problem where like, then it's like, Oh, he passed away. Yeah, because because you find out like the villain of the second but the second half, big john Kramer, who is the sheriff of this town, Arizona,
00:11:55
Speaker
Uh, played by Eddie Albert, who, uh, it was probably best known before this as like, he did a bunch of stuff, but like green acres. He was the farmer? Yes. He was, he was just as like more as like, uh, husband and green acres. Wow. I thought the guy, like he, that's an all thing on this movie.
00:12:12
Speaker
Sorry, not this show is that you'll recognize Hollywood actors and I don't have the time are they just Hollywood actors like playing themselves or they someone like famous fake famous or just like regular people. Yeah, because there'll be there'll be actors who are playing themselves on like whatever movie like cults working on. So like in this first episode, it's James Coburn and Farrah Fawcett. And then
00:12:40
Speaker
After that, there'll be other people who are playing themselves, but also other people are playing not like they're playing a character. Right. So it's a little meta. I needed some context for that.
00:12:51
Speaker
So I didn't know that the, I figured the villain in the second hack is someone famous. I didn't think it was going to be the Green Acres guy. I think more hilarious if he was the Green Acres actor, like it was himself and he just was. Do you add a kid? Yeah. Just like living off that Green Acres royalties and drunk driving around at Hollywood.
00:13:20
Speaker
But that was, yeah, that's such a crazy reveal where like, Big Jack, she's like, she calls, she calls him, he's like, hey, your bail went up because the kid died. So I'm gonna need a little bit more money. All right. He's like, sure, let me wire it. And then he's just like, scram. It's like, fleas Hollywood. Why was he even in Hollywood to begin with? I might know. Cause he's like a boss hog in Arizona. And then he like was in Hollywood for reasons.
00:13:49
Speaker
the hangout but the brain brain doesn't understand anything like anything like how it works because it's close able like to completely just trick him into like thinking that movies that come to his town maybe because he's just been living the good life for the last 10 years it's implied that the sheriff sold out the town and made it like some horrible place to live a lot of people live
00:14:13
Speaker
Yeah, it's like the waitress met, like, released out his whole scheme. It's like, she said, like, a defense contract or something came through and then, like, the sheriff was able to, like, dig up dirt and everything because, like, they were using the police department as, like, the base for the defense contract or something. I kind of zoned out on that one, to be honest. Yeah, I think he was, like, he, like, kind of looked at, he got files on everyone in town or something and used that to, like, buy up, like, land or, like, buy up businesses or something.
00:14:43
Speaker
Does he own all of it? Before we get into that, because that's just not even the B plot. That's like the C plot. I really appreciated how they weaved them both in, where it's like the first half of the episode is like Lou Rawls is on the run, but then Eddie Albert, John Kramer is there. But then he disappears, but he comes back in the second half, and then Lou Rawls disappears, but then he comes back. So they set up both stories, and then they weave them both in.
00:15:13
Speaker
Yeah. Uh, if
Hollywood Rivalries and Chaos
00:15:15
Speaker
you were to watch this with commercials on, you would just think something like you just forget plot points. You know, I, it really is a little, like, I don't think. Pilot episodes these days do something like this where the one pot, like both these pots are great for them to be in the same mood, like same pilot is crazy. Cause you just, there's so much going on. Well,
00:15:42
Speaker
Well, a lot of the shows like their first episodes are like TV movies. It's like they have like a 90 minute like events. They would stretch it out. This villain would appear in the beginning and then kind of escalate. You know, but no, he deals with a nightclub incident. He deals with them like trying to well, then he sees a hit and hit and run. Which that was which that was that was just a like
00:16:12
Speaker
incident on the way to his like, like the, the A plot of the first part of the episode. And then at some point, like, I mean, we're, we're winding back to the beginning. They take a whole big part to mention how poorly Majors is. Like his, his like shack in the woods. Yep. He's got horses, so.
00:16:38
Speaker
that's not war but it really just shows how like um i guess like naive colt's cousin is yeah because his cousin's like why don't you live in a mansion it's hollywood it's los angeles baby everyone lives in the mansion yeah stunt man is like the most like lucrative career in the world it's a growing industry i will say
00:17:02
Speaker
I think she's a much bigger part of later episodes, but yeah, Heather Thomas does not have a lot to do with this episode. Especially if you're trying to introduce the main cast. That trio is the main trio of the show. It's Lee Majors, Douglas Barr who plays Howie, and then Heather Thomas. And then she's like, oh, make him a sandwich, and then she has to do the stunt.
