It never grows old.Its a shame they did a poor job with the recent movie.Hope they try to bring it to the big screen again this time with the right cast and writers.
@@lamonthamilton667 They should introduce Green Hornet and Kato in a batman movie and take it from there. The last film, The Batman with Robert Pattinson was very noirish and detective-centric. The sequels could introduce Hornet and a great way to introduce audiences.
Am I the only one who looked at the leopard at the start and thought 'my god what a bundle of adorableness!' even when the reporter falls to his doom and it looks out the window it is like a funny cat video. It's hilarious.
I love the music on this show. It seems similar to "Batman," but this music is slick, it's cool, like the scene where the Green Hornet and Kato flip the cars in the garage.
This episode has a gadget called "the scanner generator",in which it has the same function as a 2023 drone(s), and their viewing from the sedan, future visionaries the script writers, and production staff.
This was supposed to be the first episode. You'll notice that the Green Hornet's mask was different. Van Williams obviously had a hard time seeing out of the mask and had the mask redesigned for the succeeding episodes.
The Seth Rogen movie establishes it's set in Los Angeles. To my knowledge, it is the only time they've deliberately stated where the Green Hornet is based.
Purely apart from the fact that it would be about as good at hiding an identity as Clark Kent's glasses. The Green Hornet serial of the 40s at least gave him a full-face mask.
Seth Tyrssen LOL Yeah, the first TV series the glasses seem to have no glass lenses either? I guess seeing a grown man wearing undies over a powder blue wetsuit is so distracting no-one noticed what Superman looked like!
Making my way through the series after finding out it was on RU-vid, and this is easily the second best version of the character, with the 1940 serial sitting at the top spot. My thoughts thus far are mostly preoccupied with the notion that this needed a full hour for the stories being told to breathe - the episodes zip along at a *breakneck* pace. The dynamic between the two leads could have also been fleshed out a little better, but these are hindsight is 20/20 observations
The "half-hour" length also made it necessary to have the secretary and the DA be "in the know" ... which is completely illogical IMO but required to keep the pace of the episodes instead of having to spend 10 minutes introducing and researching a case. They also DONT mention Cato in the intro when they tell who all knows the double-identity.
In 1992, Green Hornet enthusiast Dan Goodman purchased the "number one" Black Beauty from the former transportation director of Twentieth Century Fox for the sum of $10,000 USD and commissioned the car's maker, Dean Jeffries, to restore it. Two cars had been built for the series.
I'm this episode, The Green Hornet and Kato are wearing different and more wicked looking masks. It's been rumored that this was the first Green Hornet Episode which was actually filmed.
I was a young teen in the 60s, and I basically agree. Mind you, the past always looks better through the rose-colored glasses of time -- especially where TV is concerned -- but this was great.
Only watched the show to look at that handsome Van Williams (sorry Adam West but he had it over you for me), those green eyes of his, Bruce Lee, what can you say and thanks RU-vid for letting me relive a part of my 60s childhood, love it..
The actor playing Mr. Melvin had a hilarious turn in an episode of The Addams Family. I knew he looked familiar. Also, I keep confusing Lloyd Gough (Mike Axelrod) for James Caan. I hope I'm not the only one.
I like the voice of the lady in red ..sounds like the voice of the lady villain in From Russia with Love , or the voice of the lady villain in On Her Majesty's Secret Service...
If you look closely at the Green Hornets mask you can see it is different than the rest of the series. I think this was the first episode shot for the show.
Ahhh... the 1960s, when tall buildings had no safety glass, 'micro' was only 'mini', Gary Owens could be the voice of 'Rowan and Martin's Laugh In' and STILL do the noon news at 10 AM from that little booth behind Brit Reed's office in a newspaper building, that SAME lady in the SAME white hat has to wait for Brit Reed to drive across her path to his garage EVERY SINGLE TIME he goes home before dark, a camera equipped drone is a crime fighter's tool called a 'scanner', and man made diamonds can be made in just a back room. The garage barrel roll is still the coolest reveal EVER.
6:25 their reused B-Roll of Mr Reed driving into his Garage reminds me of all the fake actors in The Truman Show - Extras just didn't really Act Naturally in the 60s
These were the days when America had Newspapers that did real investigative reporting and crime fighting. The Daily 🌎 Planet had Superman and The Sentinel had The Green 🐝 Hornet! thank you 🎌
It's an exacting accurate foreshadowing of drone tech, and Van had trouble seeing out that mask. Even Disneyland commenced tweeking after opening day please cut them some slack Don Kurtz. Thanx.
