The Fall Guy - Season One DVD Credits:

Region: 1

The Fall Guy - Season One DVD Release Date: 4th June 2007

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The Fall Guy - Season One DVD Review:

A secret part of me wishes I had an awareness of 80s American television. As the character in this show, a stunt man named Colt Seavers (Lee Majors), jaunts around with his windbreaker, beer bloated face and sandy hair, there is no doubt in my mind that Colt is some strange, Bizzaro version of Stuntman Mike from Quentin Tarantino’s superb stuntman tribute “Death Proof.” At least, that’s what I kept telling myself so that I could get though this antiquated action series.

“The Fall Guy” is about a stuntman by day and bounty hunter by night—I love when characters have that day/night thing going for them, we don’t get to see that anymore. Before and after Stuntman Colt chases evildoers, he finds time to light himself on fire for the camera, name drop celebrities (my god, he knows Farrah Fawcett AND the guy from MASH!) and pal around with his effeminate “partner” (the dainty, book learned Howie Munson). An interesting approach the series takes is making Colt represent the behind-the-scenes heroism of Hollywood. Since actors take credit for what he does on-screen, Colt must fulfill his manly urges by bringing prisoners to justice, Dog The Bounty Hunter-style. Lee Majors himself sings “It’s true I hire my body out for pay… hey, hey” during the self worshiping intro and this unintentional sexualized imagery offers a useful psychoanalytic reading of the character’s motivations. But again, that’s what I told myself to get through the series.

“The Fall Guy” reminds me of a watered down version of “Magnum P.I.” with touches of “Dukes of Hazard” and “A-Team.” But instead of Tom Selleck’s awe-inspiring stash and Daisy Duke’s stack, we get stuck with Lee Majors and his side talking Marlboro man persona. A long way from “The Six Million Dollar Man,” Majors barley even works up enough energy to open his mouth when he talks. The mumbling Majors is so above-it-all that the character even retains a stoic, Robert Mitchum like demeanor. Unlike the non-actors he seems to be modeling himself after (Mitchum, Eastwood, Lee Marvin, a door knob), Majors isn’t terribly likable. He comes off as a cocky know-it-all who is an action junky, self-promoter (“I’m the unknown stuntman who makes Eastwood looks so good”) and a fame whore ("I'm not the kind to kiss and tell but I've been seen with Farrah"--get over yourself). Also, danger has a way of not affecting this guy. Unlike Majors, though, it certainly affected me… by being irritating.

In the last week I have encountered a number of people who have heard of this show and hold it in high regard. However, being that I don’t know Lee Majors from Adam (West), and have not heard of the show prior to screening the first season, I don’t have nostalgia to fall back on. Truth be told, I couldn’t stand “The Fall Guy” at first but as I explored more and more stories in the 22-episode season I grew to respect Glen Larson (series creator/executive producer) and his workmen-like dedication to the show's durable premise. “The Fall Guy” never seems to run out of ideas for coming up with new ways to integrate Colt’s stuntman skills into any situation. Example: a bad guy grabs Major’s gun and shoots him with it. Colt flips over and hits the ground. Is he dead? Of course not, it was a stunt gun! Two episodes later Colt is thrown out of a plane. Does fall to his death? Of course not, he happened to have a parachute on him. With his ninja fighting/plane flying/professional wrestling/ stunt driving/ and shooting skills, this jack-of-all-trades is the MacGyver of stuntmen. All the while he keeps his cool. In fact, Majors keeps his cool so well that he’s virtually frozen.

“The Fall Guy” is recommended for people who watched the show when it aired from 1981 to 1986. Being that I was busy watching “Sesame Street” and breast-feeding during it's initial run, I am most definitely not the target audience for this DVD set but, objectively speaking, I can at least see the allure of the show. The success of Lee Majors, on the other hand, mystifies me.

The DVD
Not many extras. The pilot is featured in an “extended” format. It’s basically a feature length version of the show. Also included is an informative documentary titled “Remembering The Fall Guy” that fans will certainly enjoy. In this feature we hear from producer Glen Larson (who calls this series his favorite) and the former “Six Million Dollar Man,” now looking like the Six Million Year Old Man, Lee Majors.

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The Fall Guy - Season One DVD review written by: Greg Douglass