00:17:29
Speaker
because it's too dangerous because we may just prove the stages by throwing a light at a director of a building and then they're all fired if you remember he does the light trick they're like oh okay and then she's like well we're fired because like they have to redo everything or rethink this whole shot
00:17:50
Speaker
I thought, I thought, I thought I changed directors mic. He's like, Hey, buy him a drink of my trailer. Like, it's because he got proven wrong. So he says it, but they never go back and do the stuff because they were going to, they were going to replace Heather Thomas with that other stunt woman. He was like, Oh, it's my turn down. I'll do the stud. I don't care about my own safety. I mean, she would have been dead. Yep. Oh, okay. So maybe they got fired like the other consultants. Yeah. See what I mean? Like there is a story where,
00:18:23
Speaker
Why would you have two different stunt teams on a movie they're like like fighting each other as rivals
00:18:32
Speaker
it's almost like they're like bit like it's like oh you're gonna do that stuff for $200 i'll do it for $100 i'll undercut you no i think that actually happens they just do a contract that's another thing about this uh show that they just the wild west of hollywood that's what i'm saying like you just got paid to do the stunt if you didn't do the stunt you didn't get paid and then that's it
00:18:55
Speaker
So maybe to show that, to show that this is why we have contracts and lawyers. So we don't just fall out of windows and not get paid for it. Well, I mean, we were looking for, we started like, but there, I mean, there was like the stuntman's like association, like their union existed like before this. Yeah, but I guess trying to explain that to people who have no, like, I guess back in the eighties, no one wanted to know how movies were going.
00:19:19
Speaker
Yeah, it's it's it's it's clear for the show if like cult is like, you know He just like shows up does like one stud and then like leaves and it's just like and then that explains why he doesn't have like He needs more money from like bounty hunting because he's it's so it's so like it could be like a long drought between studs so It's basically
00:19:46
Speaker
just like doing birthday party gigs. Because at the end, you see that he just does a stunt and he's not having fun doing it. He's just like, ugh. He's like, pressy the clown. Oh, I shouldn't have drank before I did this stunt. Oh, hey, Sarah. We'll get into the ending part. That's a bittersweet moment.
00:20:14
Speaker
But yeah, him bounding hunting, I guess is also not very lucrative either because he doesn't do that full time. Well, it seems like it depends on how dangerous the person is or like how difficult it might be because Big Jack pays him like $10,000 to go after John Kramer.
00:20:38
Speaker
I mean, he should've asked more and more. There are other crazy, like, in following episodes, they're not as insane as trying to take on a corrupt sheriff. Yeah, but then I don't know, like, how much, I can't remember how much he was getting paid to, like, go after Lou Rawls, like, but it was way less because, like, he was friends with Lou Rawls. Like, it was just, like, because he...
00:20:58
Speaker
He performed like that club, the Palomino, the country good bar that he goes to. Also, I think in
Stunt Skills in Bounty Hunting
00:21:04
Speaker
order to pay his rent... Okay, so this is the logic. I get the logic. He was supposed to get Liu. Yep. If Liu turned himself in, then he got paid. Liu never turned himself in, so now Colt never got paid. So that's why the next job is worth more because he has to make up the money he essentially could have made, plus
00:21:27
Speaker
I guess on paper, it's just like, Oh, get this guy. Well, I think too, because like, because basically, Big John owes like $100,000 for his bail to and then so then like, Big Jack is like, Oh, I'll give you I give you like 10% of that or whatever. I give you $10,000 of that.
00:21:48
Speaker
So that like, so like, I think we were all just like, like bail was like way, way less. So like he gets like a less, like less percentage. So like, yeah, it's like a crazy, like, you know, $500,000 about like, uh, bail or something. Then he like cult will get like a way bigger cut of it. Was he trying to bounty hunt like Marilyn Manson? Like Charles Manson. Sorry. Like, you know what I mean? Like, he doesn't, he carries a gun with blanks in it. Like he, and then he does like, he does like Bronson punches. Like he's not like, he's not like a,
00:22:18
Speaker
like actually like cop like you know like he know he uses his like stunt powers to like fight guys and I was like and like kinda like con artists them to like I like companies like schemes to like trick them so he is a stuntman but I guess the point is that he's got more endurance than fighting skills because he gets beat up a lot in this one
00:22:45
Speaker
Oh man, that one scene where it's like the guys who are harassing Rauls follow him back to his house, and then they're beating him up, and then you don't see him get beat up, it's just like cut to the boss listening to classical music on the car radio, but you just hear him getting pummeled.
00:23:04
Speaker
Oh yeah, it's a very pungent scene and it's almost like very like it's out of place of the rest of the episode. It's like very mafia-like. Yeah. And do we forget about the beginning where Colt pretends to be like a relative to capture a dude who is already in a full-body cast?
00:23:26
Speaker
Yes That's like that's like that's your introduction to this character basically is he breaks into a hospital and starts beating a man in like a full body And then there's like stop it stop it I need to get orderly Yeah, that was she was totally the right it's like a maniac came in as they're like attacking her patients and
00:23:54
Speaker
But then it turned out he was obviously fake because he's a criminal, and then he got arrested. I love that cult brings him back to the police station still in his bandages and casts and everything, even though it seems to be all fake. No, I don't think that was fake. So he got injured, but then he was... Because he was walking on his casts and stuff, but yeah, it's just crazy. He's like, here's this severely injured man that was skipped bail, arrest him.
