Escapade: when American TV vandalized The Avengers
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- Опубликовано: 15 окт 2024
- In 1978, CBS aired the abortive pilot of Escapade, aka Avengers USA. Written and produced by the British Avengers maestro Brian Clemens, it starred Granville Van Dusen and Morgan Fairchild as John Steed and Emma Peel's American secret agent counterparts. It was terrible. But you can watch it here:
• CBS Network Special - ...
The 1960's Avengers the only one worth watching. And I'm an American.
New Avengers worth a watch
@@simonparry5958 Yes, because they still had Macnee.
The chemistry between Steed and Emma Peel is what made The Avengers great.
There were 3 seasons before Emma Peel was even heard of where the show was massive.
Honor Blackman was hugely popular. So was Joanna Lumley too. Linda Thorson is also well celebrated.
No Avengers fan would ever attribute the show's popularity to one pairing.
Tara King's season is painfully underrated for sure... But Steed and Peel are iconic...
@@BernardJKDThe show began with 2 male leads, 1 left to do movies during production strike, he was replaced with 3 rotating actors. By next season it was clear who was strongest & Honor Blackman was cast as Steed's partner. The show was generally confined to live studio recording & was a hit in the U.K. When Blackman left, Rigg was hired & the show switched to location filming. The Americans bought it & by the following year it was shot in colour & globally syndicated, so you are mixing 🍏 & 🍋. EVERY year of The Avengers was different, regardless of casting. But Steed & Peel set the standard because the show achieved its highest production values & largest global audience (Thorson was opposite huge hit Laugh-In & Blackman episodes weren't shown in U.S. until '90's). New Avengers syndicated & never achieved national network audience. Macnee frequently credited Rigg with rewriting their dialogue & producers encouraged them to improvise, such was their chemistry. So just as Dame Diana said Avengers were accidental feminism, so too did Steed & Peel become best years of the series. Thorson has acted ever since (as has Elizabeth Shepperd) but only 2 Avengers leads were hired for 007.
@@BernardJKD Sadly mostly erased now, but the original Avenger was Ian Hendry and the series was created for him because of his popularity. He left during the actors' strike in 1961/62 but had made the series so successful that they decided to carry on with his "sidekick", Steed...
As a yank, I remember watching the "New Avengers" on CBS latenight movie, and loving it. Never heard of this though.
Funnily enough my first exposure to the avengers were the new avengers, getting to know the older show later. But consider 3 a convert, It’s Mrs Peel all the way to me.
Grew up on The Avengers. Loved it & Diana Rigg. Why Hollywood insists on recycling rather than being, at least, a little original is perplexing.
"When I heard our Mrs. Peel was in ladies underwear, I rattled up the stairs, two at a time! " Steed to Emma Peel when she was working undercover at a department store.
"Death At Bargain Prices." I remember that episode well. I saw it first run in 1965.
Brilliant. Nothing compares to the incredible, iconic Avengers. Patrick Macnee and Diana Rigg form one of the greatest duos ever on TV or Cinema. Incomparable.
The local Fox station played reruns of the British series late (1-2am) Monday-Friday in during the mid 90s. Working as a second shift supervisor, I came to fall in love with the show. Especially any episode with D Riggs.
Mrs Peel & Steed are the greatest Avengers of all time.
You could never replace Mrs. Peel or Steed. Diana Rigg was one of a kind and the reason I took Kung Fu.
Even though Mrs. Peel was married, with her husband disappeared, there was always the slightest of tasteful sexual tension between them. They were respectful of each other. It wasn’t until Tarra King came along that there was more open flirtation between the two. There was nothing like that show, before or since.
Back in the 1960s, there were many articles discussing the Steed/Mrs Peel relationship in terms of "will they/won't they?" Which always surprised series "showrunner" (as he would be called now) Brian Clemens because in his head they already had, albeit before we saw them together. Importantly, the pair had remained very close friends.
Don't forget Cathy Gale. She was the archetype for the Steed/widow flirtation.