If you watch the full series you'll see a lot of foreshadowing... drones, car phones, telephone answering machines, auto dialing phones, pocket pagers... And just maybe Doctor Who's sonic screwdriver. Lol
Having looked at the first two, (and going to look at the rest,) I have to think there were a few reasons why it didn't succeed. 1) This show was done by the same crew that was doing Batman, but more straitlaced than Batman, which is fine, but the expectations must have been different for the people than what they got. 2) A show like this, with the kind of cases like this deserved at least a one hour run time; the cases get solved too quickly in an half-hour series and does not allow for the audience to get invested in the show. It packed action in it, but it needed to be offset by more drama. 3) The Green Hornet was overshadowed by Kato in this one. He seemed to dominate because, let's face it, Bruce Lee was far more than a supporting actor. He was a lead actor. He had been acting in films since his childhood and truly perfected his craft. He was a very good actor who, oh, by the way, happened to be one of...one of...(for all those who'd say I'm playing favorites with him,) the greatest martial artists of all time. It's fine if you want to have Kato be as good a fighter as they show here, but, you needed someone who didn't dominate the screen and have more charisma than the lead role! That's just a few. Let me know if there are others, or if anyone can tell me what the critics were saying back then about it and why they think it failed.
I agree it was promoted to be like a Friday version of Adam West's campy Batman with the same Don Fargo voice narrations and similar superhero set up of millionaire masked crime fighter with a lot of gadgets and a cool car beating people up with his side kick and even did a crossover with Batman but it was done strait the way Superman was done and Batman was originally going to be done and has been done ever since. It was like doing a James Bond crossover with Get Smart. Two totally separate universes that don't mix well. In Hong Kong it was actually called the Kato Show and was a lot more popular there. Also, speaking of James Bond, the background music was seriously irritating to listen to here, far more than Batman whose theme song was a basically singable one word fight chant of "Batman" instead of an annoying buzzing sound that makes you want to get a fly swatter. Batman was only a half-hour too but shown in twice a week cliffhangers so even all it's insanely ludicrous plots had more time for stuff like character development and cool cameos and plot twists. Everything here seems very rushed like the writers just wanted to get it over with and make that annoying buzzing stop. Bruce Lee is extremely underused here. He barely gets a line of dialogue beyond answering the phone and the fight scenes were way too short for his martial arts showmanship to make the sort of crowning moment of awesome impression they do in his films. If not for his legendary status as virtually the only person who would ever stand a chance of beating his friend and sparring partner Chuck Norris in real life...and actually did beat once in a movie...not many people would really be interested in watching this show today. As "Kung Fu" which came along a few years later demonstrated martial arts and Asian philosophy could have attracted a much bigger audience than making this a clone of "Batman" but what really hurt the ratings is that it was up against "Wild Wild West" and "The Man From UNCLE" both of which had much bigger budgets and longer episodes and already had a large fan base among macho action hero fans.
Ian M Was on here for a while. Some odd time on a Saturday mid arvo when people were out and about, sports, junior soccer, footy etc. Bad time slot, in fact just lucked it 1st time seeing it alone with g/f and TV was on and parents out. Interrupted when I saw Bruce first time! LOL
To John Smith, i thank you for your astute observations and heartfelt opinions regarding this perennial cult fave. I concur that the production, thou produced by the Batman franchise was its attempt at garnering an adult viewership but it failed to attract the much younger numbers of Batman who didn't find its grittier reality as whimsical or as easy to follow in 30 minutes. Yes Bruce Lee initially needed the exposure of The Green Hornet in the West, but soon it became obvious to viewers around the world that he was far to dynamic an actor and influential a human being to be reconciled to side-kick (forgive the pun) t.v. roles alone. I was always a fan and in retrospect examining the series thru middle aged eyes, it was far in advance of its target audience: strong women, minorities, criminal corporate agendas, advanced technologies and the rise of multimedia. In conclusion, my friend Smith, again i thank you.
