The Fall Guy: Why the Spin-Off Failed

this video is about a failed spin-off of the Fall Guy to be clear we're not talking about the Ryan Gosling Emily Blunt movie that's not a spin-off it's a feature film version of an old TV show well I'm not we're going to look at an unsuccessful spin-off that was attempted back in 1982 but as long as we're on the subject of cinematic adaptations the Fall Guy is an odd choice for a multi-million doll movie sure a lot of intellectual properties from the 80s have been transformed into profitable content Like Straw into gold the past is a natural resource being strip minded for Nostalgia but the Fall Guy doesn't really have the massive appeal of some fan favorites from that era it's no Ghostbusters or Miami Vice making a Fall Guy movie is like making a feature film reboot of scarecrow and Mrs King but the fact is somebody owns the rights and they don't care if it's beloved or not this is how we end up with projects like topcat the movie which must have made money because there's a sequel today's average movie goer might not even know that the Fall Guy is based on a TV show but this movie is giving them a chance to meet the unknown stunt man and it's a chance for the Fall Guy to make a comeback that's the theme of today's video How Lee Majors got another chance and how his show gave a second chance to Pat McCormack and Paul Williams one of the weirdest comedy Duos of the80s and their big shot at a TV show is all part of behind the backdoor pilot the Fall [Music] [Applause] Guy for as long as I can remember Lee Majors has always been a pop culture icon it's Lee Majors F Scott Fitzgerald wrote that there are no second acts in American lives but guys like Lee major and Ted Danson make Fitzgerald eat those words wow Lee major got his start in the 60s doing TV westerns like The Big Valley in the 70s he became a pop culture hero as the $6 Million [Music] Man very few actors get a hit TV show let alone two hit shows spanning over multiple decades in the 80s Lee Majors had a chance for a hat trick with the Fall Guy not only did he star in this new show he sang the iconic theme [Music] song that makes Eastwood look so fine in some ways the Fall Guy is having a dialogue with the $6 Million Man cyber enhanced Steve Austin was capable of super speed impossible stunts and giant leaps the guy even fought Bigfoot but the Fall Guy features an average dude who takes a beating both on camera and off here's what led up to the Fall Guy the 1970s was a Renaissance period for stunts thanks to the popularity of daredevils like evil coneval 1975's roller ball was one of the first movies to give an onscreen credit to stunt performers meanwhile you had Fe films about stunt men including Bert Reynolds Hooper I hate it when directors slobber all over me like that and thought-provoking Cinema like the stuntman which was nominated for three Academy Awards ride the ride of the century on Eli's killer CR don't forget Robert Forester was in a b movie Thriller titled stunts and stuntman Grant pagee is the star of this incredible cult odity stunt Rock the ultimate Rush highly recommended so by 1981 there was a new awareness and appreciation for these stunt artist combin that with the star power of the $6 Million Man and it's no surprise that the Fall Guy ran for Five Seasons it had its own line of toys a board game a comic strip and a Commodore 64 video [Music] game yes the Fall Guy had everything except a spin-off we'll get to that in a minute Lee Majors played Colt sers this guy was ahead of his time he worked as a stunt man and a bounty hunter and this was decades before everyone was using the phrase side hle hustle so these are like Hustlers and it's it's kind of cool it's like uh I think it's something to admire the Fall Guy is joined by his naive nephew Howie and Colt's beautiful Protegé Jodie who does stunts for the leading ladies except in the first episode where Colt personally performs a driving stunt as Farah faucet that was a great stuff Cole anything for my Leading Lady it's kind of ironic the Fall Guy is a show about glorifying the stuntman and the stuntman is played by Lee Majors who has a stunt man each episode would feature a crime fighting adventure and at least one big Hollywood stunt that was the winning formula for each episode of The Fall Guy the same way every episode of The Incredible Hulk would feature a Hulk out or each episode of Night Rider would feature a turbo [Music] boost incidentally Night Rider and the Fall Guy were created by the same man Glenn lson he was an insanely prolific writer who created shows like Magnum PI Quincy Manimal Automan and battl Star Galactica Glenn Larson belongs on the Mount Rushmore of showrunners from the80s alongside Steven botko Michael man and Steven J canel and the same way Colt sers was working a side hustle Glenn lson was always developing other TV shows it's something to admire so it should come as no surprise that he tried to launch a new series