@@frankshailes3205 - Quite true!
I remember "The Avengers", a terrific show. I don't remember this show. I'm so glad.
While Escapade was labeled "a Quinn Martin production," Quinn Martin had sold his company by the time this was made. As a result, he personally was not involved.
I don't recall ever seeing this pilot. Late night in Chicagoland area there was a "The NEW AVENGERS" show that came on near the end of 1978 from time to time as a re-edited 2 hour specials. In the version that I used to watch Patrick Macnee played "Major The Hon. John Wickham Gascoyne Beresford Steed" (crazy that I remember this still). I suspect they piggybacked 2 episodes from the first season for the American audience.
Was a preteen during the 70s. Remember watching Avengers and really liked it. Frankly never heard of a spinoff series? Most like had a limited run.
ruclips.net/video/6OcD4g6HR4M/видео.htmlsi=MKemyjGpSkIxd7ob
I watched the original series and the New Avengers in the 1970s ! I liked the original series a lot ; but the New Avengers introduced new characters and concepts, and also showed some classic British actors like “ Christopher Lee ( Better known as Dracula 🧛 from the Hammer Film Studios) Peter Cushing ( Better known as Professor 👨🏫 Van Helsing and Dr. Frankenstein also from the same film studio ). Not playing the same old characters; but rather newer characters, more interesting, and more dangerous, deadly, and menacing characters! Of course, what I really liked was the series musical theme composed by Laurie Johnson. Unforgettable and classic!
I remember Granville Van Dusen and Morgan Fairchild very well. Thank HEAVENS, I have forgotten this mess ever existed. Geeeesh.
Van Dusen starred in a pretty good tv pilot called "World Of Darkness" that was rather like "Kolchak: The Night Stalker" and "The X-Files." This "Avengers" reboot, however, he just wasn't right for.
This show can stay lost...Mrs.Peel your needed!
I also remember how the Miss Peel's leather outfit in the opening credits was deemed too racy for American audiences and was replaced with an outfit deemed non controversial instead. That should have a been a clue as to how an American spin-off would fare.
Good point!
Even back then everything had to be watered down for Americans. Now look at the wristlimped people in it.
There was censorship, but Blackman & Peel wore leather regularly (the show was known for its fetish wear) but new designer moved to coloured fabric after b&w, Rigg stated it was MUCH easier to work in, catsuit Emmapeelers anticipated Adidas tracksuits.
I recognize several members of the cast, including Len Birman as the villain. He was a reliable character actor, but only as good as the material he was given. Shame on the showrunners for wasting his talent. Morgan Fairchild eventually went on to a more suitable role as a nighttime soap opera vixen. The role was still cheesy, but it was the right sort of cheese for her range. When Diana Rigg was on The Avengers, she’d film the show by day & play Shakespearean heroines on stage at night. She clearly had an entirely different range…
Never heard of Escapade.I’m an American who will always love The Avengers.No better pairing than John Steed and Mrs. Peel.
That American actor has been in lots of tv ,I know him from watching American tv in England.
Honor Blackman the first full on lady with attitude who could fight ( she was a black belt in judo ) talk Steed down and was an original ice maiden. She played essentially Ian Henry's part as they were already written. Then came Emma Peel and Tara!
I recognize Van Dusen's face from other shows. I never thought Morgan Fairchild was a very good actress. She was the guest star on a lot of TV shows or a non-main character in many TV movies but I always felt she was cast for her looks more than anything else.
"I do exercise, every night i stir my own martini" that is sub sub sub-Steed
Probably the network wanted to fit it into their show template with their roster of actors. Thus making it a generic US 80s detective show of which there were many.
Quinn Martin was also the first FBI with Efram Zumbalist jr. But Steed was so dapper and Emma was so Carnaby street and their theme sing was so good they can't be duplicated! Often immitated (poorly) never duplicated!! And Mr. Steeds car with his spark advance was the best spy wheels ever!!😎😁. But once was enough for me! And please identify the car and does Jay Leno have one?
