He was a Hollywood stunt man by day, but also a bounty hunter. Life for Colt Seavers was never dull, and every episode of his show “The Fall Guy” was never dull either.
It faded to black close to 40 years ago, but is back in the news as the material for another big screen re-boot, this one starring Canadian actor Ryan Goslin.
It has brought back a lot of memories of Colt, Howie and the others, chasing down bail jumpers and performing death defying stunts – sometimes even for movies.
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From left are Doug Barr, Lee Majors and Heather Thomas from the television series "The Fall Guy". Source: https://fictionalcrossover.fandom.com/wiki/The_Fall_Guy (May be subject to copyright) |
When “The Fall Guy” debuted in 1981, Lee Majors, who played Colt Seavers, was already a well known actor. For people of my mother’s generation and taste, he was Heath from “The Big Valley”. I only ever saw one episode of “The Big Valley”. We were on a trip to Creston, and staying in a motel, flipping channels on the TV. The dial landed on a black and white show, and a scene of a man trapped under a wagon. My mom instantly recognized that man as Lee Majors. Up to that point, I only knew Majors for one role.
For my generation Lee Majors will forever be remembered as Steve Austin, “The Six Million Dollar Man”. He was part man, part machine, a pilot critically injured in an accident that took both his legs, his right arm and left eye, but was saved by bionic implants. Although it only lasted for five seasons, it left an indelible mark on pop culture, as Austin battled robots, aliens, spies, evil businessman, technology, and even the occult.
“The Six Million Dollar Man” ran from 1974 to 1978. It seemed like longer than three years, but soon enough Lee Majors was back on TV, getting involved in all sorts of adventures of a different kind.
“The Fall Guy”
Lee Majors was back in 1981 with “The Fall Guy”. It was a series where, as Colt Seavers, Majors doubled as a Hollywood stunt man and a bounty hunter working for a bail bondsman. Helping him was his cousin Howie, played by Doug Barr, and Jody, a stunt woman who was played by Heather Thomas. In the first season Jo Ann Pflug played Big Jack, the bail bondsman.
Lee Majors was back in 1981 with “The Fall Guy”. It was a series where, as Colt Seavers, Majors doubled as a Hollywood stunt man and a bounty hunter working for a bail bondsman. Helping him was his cousin Howie, played by Doug Barr, and Jody, a stunt woman who was played by Heather Thomas. In the first season Jo Ann Pflug played Big Jack, the bail bondsman.
In the second season and beyond, Markie Post played Teri Shannon the new bail bondsman.
It was the style in the 1980s, in several shows such as “Knight Rider” and “The A-Team”, where the vehicle was like a character in the show. In "The Fall Guy", Colt Seavers drove a GMC truck that seemed to survive no matter what the driver put it through.
I am pretty sure that first season, “The Fall Guy” was on Channel 7 on the peasant vision dial then, when getting more popular, was picked up by Channel 13.
I don’t recall any particular episode, but I do recall religiously tuning in the first four seasons, partly because I liked the show and partly because there were three channels, and not a lot of other options.
Having said that, I do recall the stunts and action scenes more than anything. The biggest thing was seeing that GMC truck do a jump then bounce up and down when it landed. I thought that was cool. So was watching Colt Seavers do all these different stunts and refer to celebrities who were actually playing themselves in cameo roles. And seeing how Colt would approach the bail jumpers he had to capture. One time, he pretended to deliver a pizza. When the bail jumper tried to punch Colt, he held up that pizza box which had a massive gear inside. It just made the bail jumper hurt his hand – and become easier to capture.
After five seasons, “The Fall Guy” was cancelled after 113 episodes.
Now in 2024, it is re-born as a major motion picture.
The song
By far, the most memorable part of “The Fall Guy” is the theme song opening every episode accompanied by footage of scenes from the show. One memorable scene is Colt punching someone. It looks like any typical fight scene, except afterwards he cries out in pain and shakes his hand. Seeing the reaction of the person doing the punching, and seeing that it actually hurt to punch someone, was not seen often, if at all, at the time.
By far, the most memorable part of “The Fall Guy” is the theme song opening every episode accompanied by footage of scenes from the show. One memorable scene is Colt punching someone. It looks like any typical fight scene, except afterwards he cries out in pain and shakes his hand. Seeing the reaction of the person doing the punching, and seeing that it actually hurt to punch someone, was not seen often, if at all, at the time.
Just recently I discovered the song, which is called “The Unknown Stuntman” and sung by Lee Majors himself, was the original pitch for the series.
The song was later released as a single.
Parting thoughts
When it debuted in 1981, I tuned in to “The Fall Guy” every week. It was just a fun show to watch. I found it interesting to see Lee Majors in a role so different from Steve Austin and “The Six Million Dollar Man”. I also loved the stunts and the action scenes, especially Colt’s truck. It was not the usual choice of the heroes of primetime TV shows of the time.
When it debuted in 1981, I tuned in to “The Fall Guy” every week. It was just a fun show to watch. I found it interesting to see Lee Majors in a role so different from Steve Austin and “The Six Million Dollar Man”. I also loved the stunts and the action scenes, especially Colt’s truck. It was not the usual choice of the heroes of primetime TV shows of the time.
I also really liked Doug Barr and Heather Thomas in supporting roles, although I often wondered why she would appear in a scene in a bikini with no apparent reason. I now do know why.
When you put it all together, “The Fall Guy” was just fun to watch, and really never got too heavy.
Sometimes you need that, don’t you?
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