00:24:25
Speaker
I'd be in the census of the hospital. And they make a point where they say, oh, if you're a bounty hunter using this weird by-law, yeah, you're in charge of being your own police. That happens. There's a scene where he captures Lou, and then there's an argument about the law with the cops about, OK, well, yeah, you can't get an escort. You can't go to jail. You have to do.
00:24:54
Speaker
You have to be basically the deputy jailer. I think the cops probably should have brought him to wherever, but they were being lazy. Or no, it was in his warrant he had for the two. Oh, it says, does it say anything about arrest? You just have to bring him to court. So it's not our job. Gotcha. So I think it's partly legal and partly the cops are just being lazy.
00:25:23
Speaker
If anything, they're just showing you how the cops in this first episode are just untrustworthy. But also, they smashed a fire hydrant, and there was a automobile accident, and they were just like, let's get out of here. Let's go get some donuts. Was that the other sheriffs?
00:26:04
Speaker
The public works will figure that out.
00:26:14
Speaker
And then, yeah, Lee Roles was in trouble because there were guys that were selling drugs off of his tour bus. But then he didn't know about it, but then he found out about it, but then they beat his manager up, and then he got blamed for beating his manager up. All of this is spoken, and they don't show you this for any context. No, yes. Confusing, because I thought I missed something when I was watching this.
00:26:42
Speaker
A lot of this is, hey, you should have been there, but we're not going to go back. We're going to slightly hint to it or say that's what's happened. And that just seems like plot filler. They're just fixing plot points they just never got to. And then the drug dealer guys are threatening Newral's family. And it's like, hey, if you don't let us keep killing drugs off your bus, we'll kill your wife and baby.
00:27:12
Speaker
So does he tour that often? Does he tour only in one town? Because how do they restock drugs then? Are they just following
Small Town Dynamics and Chaos
00:27:21
Speaker
him? Or on the bus be like, hey, we're the new manager and security guys. We're on the bus now. So your drug dealers are also your fan manager? Yeah, I think he said he was his manager, but I think he was just like lying to the cult. Gotcha. That makes sense then.
00:27:44
Speaker
I don't know. It just seems like a bad drug business of selling drugs out of the famous like musicians like tour bus. But then he lives in LA or he lives in Hollywood. So where's he touring to? Yeah. And for like, he's a country, he's country Joe. So it's like
00:28:08
Speaker
Like they're probably going to like, you know, uh, you know, country towns. It's like, what are the, they're trying to sell like Coke or something to like rednecks. I guess some do math and stuff, but here's the thing. Uh, those country towns, Southern things, they take drug enforcement, like insanely strict. I think when we went to Texas, when we went to Austin and Zach, like it was so like pro beer and alcohol, like
00:28:37
Speaker
It was just like, I couldn't imagine trying to be like, hey, Coke, like, get the fuck out. Yeah. But it's also like, their gang is like three guys, because you never see any other members of that group. So it's just like, these three guys are just like, this is their drug operation.
00:29:04
Speaker
I mean, that's all you needed, I guess, because you have basically the guy in head just sitting in the car and then listening to music, and then you have the two muscle.
00:29:13
Speaker
But I guess for like, cause it's such a, such a subplot during this whole thing. They just wanted no effort. You don't even see drugs. You know, they keep mentioning drugs. You don't even see anything. Yeah. Well, it's, it's, it's weird too, because that feels like, so like, if you split the split in two, that should be like, like they should have resolved all that in the first half of it, because that was the first episode, technically. But they don't really, they don't resolve anything. It's just like cuts, like, like Blue Rawls and his family like drive away. They're like, we gotta get out of here.
00:29:42
Speaker
And then it cut like, Colton has the next job going after the sheriff. So it's just like, I was thinking like, oh, like, did you all just drive away and we're never gonna see him again? It's like, well, he got away. But it does come back later on. But yeah, it's wild. You kind of forget he was in the episode. It's like shows back up later on. It's like, oh, right. That was happening.
00:30:11
Speaker
And it never resolved what was going on with that. Yeah, it's just like, I forget, especially if I wasn't paying attention diligently to everyone's dialogue. Yeah, it is just like jump, jump, jump. Oh yeah, remember this? Like, oh, surprise.
00:30:35
Speaker
Yeah, second half of the episode, they drive to, call it his cousin, go to Arizona, whatever town it is. I can't remember if they mentioned the name, actually the name of the town, but it's a small town in Arizona that basically, the sheriff owns half of it, and everyone in town hates the sheriff because he screwed them all over.
00:30:53
Speaker
And like, Lee Majors and his cousin, they're like constantly saying like, oh, we're friends of him. And they're just like, they get like throwing out, they get like bar fights, like stuff thrown at them, like beating up. And it's like, they still ask people, they're still like going with that ruse. It's like, I think I feel like the third person that like showed like clearly that they hate that person, like choose a different like strategy of trying to like figure out information. Yeah.