As an American fan of the original Avengers--no one could step into Patrick MacNee's shoes nor Diana Riggs. I never heard of this atrocious attempt and am so happy it became a flop.
I'm in love with Emma Peel.
She was a world class fantasy class hyper
babe. Tara was mega hot too
@@Mr_KennethMrs. Peel was a woman, Tara a crushing trainee girl.
The line about Emma is that she caused the onset of puberty for generations of British boys. Reverse of Hercules Steve Reeves, who said of women looking @ him, "You don't quite know what they're thinking."
Don't care Dianna Riggs was hotter than all of them
I forgot about this. I have very vague memories of this show.
If one is going to attempt a do-over of "The Avengers," one of the toughest challenges is replacing Patrick Macnee. They tried twice (this failed pilot, and "The Avengers" movie with academy award-nominated Ralph Feinnes) and completely failed. Why? Because Patrick Macnee is so perfectly cast that he *is* John Steed. An imitation just won't do, and woe until any network or film production company that doesn't realize this.
The chemistry between Patrick Macnee and his leading ladies, especially Diana Rigg, was an essential part of the show's success. You can't plan for that. You can't factor it in during the planning of the show. It either happens or it doesn't. The Americans perhaps made a mistake in hiring Brian Clemens to write the show. It needed a native who was aware of US culture and sensibilities.
Moonlighting. Macnee was raised by women & evidently had no problems working with them.
The phrase "Couldn't pay me enough to EVER watch this 💩" comes to mind. It's an insult to the REAL Avengers... and to those of us who hold it in the highest esteem.
OMG….i saw this on tv when i was a kid and for some reason or other, it stands out in my mind. Not because it was any good (I can’t remember much about it) but I do recall thinking that Morgan Fairchild and Granville Van Dusen had to be the most over the top names. I had no idea it was an Avengers remake…
Rather liked the New Avengers, the English reboot. The American version was as bad as the American version of the Repair Shop. Quinn Martin did a lot of pilots, some were pretty good, some good but still didn't make it, some just awful but lord we could use that kind of creativity on tv now!!!
There was another Avengers like series in 1977 called Hunter with James Franciscus and Linda Evans. It bombed and was quickly pulled with 4 episodes that were unaired.
You forgot "The Fugitive".
A Quinn-Martin production.
is richard still on the run?
@@Gernot66 No, he caught the one armed man. 😂
"Honey West" was a "Avengers" Rip-off as well.
It was supposed to cash in on the Emma Peel Hype...
Starring Anne Francis as Honey West.
The show ran for 1 season in 1965/1966.
It's practically unknown in the UK - if it was shown, no one talks about it any more - but there are some episodes on RUclips, so I might give it a go.
Honey West, like the Saint, was based on a series of books. It only lasted a year, but Aaron Spelling tried again successfully ten years later with Charlie's Angels, with three action ladies.
"Mother" was played by Patrick Newell. He was a very good actor, but his struggles with his weight affected his career. His doctor advised him many times to lose weight, which he did. But every time he did, he couldn't find work. Casting directors saw him only as "that fat man". When he regained weight, he was in constant work. He died of a heart attack, aged 56.
He has the distinction of being the last commanding officer of UNIT seen in 70s Dr Who.
He was in a largely forgotten British Sci-fi movie "Unearthly Stranger" where he played a Steed-type character very well. Jean Marsh played a stern secretary in it and the two of them would have made a good pairing for a series of their own.
I'm a rarity in that I actually like the Linda Thorsen episodes. I do understand why the previous two series are more popular. The very late addition of Steed's boss changes the dynamic. Although Patrick Newell is one of my favourite actors, the character doesn't add much.
Laird Cregar died similarly, & Mario Lanza. Creative changes behind the scenes stymied Thorson's season, it took time (& reshoots) to course correct, as happened before Rigg was hired as M. Appeal.
@@unowen-nh9ov Yes, two more great talents gone too soon.