with a backdoor pilot episode during season 2 of The Fall Guy how do I kill the let me count the ways is about the Fall Guy turning down a job and passing it along to a pair of private detectives you know we always appreciate it when you throw us a little work meet rooster steel and sweets McBride this Odd Couple is played by two b-level celebrities from the 70s Paul Williams and Pat McCormick were the Schwarzenegger and DeVito of their day and now here they were on an episode of The Fall Guy then maybe you can explain how we got here Paul Williams was a singer songwriter who adored being on camera he'd appear on everything from The Muppet Show to The Brady Bunch hour I'm in love with you you're what he's what Paul Williams was such a staple of' 70s TV that he's one of the judges when Homer Simpson got gonged on the gong show plus Paul Williams was in a bunch of cult movies like the loved one it's a modified C7 Wildcat single stage 1H Turbo with a 4G thrust it is huh Brian depal is Phantom of the paradise and the final sequel in the original Planet of the Apes Saga AP has never killed ape he once went on The Tonight Show in full ape makeup this is 7 months of nothing but banana deckies Paul Williams had been a guest on the tonight's show 48 times and that must have been where he first met Pat McCormack McCormack was a writer on The Tonight Show where he was known for his outrageous sense of humor he famously crashed a monologue completely naked plus he'd show up in all kinds of movies like Robert Alman dramedy [Music] and a comedic behind the scenes dramatization about the making of The Wizard of Oz under the rainbow is another example of McCormack calling attention to his massive size this looks like an aerial view of an unemployment line so Paul Williams was real life friends with Pat McCormack but you'll never guess who decided these two should team up on camera you give up here's the answer Bert Reynolds yes Bert Reynolds was at The Tonight Show when he saw Paul Williams next to Pat McCormack and thought they looked hilarious we wanted a look that was so funny I mean you just looked at him and laughed so he cast them as a father and son duo in Smokey in the Bandit I remember the first shot I I lifted the Hat up and it was the most visceral laugh I've ever had most real laugh they don't have a lot of screen time but they sure do make a lasting impression now the first Smokey in the Bandit was huge it was the second highest grossing film of 1977 what the hell is the world coming second only to Star Wars don't get technical with me so now Paul Williams and Pat McCormack had become Bonafide movie stars and Glenn lson was ready to have them show up in an episode of The Fall Guy to launch their own series but wait there's something you should know this was maybe the biggest stunt ever attempted on the Fall Guy most of the time when you watch a backdoor pilot episode you meet characters we've never seen before but in the case of rooster steel and sweets McBride this was not their first rodeo their episode of The Fall Guy aired on December 1st 1982 3 and a half months earlier those same characters starred in a made for TV movie called rooster which means how do I kill thee is no ordinary back door pilot it's a second chance for these bumbling detectives it's a Hail Mary at getting a show picked up which obviously didn't happen with the TV movie so let's start with that movie The Idea came from the mind of Paul Williams I find the generally of brains triumph over Braun Williams told the Boston Globe he got the idea because he was sick of traveling on the road I wanted to stay home and watch my newborn son outgrow me rooster was co-written by Paul Williams and Glenn lson making this the only time a Grammy winner co-wrote a screenplay with the creator of battl Star Galactica I also get the impression that Pat McCormack might have added a few jokes nice to see you Miss Victor you certainly have a nice spread once a joke writer always a joke writer Paul Williams plays rooster a brainy detective Ah that's rooster he's a police psychologist you know a shrink and then there's sweets McBride a former police officer turned insurance company investigator at first they do not like each other but they put aside their differences to track down a Serial arsonist rooster uses techno gadgets to record voices and determine whether or not a suspect is lying you see Bradman was lying through his teeth and sweets is really big the movie has plenty of action lots of Comedy what are he trying to do change his oil even some drama doctor said he's critical Pat McCormack enjoys cracking jokes but he's a little uneasy during the dramatic scenes I had a partner shout out under to me on the 4th of July almost 3 years ago to the day more than anything else the script is packed with Exposition get in I'll tell you why and driving around so much driving around often while delivering more Exposition three men dead no drugs found no one cust