ALL SCI-FI

[Pow]

Van Williams passed away on November 28 of 2016.

Van is best known as Brit Reid aka the Green Hornet from the 1966-'67 TV series of the same name.

Van was the last living member from the cast of 5 that starred on The Green Hornet.

Bruce Lee, as Kato, would go on to be an international movie star after the cancellation of the tv series.

TGH character & Kato were originally created as a radio show, a couple years prior to Batman's debut in comic books.

TGH had an intriguing premise in that he was a crime fighter but posed as a mastermind criminal in order to covertly infiltrate criminal organizations & destroy them from the inside.

On the '66 TV Show he & Kato would travel in the sedan referred to as the Black Beauty.The BB was a "rolling arsenal"according to the opening narration each week for the series.

The sedan had rockets in the front & back,a nozzle that emitted a knock-out gas,smokescreen capability,& a drone called the Hornet Scanner that could transmit real time video back to the BB.

TGH's 2 primary weapons were 1.)The Hornet Gas Gun which was originally created for the 1930s radio show.It released a green knockout gas that incapacitated a victim for 20-minutes.And 2.)The Hornet Sting which was created for the '66 TV Show.It was a sonic weapon whose sound waves could shatter steel.

On the 1966 show,Britt & Kato's identities were known only to the DA,Frank Scanlon as well as Britt's secretary at his Sentinel Newspaper,Casey Case.

While Britt & Kato worked with the DA,to the world at large the Green Hornet & Kato were known as criminals by both law enforcement & criminal gangs.
This would make their job particularly difficult since both mobsters & law enforcement agencies were threats to the GH&K & their operations.

[Gord Green]

I really enjoyed this show.
I recall there was a crossover with the Adam West BATMAN. This was also Bruce Lee's first introduction to American audiences.




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[Pow]

The crossover show where Van & Bruce were guest stars as Britt Reid & Kato on Batman was Bill Dozier's(producer of both the Green Hornet & Batman) attempt to use the highly rated BM show to garner audience interest for the lower rated Green Hornet series.

The crossover has been highly criticized because the style & tone of BM(campy comedy)& TGH(serious drama)were at odds with each other.

The shows were vastly different in atmosphere but I can appreciate Dozier's reasoning in trying to make TGH more profile & hopefully peaking audience interest in that show.

Due to TGH lasting for only one season & 26-episodes it was very rarely seen in syndicated reruns.
So I was always pleased that Britt & Kato did visit Gotham because it allowed me to see the characters from one of my fav tv shows.

Even if the shows really did not mesh well.

[Krel]

I read an interview with William Dozier once where he said that ABC offered a second season, but to continue as a half hour show. William Dozier, and Van Williams wanted to do the show as an hour show, because the writers were having difficulty writing half hour crime episodes. They couldn't come to an agreement, so the show got canceled.

David.

[orzel-w]

Gung Fu (or Kung Fu) was new to American audiences at the time. Bruce Lee's martial arts moves were a feature that made one sit up and take notice.
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...or not...

WayneO
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[Custer]

There are quite a few of the old radio shows available to download over at the Internet Archive, such as this selection, or do a more general search of the audio section.

[Gord Green]

The Green Hornet started as a radio show from the same writer as The Lone Ranger, Fran Striker.
It was established that Brit Reid, The Hornet, was the Great nephew of John Reid, the original Lone Ranger.

So the Green Hornet was the modern incarnation of the Ranger. Kato was his Tonto and The Black Beauty was his Silver.

Great concept!




He also appeared in his own comic from Harvey Publishing in the 40's.

But Van Williams identified with the character until the end.

[Custer]

In relatively modern times, Dynamite took over publishing comics - I skipped over to Wikipedia for the details:

[Pow]

Fran Striker & George W.Trendle are credited with creating the Green Hornet & Kato.However,Bill Freyse also played a part in that creation but is often overlooked & forgotten.

Lynn Borden the actress is his daughter & was a cast member on the Hazel tv series in its later seasons.

When tv producer William Dozier adapted the GH to television,Trendle was not pleased with many of the new concepts for his creation.Having Britt covertly working with the D.A.,the secret fireplace entrance in Britt's home & so forth were not to Trendle's liking.

On that score I feel Dozier made terrific,& much needed,updates for the GH.It gave it a fresh & exciting look.
The characters were created back in 1936 for gosh sakes!It was 30-years later when the tv series came the air.Some reinventing absolutely was due.

The show had to compete in a new era.One that had James Bond,Mission:Impossible & The Man From U.N.C.L.E.Gadgest galore came with all those movies & tv shows.Had the GH been following Trendle's premise all he would have had was Kato,a fast sedan & Gas Gun.

Audiences would have laughed at such a modest arsenal (except for Bruce Lee as Kato)as the GH&K went after vicious criminals & mobsters each week.

I loved how the show was done & felt Dozier & his team did a fantastic job of recreating the GH while still remaining true to the basic concept.

I've also read that ABC was willing to renew TGH for a second season but wanted it to continue as a 30-minute show in its format.Dozier & Williams both believed that it needed a full hour in order to flesh out characters & develop more intriguing & complex plot lines.

I agree with with the need for a 60-minute show but still would have loved at least one more season of the series even at the half hour time frame.

[Gord Green]

Pow, you're right on the money with your analysis.

Just as the Lone Ranger concept ( 1880's ) was adapted to an era fifty years later ( 1930-40's ), Dozier's changes brought them another fourty years ahead ( 1970's ) or so.