The series seemed to burn itself out in the final year. There was an inconsistency of tone, and in the way Tara was written as a top agent one week and a damsel in distress the next. I still love this season, though.
Except "Homicide and Old Lace".
Thanks for your comment. After thinking about it, I've snipped out the mention of his size.
@culturewarp That's nice of you. I've amended my comment too.
I did not understand the point of "Mother". Completely unnecessary and pointless.
Steed and Mrs.Peel!
Compare it with the more recent Americanisation of Kingsman - surely a direct descended of the Classic. True, British TV doesn't often adapt US shows all that well, unless Anglicising them completely with large helpings of driech, irony and introspection.
I wouldn't blame Brian Clemens, though - he always cheerfully admitted to a liking for money when it was thrown at him, and quite likely took said money and headed for the hills leaving the producers to make all the mistakes.
On another note, does anyone else think Morgan Fairchild looks a lot like the lovely Debbie McGee?
Clemens doing this doesn't surprise me in the least - he did The New Avengers, after all - and let's face it, that was pretty rank. The 'martini' line, given the constant downward trend, was, sadly, inevitable.
Kate Jackson said Emma Peel was 1 of the inspirations for Charlie's Angels, Mrs. Gale inspired Honey West series (they tried to cast Blackman) & Avengers' Black Widow in comics.
@@unowen-nh9ov Aaron Spelling, who produced HONEY WEST, made no secret of the fact that he intended the show to be the American version of THE AVENGERS. After Blackman turned down the role of West (she chose to star in the Bond movie GOLDFINGER instead) Spelling cast Anne Francis purely because he thought she looked similar to Blackman. And the reason HONEY WEST was cancelled after one season was reportedly because the network realised it would simply be cheaper to import and screen THE AVENGERS instead.
Great review. Agreed.
OMG, I saw the tape from the chicago museum. Delightfully TERRIBLE. "Sexy" banter my wife and I laughed about. I enjoy the Q-M framework. It made it flow and sometimes gave it undeserved weight. 4:15
Another great show that should never be rebooted specially now in the Woketard era
Me, as someone have lived in the States as well as in Europe, knew neither that the Americans tried to copy the format, interesting clip I just know that Roddenberry had tried to imitate DOCTOR WHO with his failed STAR TREK - TOS - Pilot Episode - ASSIGNMENT EARTH.
THE NEW ABENTERS had been well done Liked those episodes as much as the classical show
Also a well done British show had been THE ELEVENTH HOUR with Patrick Steward. The Americans had done her a fair remake with Sewell in the role of the brilliant scientist.
I love Morgan Fairchild. But The Avengers will always be with Diana Rig or Linda Thorson.
... Programme executives will usually bill something new as a new version of a classic series for marketing, hoping to bring in an audience. I remember a low budget fan series by BBV called PROBE as being The British X Files! Bold claim considering the fact it was never an official spin off from the series which inspired it, Doctor Who! Fans will usually try to read too much into these series which either appear similar or are written by the people who created the original series on which it is based.
Wow thanks so much for this. I am American and have never heard of this. Absolutely fascinating. It does look pretty bad as a show, but great history,
Glad you enjoyed it!
There's more chemistry between "V.H. Adderly" and Miscellaneous Affairs secretary "Mona Ellerby" on "Adderly" (1986-1988) than this "Escapade" from quality. (CBS blew it when they made the ISS an "American spy agency.") But then, the bloom was off the TV spy genre by then. (No, I don't "do Austin Powers" out of respect to the John Steed/Mrs. Emma Peel series.)
Morgan Fairchild was never about "chemistry" with any cast mates. She was blond, and that was all she was about. Your Texas accent was more personality associated with her words than her entire tepid career.
I disagree. She also did several CBS radio mystery theater episodes early in her career and was incredibly naturalistic for someone just starting out. She could also do more, she was constrained by what directors and producers wanted of her and asked her to repeat from previous performances.
New Avengers, yes. Purdy ❤ Just don't mention the movie !!!