00:31:21
Speaker
Like the, so there is like, almost like a, I think it's like Mel Brooks-esque part of the second act where they go to the town and they mention, try and talk about like the sheriff. Everyone loses their goddamn mind. Yeah. So yeah, I mean like,
00:31:46
Speaker
the guy's name is everywhere and if someone out of town which is most likely and you're just like hey like what's this it's like wait you don't know what this is like no I see the name how dare you outsider your friends like they called you if like he called you from out of town like asshole ass loss like we'll kill you like
00:32:05
Speaker
Yeah, but then it's like, hassle them, like, they're the cops. Like, they already have that protection. It's not like, oh, he's a furniture, like, Emperor guy, you know, like, it just uses an evil businessman, but it's like, oh, shit, no, he's like the law enforcement. That's harder to skirt through. Mm hmm. But
00:32:25
Speaker
Yeah, what if they are cops? Because they kind of mentioned like, oh, like, we'll just say we're cops or something. And it's just like, oh, like, so you potentially the people that are coming to the town and looking for Kramer are some sort of cop or mafia.
00:32:40
Speaker
But these people have no fear to fight them.
00:33:02
Speaker
Okay, is it another another plot that just couldn't fit in is with that whole military contract. They've been like dumping lead into the water Yeah, or like there's like the woman they try to like talk to on the street and then Like how he saves her from like getting hit by a truck and then she's like hey get off me like you
00:33:24
Speaker
bastard like get away from me and it seems like the truck that almost hit her was like her like husband or boyfriend or something she gets because she gets in it it's like drives away she's like yelling at them still she knew that guy i think that was just like another townie and yeah i think that's how i that's how i interpret it i was like what is going like they rather trust people that like almost ran them over yeah like they i think maybe like she may or may not have recognized in town like your neighborhood
00:33:55
Speaker
You know, that's another thing. This episode, a lot of people trying to get hit by cars.
Action Sequences and Tactics
00:34:02
Speaker
People either almost getting hit by cars or definitely hit by cars, like the kid on the bike. Kid on the bike, right? The woman in the street. Guy jumping out of a helicopter. A lot of car incidences. And then car chases. I do admit, for the first episode, they pack in a lot of action sequences and stunts, real stunts.
00:34:23
Speaker
Well that's a classic like you know they don't really do that anymore because like the first episodes back in the 80s and 90s were like you got like a whole bunch of money you shut the pilot and then that the pilot was like basically determined how you got if you got a show or not because you basically showed like that where like here's the pilot and then it's like and then they're like oh yeah we'll pick you up for having me episodes and now it's like oh it's greenlit for entire first season we don't really care about the pilot anymore to like make an impression
00:34:54
Speaker
But yeah, back in the 80s and 90s, the pilot was like everything. That was like he poured a ton of money into it, and then he had to basically show off everything the show was possibly could do. I didn't really end this pilot. They didn't really try to set up a love story yet, but they hinted at so many potentials. But yeah, I especially like the last, I don't know, half an hour of the episode is this like unchecking, I think like stunt car chase sequence.
00:35:24
Speaker
I think that's because it's focused, because it's easy to just comprehend. There's no like, oh, you know, like, a lot of off screen events didn't take place. You see a car chase, which is, you know, awesome. Awesome to see almost a brothers style stunt. Yeah, it's very, very old school, very, you know, like, obviously, they're, they're obviously smashing cars.
00:35:54
Speaker
They do some classic, the classic goes off like a ramp and gets his car in two wheels and drives that way for a little bit. And then the guy behind him was like, that looks easy. That immediately crashes. And then there's a Dukes of Hazzard style jump over a bridge that was out.
00:36:16
Speaker
I do like how none of those cops, they're all dim with it because of maybe the lead poisoning. Yeah. They don't figure out how they're paying for all these damages or like, Hey, this stunts gotten way too dangerous. That's supposed to be like a friendly audition. Yeah. Yeah. So yeah, because, because cold, cold scheme to like capture the sheriff is that he tells, he tells them they're in town for
00:36:40
Speaker
Because they're gonna shoot a Hollywood like he's scouting for like a Hollywood movie and Then they want to shoot a scene where they're gonna be like a cartridge to the town or to the county They want to like make sure that that like and they might use like all the like deputies to do it But he wants to see like their driving skills ahead of time So the sheriff's like, oh, yeah, sure. Then they use like you get a helicopter here. He's like, yeah, sure. I
00:37:02
Speaker
And then, yeah, so they cult leads them in this crazy chase of the desert and is wrecking all their cars. Because it's for Hollywood, they don't care, apparently. They're like, oh, yeah. Oh, man, I failed my Hollywood edition, but that's fine. They'll pay for it. Because, yeah, it's like, I mean, at least five or six of their cars gets totally demolished.
00:37:32
Speaker
Oh yeah. Like most, like most of the, most of the police cars in like this, like small town are like destroyed now. And there's a lot of police cars. I thought that small town, it's at least 10 cars. Maybe not all 10 get destroyed completely, but enough that it's going to devastate that already messed up town. You know what I mean? Like that's going to come out of taxpayers and they're already like a short fuse. Yeah.
