LANCELOT LINK: SECRET CHIMP (1970-1971) – From Sandler-Burns-Marmer Productions came this fun children’s show that presented trained chimps in a spoof of secret agent stories. Dialogue was dubbed in over the usual twitchy mouth movements of chimpanzees to attempt the illusion that the “performers” were speaking.
The program presented a Good Guy Spy Outfit vs Bad Guy Spy Outfit situation like UNCLE vs THRUSH, SHIELD vs HYDRA, etc, but mostly Lancelot Link: Secret Chimp was based on the spy comedy Get Smart. That show’s villainous Bernie Kopell even voice acted for some of the bad guy characters.
Lancelot Link was a secret agent for A.P.E. (Agency to Prevent Evil), the heroic spies who opposed the agents of C.H.U.M.P. (Criminal Headquarters for Underworld Master Plan). Lance’s cover was that he was a guitarist and singer for a bubblegum pop band called the Evolution Revolution. His fellow agent Mata Hairi was also in the band along with other chimps, and novelty songs credited to the group were released in the real world.
Lance and Mata’s boss at A.P.E. was Commander Darwin, setting up jokes like “What’s your theory, Darwin?” In charge of C.H.U.M.P. was the monocle wearing Baron Von Butcher. The Baron’s underlings included Dragon Woman, Creto, Dr. Strangemind, Wang Fu, the Duchess and Ali Assa Seen. Continue reading
THE HUNTRESS (2000-2001) – This Forgotten Television series is appropriate for Mother’s Day. Annette O’Toole and Jordana Spiro starred in what was basically a continuation of the Steve McQueen movie The Hunter. McQueen depicted the real-life bounty hunter Ralph “Papa” Thorson. 
This actually happened and was covered in the True Crime book Deadly Games, written by Christopher Keane, who had also written The Hunter, on which the Steve McQueen film was based. 
THE HUNTRESS – This telefilm aired March 7th, 2000 with Annette O’Toole portraying Dottie Thorson and Aleksa Paladino playing Brandi Thorson. Paladino would be replaced by Jordana Spiro for the subsequent series. Craig T. Nelson played Ralph Thorson before his murder. 
COMMAND aka CAVALRY COMMAND – In the post-Civil War American southwest a cavalry captain and his young lieutenant clash over issues of command. Meanwhile, a conflict with Native Americans rages. Starring Everett Sloane and Ben Cooper.
TARGET (1958) – This syndicated 30-minute suspense anthology series was hosted by the one and only Adolphe Menjou. It was a Ziv production and ran for 38-41 episodes, depending on which online source you go by. 
DR. DEATH (1953?-1955) – Ted Knight, famous for his roles on The Mary Tyler Moore Show and Too Close for Comfort is among the surprising names who worked in the American folk art of Movie Hosting. Yes, just as Tim Conway played Ghoulardi’s sidekick and Gary Busey was Mazeppa’s sidekick; just as Pat Sajak wrote for Nashville’s Phantom of the Opry, Bill O’Reilly for Uncle Ted and Tom Snyder for Bob Hersh’s Movie Host the Advisor, Ted Knight is in the mix as well. 
OHARA (1987-1988) – In this 1-hour detective show’s case “Ohara” is NOT O’Hara and is instead a Japanese-American cop played by the venerable Pat Morita, who also co-created the program. During its run Ohara went through THREE changes of format, starting out with a very innovative approach before poor ratings prompted desperate network scrambling for tired old approaches. 
BORDER PATROL (1959) – Based on actual case files of the United States Border Patrol, this half-hour series ran for 39 episodes and starred Richard Webb of Captain Midnight fame. Webb played Don Jagger, Deputy Chief of the Border Patrol, yet oddly he took part in individual cases. Why not just make him an agent or officer? I guess the creative team felt Deputy Chief sounded cooler. 
THE GIRL WITH SOMETHING EXTRA (1973-1974) – This half-hour sitcom continued the concept of having Sally Field in possession of paranormal abilities. The Flying Nun saw her capable of flight and The Girl with Something Extra featured her comedic escapades as a young woman who was able to read people’s minds. 
SALLY ON MY MIND – Attorney John Burton contemplates asking out Sally, a woman he’s just met. He is surprised when, out of nowhere, she tells him she is available the next night. Their whirlwind courtship ends in marriage and on their wedding night, Sally finally tells John about her ESP abilities. Feeling uncomfortable, John walks out on her but realizes he loves Sally enough to just deal with the fact that she can read his mind. 
THE ADVENTURES OF THE SCARLET PIMPERNEL (1955-1956) – British television series based on Baroness Emma Orczy’s 1903 play and 1905 novel (and series) about Sir Percy Blakeney (Marius Goring), who puts on a foppish and dim-witted air to disguise the fact that he is secretly the Scarlet Pimpernel. 
DR. SAN GUINARY – From 1971 to 1981, director John F. Jones at KMTV in Omaha, Nebraska hosted the channel’s version of Creature Feature as mad scientist Dr. San Guinary. The program originally aired late Saturday nights after the 10:00pm local news, then was moved to Midnight when KMTV started airing SNL in 1975.
The doctor, whose voice always had a certain Wolfman Jack sound to it, also did comedy inserts and sketches, of course. The circulating DVDs of Horror Host footage from decades ago featured plenty of Dr. San Guinary’s comedy bits, including his Mystery Door segments (above right). 
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