I loved the early Avengers, but slowly I began to go off it. It became far too silly. Later episodes were almost unwatchable. It started with the "MOTHER" introduction. As for the American version, I think that would have been too dreadful for even the American market. Thinking about it, I don't think there has EVER been a better American version of ANY British series and probably will never be. Just looks at the current batch of American films being made. Dreadful and all the same.
Agree! I think Clemens was having a tough time by the late 60s. He was still relatively young, had been working in TV for a decade, the Avengers had been huge and there must have been a lot of pressure on his shoulders. Never easy being the Writer and Producer. I believe he had a partner for the New Avengers and The Professional, helped with the writing and production - although not the quality of the stories!
All in the Family and Sanford and Son were both huge hits. More recently the US version of The Office was also a big hit. I'm not sure the success rate for American versions of English shows is any worse than it is for any new TV show. It's a matter of getting the right cast and having a portable premise. An example of a show that wasn't portable is Faulty Towers, there were three attempts to do an American version, only one of which was tolerable, not great but not awful, Maude which was produced by Norman Lear who had also done All in the Family. Replicating Faulty Towers is impossible. They only made 13 episodes of the original so Clease didn't think that even he could have replicated the show in a second or third series. There was a failed attempt to do an American version of the IT Crowd that didn't get past the pilot. It was completely miscast even though Moss was played by the same actor. It was a lazy attempt to Americanise it by replacing most of the actors but using the same scripts. I'm not sure what they were thinking with that one, what's the point of making a shot for shot remake of anything.
It looks like this American version of The Avengers was also a lazy attempt. The producers obviously didn't understand the original and the writer was just collecting a paycheck, I suspect he didn't want to be there. Morgan Fairchild was big in the 70s and 80s, it's not her fault that this was as bad as it was. The script is clearly half assed.
@@joshuarosen465 Clemens, the writer, probably needed the money. In the Uk at that time, high-earners had to pay Over 80% in Tax! However, you only pay tax for money you earn in the UK, thus, his fee for that American show, he didn't have to pay tax on! We Brits can work anywhere in the world and only pay local taxes (if there are any), whereas I believe Americans have to pay the IRS every year, wherever they are.
I'm a rarity in that I actually like the Linda Thorsen episodes. I do understand why the previous two series are more popular. The very late addition of Steed's boss changes the dynamic. Although Patrick Newell is one of my favourite actors, the character doesn't add much.
Having Linda play the role largely as a wide-eyed innocent and even giving Steed a line that "It's still all a game to her" didn't do much to boost her character. But also the scripts began to suffer. Most of the plots involved attacks on "The Ministry" itself which made the series a bit insular.
Shame, as there is still some brilliant stuff in there.
Not "Homicide and Old Lace" though. That is untemittingly awful.
@@joshuarosen465 I think we tend to like what we see first. Not always so but in more cases than not. British humor does not travel well outside of the UK. Many American simply don't get it! Personally, being British, I generally don't like or understand American humor. I find it brash, noisy and often very un-funny. The dubbed-on laugh tracks don't help. When MASH was aired in the UK, I loved it. Many years later I watched the US version of it. I found it dreadful, all that canned laughter. To me it was unwatchable. I guess we are all wired differently.
Granville “Open all hours “
It seems terrible. Billing a series as an American version of the Avengers is risky at best. If there was chemistry, it didn't show in the clips, the robot fit in that sense. Even the setting seems pathetic to the magical version of the UK in the '60s.
Hey, that's Tommy Flanagan's wife Morgan Fairchild. : )
I watched the pilot and then followed the link through to your channel. I think the main problem with the pilot is that it doesn't know what it wants to be. Is it trying to be 'The Avengers' with all it's quirks or 'The New Avengers' with it's more realistic edge. Is the computer 'Mother' or Steed? Suzy's outfits go from Purdey to the second last scene where her costume harks back to something Mrs Peel might have worn in the colour episodes. I think that's the real problem, if it had decided what it was suppose to be, then it might have worked better. Also with 'The Professionals' starting to take off at this time (1978), it may also be that Clements had spread himself bit too thin, like Gerry Anderson admitted himself with Captain Scarlet. He was running between that series and the second Thunderbirds movie - Thunderbird 6. Anyways, that's just my thoughts.