it happens it happens easiest when someone on the inside tells someone on the outside not to be there or listing the street names for cocaine otherwise known as C to snow blow flake happy dust nose candy Peruan lady white girl just like Deadpool and Blind Owl even snowboarding even disco dust White Girl Interrupted even Force bump the movie really leans into the pair's cartoony appearance and judging by their car you'd think rooster was made by Hannah Barbara the movie features a lot of jokes about their size difference you're a giant for God's sakes anything that can hurt you is extinct he looks like a satellite view of a human being he runs like a rhino in love how'd you like to be the first munchkin in space for the record Paul Williams stands at 5'2 and Pat McCormick is 6'7 or to quote the Bandit it must be a getting a size 68 extra fat and a 12 dwarf the telefilm was directed by Russ Mayberry his credits include cojac McLoud Barnaby Jones and Beretta no wonder rooster feels like a generic 70s crime show but keep in mind it was made in 1982 maybe that's why rooster didn't go to series it felt like an artifact from a previous decade starring a guy who is very 70s the movie is packed with similar kinds of guest stars there special special appearances by Marie Osman John Saxon William Daniels who would later Ram with Glenn Larson as the voice of Kit Charlie Callas Ed LA and members of the Los Angeles Dodgers that's a lot of guest stars it's almost as if the producers didn't feel confident in Paul and Pat's star power we resent that implication we don't deny it we resent it anyway and there's still more cameos look there's Severn Darden who also starred in battle for the Planet of the Apes well there it is ape City making this an unofficial reunion this movie is like an episode of The Drew Barrymore show there's two more guest stars we have to mention Eddie Albert and Delta Burke they had both appeared in the first episode of The Fall Guy and we should note there's one other person who was also in the Fall Guy pilot Paul Williams played himself on the Fall Guy his scenes were deleted from the home video release presumably to avoid expensive music licensing but look in this one scene you can still see him in the back ground which means the Fall Guy universe is home to both Paul Williams and rooster steel kind of like that episode of The Honeymooners where Alice cramden meets Jackie Gleason oh Mr gleon I'm so glad you came I'm Alice cramden oh hi and you know who else met Jackie gleon I'd like to kick your ass you can't kick that High Cricket crutch Paul Williams told the Boston Globe that he was good friends with Lee Majors so when Williams booked the Fall Guy pilot he pitched rooster to Glenn Larson and that's how this movie got made Glenn Larsson hired the same director got some of the same guest stars and hoped it would become a hit series just like the Fall Guy you don't have to be a TV historian to know it didn't work rooster did not become a series but this wasn't the end of the road for rooster sweets and their giant dog did I mention the movie ends with them inheriting a big dog [Music] sweet 15 weeks after the debut of their pilot movie the characters returned for an episode of The Fall Guy how do I kill thee let me count the ways the biggest difference between the movie and this backdoor pilot Paul Williams died as mustache yeah that's why the series didn't get picked up the first time his mustache was too damn blonde why does that dyed mustache look so familiar oh right anyway a voiceover in produces the characters as colleagues of the Fall Guy when you work for the courts on the side you're bound to have an unusual collection of friends Brewster steel and sweets McBride fit that description the privatier brought in to pick up a case that the Fall Guy turned down we'll take it long story short an innocent accountant discovers that his evil employers are engaged in embezzlement Mr durwood has learned too much too easily now his life is in danger sounds good so far yeah but the story is just an excuse for some comedic Misadventures in one plot twist our heroes are drugged with knockout drops I'll probably be up all night worrying about those [Music] computers instead of killing the detectives the bad guys relocate them to Pittsburgh and if you find the word Pittsburgh funny then this is the comedic Caper for you great steel mills of Pittsburgh Pittsburgh Pittsburgh Pittsburgh Pittsburgh Pittsburgh yeah Pittsburgh two hookers who framed Us in Pittsburgh Pittsburgh Pittsburgh Pittsburgh and like the TV movie the backdoor pilot features lots of driving this time they take it even further the episode does something never before shown on Prime Time a high-speed car chase with go-karts see if you can spot the use of rear projection unlike most backdoor Pilots this episode gives screen time to the show's main character we even get to see Colt working on a big Hollywood movie and that's always a good thing