00:38:00
Speaker
Yeah, he's doing all sorts of tricks. He's making dust clouds so they can't see, and he's going off-road. He's doing all these stuff to lose them and smash them and dodge them. His whole endgame was he wanted to get the helicopter to land. He takes over the helicopter with his gun at gunpoint, because he can fly the helicopter. He flies the helicopter with the chair if it is.
00:38:27
Speaker
What we're flying to meet my cousin, we're driving back to Los Angeles now. But then both the plus intersect because the drug dealer guys that were harassing Lou Rawls show up because they heard on the radio, they went to the police station to try to find Lou Rawls, and then they overhear, oh, Colt Seavers at whatever tree or crossing or whatever. So they go after him.
00:38:57
Speaker
yeah they know exactly where to go yeah which is kind of funny because if someone just gave me a random like cross street i would not know you know they're not from arizona it's like it's like the middle of the desert it's like just like it's like wherever road and then but it's like like lee major's like went off road for like miles it's just like where are they he's also you know he's also known a helicopter too it's just like
00:39:22
Speaker
I guess it's the only helicopter within miles of where they are, so you can fight it, but yeah. I mean, they're able, for a drug dealing gang of three guys, they're very efficient. They keep getting the people they want. They get pretty close. They don't miss them. They maybe might have missed them once, but in terms of actually confronting them, they are pretty accurate.
00:39:51
Speaker
Oh, Fred had mentioned they already got captured once by Lee Majors because he poses a cop. And then I really got arrested and locked them in a hotel room. And then they just get freed. Yeah. Which is kind of funny that they got arrested and got the drop on them.
00:40:08
Speaker
They come to this Arizona town that probably was going to do something like this kind of messed up and racist. Oh, jeez. Yeah. I'm thinking of the time, man. It is like you also come in and you're in these like, um, I don't know, like they're, they're already looking for trouble, you know? So they're very calm about being pulled over by the cops. They're like, well, the cops were off. I was like, yeah, they're very casual about that. I'm like, okay. Yeah.
00:40:39
Speaker
Like, they probably have drugs in their car because they're drug dealers. But they're not, like, it's so weird that Lee Majors has a, like, a no-kill policy, but... Well, one, you can't kill your bounty and not collect on it, I guess. Yeah. But he has no bounty on these guys, you gotta mess them up. Yeah, he only loads his gun with blanks because he uses it where it's like an intimidation tactic and not like a, like, weapon.
00:41:10
Speaker
I feel like I've seen that in other things. So I think, is this where it's from, just having a blank gun, just to scare people? I'm sure it's probably been in other stuff. I can't think of anything off the head of something like that. But I'm sure there's something else that does that, or someone else that does that. So later on, he does do that. It's a thing. Just waving his gun. Second episode, at least. And that's the guy with the real gun.
00:41:38
Speaker
There's a guy with a real gun and he's got the blank gun and he's just like unafraid about that. Well it says, his blank gun saves him in this episode because like the guy's, the director guy's like, the boss is like use his own gun and like take him out and then like make it look like he shot himself. Then he does like a, like he made just like a fake like death, like death fall and then like oh yeah we killed him we're gonna confirm anything but like he's dead.
00:42:05
Speaker
So they thought they killed him for at least like a week, right? A while, yeah, a couple days at least, probably. OK, because I was wondering with the scene where the cop, where Lee pretends to be the cop, and the driver, who I think was the one who fought him and shot him, he just looks at him and he's just like, it doesn't click yet. Well, it doesn't click at first, but then he realizes like, oh, it's that dude we shot and killed.
00:42:34
Speaker
He's a cop now. He's a zombie. He's back for revenge. Yeah.
Resolution and Reflection
00:42:43
Speaker
I always feel like when you do attempt to murder on the hero, it's kind of like a pass if the villains do something, they get them's kill. And then the hero doesn't like step in to stop that. I mean, I feel like that is just like, oh, it's fair game. When he's all about bounty hunting.
00:43:06
Speaker
wait you have no bounty i can let you go just drops them in the ocean well guys like i have no bounty on them then you're worthless to me like yeah yeah something cool like guess what guys you're the fall guys you see what i mean there there are ways to craft it you know i wonder if the new guy is gonna do that
00:43:31
Speaker
So neither of us has seen the movie yet, because we're recording this before it comes out, right before it comes out. I mean, it's out now if you're hearing this. I feel like the movie's gonna do the thing where it's like, whatever this adventure is in the movie, it's gonna lead to him being like, oh, I could be a bounty hunter. I should do this more. It's gonna be kind of like the prequel origins of him.
00:44:12
Speaker
You know, I have a gig, I have a party. You're trying to hunt another human.
00:44:22
Speaker
becoming a bounty hunter slash Thutman.