Thanks for watching, and for sharing your observations.
@@culturewarp You're welcome, but I think I've probably given away just how much 'Cult TV' I watch!!
How is it a spin-off of The New Avengers? None of the characters appeared in universe in TNA, did they?
It followed The Avengers template and was initially publicised in the press as Avengers USA, but you make a good point - in the end it was a generic spy show by Brian Clemens, recycling his old ideas.
GOOD LORD
As an American 🇺🇸 I am embarrassed, they should have hired Brits Actors.
Watch anything miss Fairchild is in she's always excellent and very very beautiful
Interesting stuff thanks 👍
I had never heard of this US show.
To be fair to the US we in Britain don’t always get it right when we try to make British versions of US shows, game shows being one genre.
Very true.
I did not know they tried to make an American version, but I'm not surprised it failed. Part of The Avengers' charm was its British-ness. And how can you Americanize "British-ness"? It would basically have to find an entirely different, American style to achieve success, and in that case, why bother calling it "The Avengers"?
I loved The Avengers! And of course the USA version was bad.
If that hurts your eyes don't go looking for Fawlty Towers with Bea Arthur in the Basil Fawlty role.
You can thank me later.
The dropouts are a good indication of whether the film was repeated when VCRs and tapes were good. Ladykillers was also made worse by the "experts" from Hollywood. I guess I have to declare that as an opinion😉
no opinion, i didn't knew there exists a remake of ladykillers, but my interest in remakes is anyway negative.
they are both made from polyethylene
Diana Rigg will alwaya be in the pantheon.
But Morgan Fairchild aint chopped liver😅
Why do Americans feel the need to remake everything? And ruin it.
And I thought the New Avengers was bad!
having glanced at some of the crap coming out from Hollywood over the last five years...its looking better!
I kinda liked it. Not as good as the Steed/Peel series but I thought a lot better than the Hendy/Macnee series.
@@tomskell9622Almost no episodes survive & it was MUCH different show then, police procedural evolved from Police Surgeon.
@@unowen-nh9ov I saw them on Plex I think in the middle 90's. It was on DTV but I can't remember exactly which channel at the moment.
. . . . or he was a lawyer . . . .
I think I will give this one a miss. The classics are classics for a reason........anything else is a shoddy poor second rate copy.
Then there was "The Avengers" MOVIE, which(at least in MY opinion) was a DREADFUL mess!
Again, not a single iota of chemistry between the lead actors, both of whom were as stiff as the proverbial BOARD, and the ONLY character even REMOTELY worth watching was Sean Connery as the villain!
& didn't they have him in ridiculous disguises for much of it? Don't think maker of that movie had even seen the original, Fiennes looked like boy playing dress-up & Thurman bad mannequin, lousy vamp as Poison Ivy as well.
I've seen the awful travesty of The American hunk of junk. The obvious and open sex destroyed the subtle, sexy chemistry "Will they or won't they" aura of the original. It;s clunky, awkward and not believable. The computer bit I think was added by the network dolts. Utter garbage.I am now subscribed.
In The White House.
The yanks haven't a clue. Glossy American crap!. The Avengers is British,and eccentric. Can't duplicate it.
Can you imagine an American remake of 'Look - (Stop Me If You've Heard This One) But There Were These Two Fellers...' - possibly the greatest TV programme of all time?
That was called Laugh-In & got The Avengers canceled.
You can’t go home and when they americanised this classic British 🇬🇧 masterpiece American version sucked this is a Brit comedy or series leave it alone like trying to make the munsters Chinese u can’t
Given some Chinese ghost stories/folklore, I imagine a Chinese Munsters as being either hilarious or terrifying, or both.
Hey we’re Americans. We like bland watered down drivel