I have to disagree a bit with you. I don't think Lee dominated and I didn't see any charisma, that's revisionist thinking based on his later stardom. He was a sidekick and an inexperienced actor in America. He was making his way and this was his big break. Van Williams was very good in the title role and carried the show. Dozier made sure that viewers would know that this wasn't going to be Batman. Whether or not an hour would have helped is unclear. This was a show that was directed at kids and with all the day-for-night shooting, it was literally very dark. Most of America had black and white tv's at the time and it just looked dreary. The merch also wasn't selling, which meant the kids weren't watching. Friday night was a tough night and the competition was strong with Tarzan and the Wild,Wild West, both hour shows. I love this show but I think the timing was off because the success of Batman muddied the waters for a long time for costumed crime-fighters.
I agree with all these great comments. I'd only add that in contrast to the Batman TV show, "The Green Hornet" kept much of the feel of its earlier radio shows and movie serials (which I love). It wasn't campy fun like "Batman", but neither was it as dramatic as shows like "The Secret Agent". Had it been more tongue-in-cheek like "The Man From U.N.C.L.E." or "The Saint", it might have become more popular. It's too bad, really, because I enjoy it even today.
Some of the comments here note that the show should have been an hour long, instead of a 1/2 hour. I would submit that The Adventures of Superman, The Twilight Zone, Zorro and The Lone Ranger were all 1/2 hour shows. Those shows were like mini-movies, that always had good suspense and often surprise twist endings. That's because the writing was superior. Superman, for instance, had grade-A writers like Jackson Gillis (Perry Mason and Columbo), Robert Leslie Bellem and Eugene Solow (Of Mice and Men). When you have good scripts, the time length of the show doesn't matter a whit. The Green Hornet plots are dull and interchangeable (the only memorable villain is Mako from "The Preying Mantis"). What works best are the show's gatgetry and fight scenes which are brief, but almost without a doubt, the best fights ever staged for television. Watching Van Williams, and especially, Bruce Lee, make short work of the bad guys, is what makes the series worthwhile. Therefore, I would contend that the half hour length seems right.
The producer wanted an hour time slot for expanded show. That’s why producer Dozer fashioned 3 1hour episodes throughout the series. ABC had no hour open slots at the time and by the time the third hour-long episode aired the ratings were in the dumper.
I like this show.... it has edge... and Bruce Lee! It most likely was America's introduction to martial arts on mainstream television. Wish there were a second season. I still like the Batman TV series but I wonder what could have been had they taken the show closer in this direction that they did for The Green Hornet?
@@berniemac3 I am not the right person for stand-ups ... due to being a genetically deficient german. As a stand-up you need to be able to react and play with an audience which I would completely fail at.
How about the fact before Batman and Green Hornet they refused to make Charlie Chan's Number one son starring Bruce Lee as a James Bond type and they later stole the idea for Kung fu TV show from Bruce called it The Warrior.
At 20:09 ~ YOLANDA DE LUKENS~ "In any case, all this information is going to die with you Mr. Axford." Actress SIGNE HASSO is great as the cool and calculating "Yolanda de Lukens".
Holy hornet shit, Brit! Drones! You, Kato and the Black Beauty are still the greatest crime fighting crew ever televised! Fuck the ambiguously gay comic Batman & brothel-boy ward!
did anyone else notice the “science be damned” line by mr. miller? he refers to the temperatures and pressures near the earth’s core. that of course is ludicrous, plus that he could just open the oven without depressurizing it. next, when kato realized britt was in the freezer, didn’t he have another sting to be able to shorten the process? i also rather doubt that britt would’ve had time to activate his sting in cold that severe. i also was curious as to why they named this guy frank miller, as that was the name of the editorial cartoonist for the des moines _register_ for many years.
In the 60s a non-micro transmitter would have been pretty large. Size to size, I imagine it's still accurate. It's pretty interesting to watch this stuff now. I wasn't around yet when it originally aired.
Bare foot ! Plus his lungs would be frozen another an all of his internal organ would be damaged. Their be no time for him to get that weapon out before he would be dead. Remember didn't the crook said the freezer temp inside was 50 below zero !
The Green Hornet TV series, though only a half-hour long, is far superior to the ludicrous Will Ferrell movie. Had the series been expanded to an hour, it might've had better plots and character development. Lo and behold, the GH uses a surveillance drone to track a villain. So,yes, the series was some 40-odd years ahead of its time. 🐱