00:44:31
Speaker
So typical stunt people, their side gig is either like fitness trainer or like martial artists, you know? Yeah. It's something that kind of like got them into Hollywood. But this one was weird. This one is like, oh, what was your talent? Just like being V majors and being handsome. I can take a punch. I can take a punch. I might be set up fire. I could scratch a car.
00:44:59
Speaker
but I just can't figure out how the banking works. Oh, what brought you to the bounty hunting? Bad financial decision. Buying my love of horses. I have two horses, but I live in a shack. A shack way up in the mountains of Los Angeles. Think about it. He drives that Jeep up that mountain. That's why he has to drive the Jeep, right?
00:45:29
Speaker
which is yeah it's this pickup truck yeah but then that's like probably 15 miles to the gallon in the 80s yeah and then it's like i guess gas was definitely cheap but it's just like you're burning gas back and forth off that mountain to drive to the hollywood like these are the hollywood hills driving down to be at like the 20th century box lot but anyway i don't get into the micromanaging now just sounds insane like
00:45:57
Speaker
of just having like a gas guzzler and then he's going to work and then you're like, what? You're going to get paid 20 bucks. The gas is 40. I mean, it's because it offers me his manager. He probably does need a manager. It's like, it could be like, why are you, yeah, like your gas, your gas expenses are like through the roof and you're like, you're like, this shack is like, feeding his. Yeah. So it's like you now inherit another horse. Jodi was actually pretty good.
00:46:25
Speaker
You're right, Jodi does not a lot of shining in in the first episode, but she gets better as the show goes on. She has more screen time, she's actually stunting.
00:46:35
Speaker
Yeah. It's really strange that you would sideline one of your three stars to not do anything in your big pilot episode. Well, it's still 1981 when this came out, so it was just like... I think Kang and Lacey was just starting. So they just got the idea of action women. Wonder Woman just ended, I think.
00:47:02
Speaker
I think there was like, like six, like, uh, the bionic woman was out, I think too. Cause, cause this was like, this was like Lee majors, like big, like, like three years before this, he was in six million dollar man. And then this is like his big fall after that. And then women came out near the tail end of bionic man, but yes. And then like only had like one or two seasons. But then like, like, I think Lindsay Wagner, like guest started on like the fall guy at some point in the like the first season.
00:47:32
Speaker
It's like a, you know, like a, kind of like a inside joke or like, there's a lot of people like either work for like Lee Majors, like work for like Glenn A Larson, who's like created the show. And a lot of like his regular people show up too. That makes sense. I mean, it's like, like, especially at the time, it's that like close knit who you know community. But yeah, I just looked up Bionic Woman. It was like, it ended in 1979 or 78. They only had like three seasons.
00:48:02
Speaker
So it ended around the same time Vonic Man ended. And then, like, and then Glennon Larson, like, he also, I mean, he created Fall Guy. He also created, like, Magna PI, Knight Rider, Bell Star Galactica, Buck Rogers. Holy crap. One of, like, one of our favorites of all time, Knight Man. Manimal, Auto Man.
00:48:32
Speaker
AutoMan was like fake Tron. It was a police officer, but then he got turned into a hologram. There was a hologram called AutoMan, and he was in the real world. It was basically if Tron came to the real world, but then he could turn into other vehicles and stuff.
00:48:58
Speaker
And so it was like this, it was like, it's like this police detective and like a hologram, like digital being fought crime. We might, yeah, if we want to do more TV shows, we have to like watch that.
00:49:16
Speaker
but not to drag on so much about the fall guy. Just because if you sum up every plot feat, you can do a short thing. We have mentioned the drug dealers get... their comeuppance is Lee Majors uses the hook on the helicopter, which he says he's done before, and he hooks their car and leaves it on the top of the Grand Canyon, I think? Or some sort of desert mountain?
00:49:44
Speaker
I don't think it's the Grand Canyon because it's surrounded by water. Yeah. It's some sort of desert high plateau, which, will they ever get down? Who knows? They're probably dead. Like I said, Lee Majors, he didn't want to outright kill them, but he didn't have to save them. Yeah. So maybe that's his revenge. That's what I'm saying. He didn't kill them, but he killed them in the end.
00:50:13
Speaker
Yeah. I hope you guys can climb. Cause that's like a sheer drop down. It's just a fall. You're not wearing any sort of like anything close to like a mountain climbing equipment. You're like, you see what's stuck. There's no cell phones. So remember where in this random desert, he dropped them off after he lands this thing in California outside of the county line.
00:50:44
Speaker
Yeah, hopefully, maybe he radios someone to like, hey, I left these three guys on like a plateau, like the desert. Hopefully you can find them in time? Yeah, I'll find them before they die of thirst. Or drugs. And then, yeah, and then we don't have a ship, but I... episode finishes out with, he jumps a car onto watermelons.
00:51:11
Speaker
which doesn't seem like compared to like other sets that have happened in this episode, like doesn't seem that crazy. But he's... Yes, like it's like, you know, it's just like kind of a smallest jump and then he's just laying on like watermelons and smashed them all. But he's doubling for Farrah Fawcett. So he majors in like a Farrah Fawcett, like kind of like wig and dress.