right oh no later Colt washes off the makeup and saves his friends from being kidnapped that's right we ain't taking them Colt redirects the jet in a big finish that is strangely similar to a scene from the movie Airplane then there's an epilogue where Brutus the dog gets the last laugh the old eyes in the back of the head something that took years years now we've discussed that Glenn Larson was a very prolific writer that's because he had a reputation for reusing scripts even when it wasn't his script to begin with plagiarism is a very serious claim but that was part of Glenn larsson's reputation in Haron Ellison's book about Star Trek the author refers to Glenn Larson as Glenn larsy in 1978 the makers of Star Wars sued Universal Studios claiming that Glenn Larson's Battle Star Galactica was infringing upon Star Wars copyrights from point of view lson was found not guilty maybe the judge recognized that Star Wars itself was borrowing heavily from the Seven Samurai and Flash Gordon and in James Garner's Memoir the Garner files he includes this juicy anecdote Glenn lson stole a bunch of Rockford stories he had the gall to lift the plots and just put different character names in them when we caught him we complained to the writer Guild and they finded him and true story it ends with Garner punching lson so given what we know about Glenn Larson's writing habits here's one possibility Glenn lson wrote this episode under the assumption that rooster would have gone to series making it a nice crossover episode Between Two hit shows or maybe it was intended as an episode of rooster but when the series didn't get picked up Glenn Larsson retooled the script as a backdoor pilot featuring the Fall Guy the point is if Glenn Larsson had written some version of this thing he wasn't going to let it go to waste that would be like cooking a steak without getting to eat it did you notice that the steak is glued to the plate in the end how do I kill thee is a unicorn among TV episodes the backdoor pilot that re-imagines characters from another pilot in hopes of getting them their own series which you know didn't happen after the episode aired ABC said goodbye to sweets and rooster goodbye we've all come to say goodbye goodbye at the atomic Abe YouTube channel we do our research about pop culture but needless to say there is very little written about this episode of The Fall Guy in Paul Williams book about maintaining sobriety he does write about his relationship with God but he doesn't include any anecdotes about why ABC passed on rooster so we don't have any official reasons for why the con conep didn't go to series we do know the backdoor pilot aired opposite The Facts of Life episode where Blair gets in trouble with the IRS I'm no tax expert but people do go to jail for this so maybe that's what people were watching on December 1st 1982 at 900 p.m. Eastern or it could just be that sometimes a supporting player isn't ready to star in their own TV show or movie which makes rooster the Grandma's Boy of its day after the rooster debacle Paul Williams and Pat McCormack teamed up one more time for another Smokey in the Bandit I feel like the guest of honor are a crabs convention fans will point out that they appeared in three of the movies which is one more than Bert Reynolds did however Bert does appear in the third film during buford's hallucination sequence hello Buford but even Paul Williams and Pat McCormack didn't come back for the later sequels like Bandit Bandit and Beauty in the Bandit these made for TV movies aired in the mid90s as part of ABC's action pack not sure who was clamoring for these sequels in that way beauty in the Bandit is like Top Cat begins Lee Majors went on to do three more seasons of The Fall Guy and he later start in a Trilogy of reunion movies for the $6 Million Man including one that tried to launch a new show about the Bic girl starring Sandra bulock Nifty huh meanwhile Glenn lson attempted another spin-off during a two-part episode of Night Rider which will cover on an upcoming installment of behind the back door pilot it's something to admire in the meantime please subscribe to this channel hit the notification Bell so you won't miss a video and why not check out some of our other entries about backdoor Pilots including a failed spin-off of the $6 Million Man and The Bionic Woman starring a robo dog oh [Music]

Channel: Atomic Abe

Views: 71,313

Keywords: The Fall Guy, the fall guy 2024, ryan gosling, emily blunt, the fall guy movie trailer, the fall guy ryan gosling, Lee Majors, Fall Guy Theme Song, fall guy full movie, the unknown stuntman by lee majors, paul williams songs, Paul Williams, Phantom of the Paradise, Pat McCormick, Rooster, Backdoor Pilot, Failed Spin-off, fall guy review, Fall Guy music, Smokey and the Bandit, Action Pack, TV Movie, Spinoff, 80s, 80s TV, fall guy video game, nostalgia, POTA, Markie Post

Id: P1hTaQRWxlM

Length: 23min 9sec (1389 seconds)

Published: Sun Apr 28 2024