00:51:40
Speaker
So during this time, Lee Majors and Farrah Fawcett were separated into divorcing the next year. So that's the bittersweet thing about that part. It's like Farrah Fawcett, it's like, I know you. And it's like. Oh yeah, the whole scene is so weirdly. It's a
Cultural Impact and Legacy
00:51:56
Speaker
totally different energy from the rest of the episode. Like you said, bittersweet.
00:52:02
Speaker
take care of yourself man take care of yourself you look good okay you look good yeah but we're just passing through it's like holy shit like that's not in this that's not just the script telling them that's them yeah I kind of forgot the majors in Farrah Fawcett were an item they were a power couple in the 70s
00:52:26
Speaker
Because I was looking online, I was like, wait a minute, they're like, the way they act in that, that wasn't just like, okay, like, they're not in the same scene together, you know, like, it's not that couple, like, they had a, okay, we're like, working through this divorce, like, to like, see it through, like, whoa. I thought that was nice.
00:52:52
Speaker
Again, the rest of the season, the first season one, not the same. It's more like gags and a lot of talk, don't show. Because Lee Majors, I mean, not Lee Majors, but Colt, he'll bring up other previous cases we haven't seen where he's like, oh, do you remember the heroin in the vase? Do you remember this? The guy with the knife or a foot of a vase? Like, wait, what? What's happening in your life?
00:53:21
Speaker
Yeah, well, yeah, thank God there's like the like the majors like uh, like intro where you like it kind of explains the premise because if that wasn't there you would just yeah, you would get dumped in like in media res just like And you have to like pick everything. I mean you might pick everything up, but it'd be like way more like
00:53:37
Speaker
Especially for an 80s TV show, if it didn't have the intro, people would be like, lost, I think, compared to other shows where the palette explicitly lays out everything that happens, or introduces everything. A lot of 80s palettes would be like, hey, I'm new in town. Hey, I'm a new character to this police station. Explain everything to me. Explain who all the characters are in this police station.
00:54:05
Speaker
Yeah, I'm trying to think the show that had a similar premise like that, of you are dropped into this and you get a reintroduction, might be Brooklyn Nine-Nine, where there are other previous things that have happened, but the first episode is introducing the new character, Hulk. And then it's like him realizing that he's way more stern than the rest of the group. Yeah, because then you get like Terry Crews explaining like, oh, let me introduce you to every single character on the show.
00:54:35
Speaker
So they kind of do that with the cousin, with Howie. Yeah. But then they stop. He never talks to Big Jake in the first part. He doesn't get an introduction to the potential bounty. You know what I mean? It's just sort of like things just happen. I don't think he's even there for the nightclub part, right? It's like a whole different part because the nightclub scene where he
00:55:05
Speaker
But Colt knows that waitress, and then the waitress takes him to a table and is like, hey, sit here. Wait for your cousin to do his actual business. Stay here, dummy. I get it. It's his first time. But still, it's just like, ah, I would have liked to see Lee explain, all right, we have to do this. Blah, blah, blah. We're trying to look out. But yeah, there's a lot of history and backstory stuff that you
00:55:34
Speaker
I don't think he's complaining like later in the show, but like for the first episode, there's like, yeah, Lee Majors has been doing this for a long time. Like him and Jodie's partnership and then like him and Big Jack's partnership and all that stuff. It's like, you know what's going on. It's like, it's been going on for a while. You know Lee Majors from Six Million Dollar Man.
00:56:08
Speaker
But yeah, the Fall Guy Super Fun show, hopefully the movie is as fun. It seems like it's getting pretty good reviews. I'm sure we'll check it out at some point. I feel like if the movie fails, I think the smarter thing would have been a TV show or a limited series. Like a safer method because
00:56:29
Speaker
fall guy even though it's like a landmark 80 show just never got like the love past like the 2000s you want to talk about just like how hard it is to watch the show or like how like yeah yeah it's it's you you can i think you can only buy the first season on like amazon or like voodoo or like apple tv or something like that um it's not and then no their seasons are available
00:56:55
Speaker
There was like DVDs of the first two seasons, but that's it. Like the last three seasons have never been released in the physical media. And they're not like, they're not just streaming somewhere where you can actually like watch them streaming. I think we, I think we both had like, well, I think I want a daily motion. Cause like it's, it's on daily motion. If you want to like search for the flag on there, there's like all the episodes are mostly episodes. And then I found it some way. Yeah. Say another like, uh,
00:57:22
Speaker
legally dubious way but that's like the only way to like really see like especially like the last three seasons are nowhere like well two three two three four five are not legally available to purchase and then like yeah one or two you could maybe buy you could maybe buy about physical media but yeah very very difficult show to uh try to watch
00:57:47
Speaker
Which is,
Future Adaptations and Closing
00:57:48
Speaker
it's so weird. There has to be some sort of, like the rights must be like split between different companies or something because it was an ABC show, but then 20th Century Fox produced it. But then Disney would have, like, has control of both those entities now. So is it Disney, but then Universal's putting out the movie? So, I mean, because it seems like, like, if there was like a,
00:58:17
Speaker
No legal issues. This would probably be on Parrot Plus or Amazon or Hulu. It would be on whatever company owned the rights to it. Because that seems like a very silent catalog show to have. Miami Vice is on Peacock. You can just watch all of Miami Vice and Peacock. A lot of these other 80s shows are available all over the place. But yeah, the Fall guy is just nowhere to be found.
00:58:47
Speaker
Maybe the movie is a big success. Maybe they'll find whoever owns it to be like, hey, we should put this out somewhere. Or get Blu-rays or something of it. I hope they kind of revitalized that. In terms of buildup for the movie, there would have been a release of something. Lee Majors would have came out and then didn't talk or something. Well, he's got a cameo in the movie.
00:59:17
Speaker
Not the same, not the same. To do the proper marketing. When they were doing the Brady Bunch movies, they got the original cast to do some marketing and appear on TV.
00:59:32
Speaker
I don't see Lee Majors tweeting about like, hey, I'm going to be in the Fall Guys. It does not make sense. So especially when this show is more for the prior generation, because we were too young for Fall Guys. Even if I was a kid watching this, which I think I've seen this as a kid, I'd understand half the jokes or half of the context. So it's a very silly action thing for adults who are now older.
01:00:01
Speaker
And I don't know, it's just like, it is like a weird misgap because this show, this movie is meant for our generation. We can grow up on this. Yeah. Though. And the action is for meant for like our group. So I just want to know who the audience is for this new, like their nude market. You want to get new people in it. I figure release the old one, kind of reintroduce people back to the old one. Yeah. We had to seek this out. And it's, it's like every other.
01:00:30
Speaker
kind of big 80s show has like, like, I mean, CBS has like, what? And like, and why if I vote, they had magnet PI, they had MacGyver, I mean, they brought all those back. It's like new shows. And we had like, we had like the one a team movie and then nothing ever chose from that. So that's kind of like also like a kind of like a
01:00:57
Speaker
Yeah, you'd think there'd be some sort of new A-Team thing, but... Because that's probably one of the biggest... In this sort of genre, like era-slash-genre, 80s kind of action-adventure shows, A-Team is probably number one. Yeah, hopefully it's maybe more easily available, but I mean...
01:01:26
Speaker
You can watch the first episode on everything action. We've embedded it there, so if you wanna watch the episode we watched, it's on there, and then go to other areas of the internet to watch other episodes, if you want. I think some are on YouTube, but not season one episodes. It's a lot of season three, I saw, was up there. For some reason, just put like, I'm all season three fall guy up there.
01:01:57
Speaker
Yeah. But yeah, I think they'll do it for this week's episode. If we see the fall guy up here, check the site for the movie. We'll check out the site for a year view at some points. And kicking off the summer movie season, so I'm sure we'll have a lot more reviews and stuff to talk about.
01:02:25
Speaker
as the summer goes on. Any big movies looking forward for? I mean, probably like Furiosa. Hopefully that's awesome. Hopefully Kingdom of the Planet of Apes is awesome. Deadpool Wolverine is probably the most anticipated one. That's like early, too. There hasn't been anything on the mid or end of the summer yet. So yeah, these summer blockbusters roll out.
01:02:56
Speaker
Yeah, I'm trying to think what else is coming out. There's like a quiet place day one is coming out. Oh, Twisters. Oh, I forgot about that. I think we'll definitely talk about Twister when Twisters comes out. Borderlands, that could go either way. Yeah.
01:03:25
Speaker
Oh, the, the, the crow, the crow remake. Yep. Alien Romulus. Yeah. Seems like bad boys ride or die. Yeah. It's going to, it's going to be a interesting, interesting summer. Seems like it's going to be like a lot like, uh,
01:03:54
Speaker
either they're gonna be like huge hits or giant bombs. But yeah, the community site for, we'll have definitely have like reviews of like a lot of the certain movies and we'll probably like talk about either like something related to them or the actual movies themselves on the podcast, stay tuned for that. And check out the site for reviews and our commentaries. We have a commentary for,
01:04:23
Speaker
Crap, what did we just do? The final chapter we just put up, so you can watch that with us. And a new one on the way at the end of this month, I think we're kind of leaning toward possibly terminator's salvation. But maybe somebody else will jump up, but that's in the front row right now, so if you want to watch that with us, stay tuned. And yes, of course, I am Zach, and we will see you next week.
01:04:51
Speaker
For more from Everything Action, head to www.everythingaction.com. You can also find us on Facebook at facebook.com slash everything.action, and follow us on X at Evie Action. We're also on Instagram and threads at everything.action. Find more episodes of the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your podcast epic choice and be sure to rate and subscribe.