Sat 17 Nov 2018
A TV Series Review by Michael Shonk: GAVILAN (1982-1983).
Posted by Steve under Reviews , TV Adventure[22] Comments
GAVILAN. NBC/Mandy Films Inc in association with MGM Television. October 26 1982 – December 28, 1982, and March 18, 1983. Cast: Robert Urich as Robert Gavilan, Patrick Macnee as Milo Bentley and Kate Reid as Marion Jaworski. Created by Tom Mankiewicz – Executive Producer:Leonard Goldberg.
Only ten of the thirteen episodes of GAVILAN aired. The series was a ratings failure from the beginning, finishing last in its Tuesday night timeslot against the CBS Tuesday Movie and ABC’s hits THREE’S COMPANY and 9 TO 5. NBC aired one episode on Friday opposite ABC’s TALES OF THE GOLD MONKEY and CBS’s DALLAS where it finished last in that timeslot.
YouTube has two episodes available for view. Watch the linked episodes below quick, while I was writing this a third episode “By the Sword†was pulled off YouTube. These episodes are from the syndicated (edited for time) version aired on TNT.
The series featured Robert Urich as Gavilan, an ex-spy now consultant for the Dewitt Institute of Oceanography. Stories usually featured Gavilan working with a gorgeous brilliant woman who was working with the Institute on some project or a beautiful female spy pulling him back into life working for “the Company.â€
The series had its good moments, but it also had many of the flaws of 1980’s television. The plots were better than average but had to really stretch to connect to the Institute. In “By the Sword†the brilliant beautiful woman was a scientist working on a project to study the krill as a food source, but the plot was about an ancient samurai sword she stole from the Yakuza to regain her family honor.
The stories were entertaining but mindless, predictable and too willing to sacrifice story and character for a joke or twist. In “By the Sword†the female scientist is trained in the martial art and had done something her entire family had not done in over a hundred years, got her family’s ancient honored Japanese sword back from the Yakuza. So in the final confrontation for the sword it is Gavilan – as she watched – who sword fights to the death for the sword and her family honor. Of course Gavilan out duels the unbeatable Master Samurai.
The series has the sexist outlook that was mainstream thinking in the 80s. Much like Indiana Jones, Gavilan taught a college-level class, and like Indiana many of Gavilan’s students were gorgeous young women with a crush on him.
There were equal amounts of eye candy – female, male and location. The brilliant independent female beauties would wear string bikinis and revealing gowns while Urich had skintight swim trunks and showed off his bare chest.
GAVILAN stories didn’t lock him into the overused beachfront scenery of his home in Malibu but would travel the world to exotic locales. Yet while Gavilan might have traveled the world, the filming never convinced us he left Los Angeles or the MGM lot.
Robert Urich is best known as Dan Tanna (VEGA$) or Spenser (SPENSER FOR HIRE), but he could hold the record as star for the most TV series failures. This fifteen-minute video strings together the theme opening to each of his twelve starring TV series.
As usual Urich played the bland likable predictable hero, a character without much depth and a few quirks that came and went depending on the episode. In episode “By the Sword†machines hated him. Gavilan would argue, beg, and plead with machines such as his computer and jeep, and they would respond by breaking down when he needed them most (the computer he programmed called him a dummy) and returned to working when the problem passed. Gavilan’s conflict with machines was not mention in either of the other two episodes I have seen.
PIRATES. (11/9/82) Teleplay by Mark Frost.Story by Nicholas Corea.Directed by Clifford Bole. Supervising Produced by David Levinson. Produced by John Cutts. GUEST CAST: Michael Billington, Heather Menzies and Paul Koslo. *** A young naïve beautiful scientist hires the Institute to help her find the long lost treasure of the ship King Midas. A ruthless pirate and his crew learn of their mission and take over.
Ah, 1980s action TV. The beautiful female scientist (played by Urich’s wife Heather Menzies) has spent years researching the history of the ship King Midas and its treasure of gold. She has a new theory of where the gold may be and she is paying the Institute to help her in her search. Gavilan is there for the Institute and has a “hunch†the gold is elsewhere on the ship. They argue cute. They hate each other cute. Guess how they feel about each other at the end.
One quick dive and they find the gold where Gavilan’s hunch said it would be. Soon after, the pirates arrive. The highly educated bookworm is wearing a string bikini and yells at the pirates:
“You can’t do this to us, we’re scientists.â€
The pirate leader responds, “Oh yes we can, we’re pirates,†and he blows up the living area and all the treasure hunting equipment. It didn’t make sense but it made a great break to commercial.
The story continues exactly as expected. Characters do as the plot demands, things blow up, and there is a chase. The chase is especially 80s.
Gavilan only has a knife while the bad guys all have guns, but when Gavilan defeats any of them, does he grab their gun? Of course not, Gavilan is outnumbered and all he has is a knife, why would he want their guns?
DESTINATION HERO. (12/14/82) Written and Supervising Produced by Nicholas Corea – Directed by Charles Picerni -Produced by Stephen P. Caldwell – CAST: Michael Ansara, Laura Johnson, and Paul Picerni*** A gorgeous female spy from his past convinces Gavilan to get back in the spy business when his best friend from the spy days – the one who had saved Gavilan’s life – is about to be executed in a Turkish prison.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-sOC5SX1-K0&t=12s
The corrupt government official, who belonged in an episode of MISSION IMPOSSIBLE, was wasted here as the majority of time featured Gavilan outsmarting the bad guy’s idiot lackeys.
The beautiful sexy female spy, who Gavilan does not like, wears sexy clothes and can’t make up her mind if she is a femme fatale or on the side of good.
The script was weak. Just by chance Gavilan bumps into some lovable Greek terrorists and makes the comic relief characters an important part of the plan.
There was a great twist near the end of the episode that was wasted. It should have ended the third act, with the final act dealing with the fallout and reasons for the twist.
The direction was also flawed with several reaction shots that made no sense in the situation or with the character.
Former James Bond writer Tom Mankiewicz (LIVE AND LET DIE) created the series. He and executive producer Leonard Goldberg had recently had success with HART TO HART.
Reportedly Fernando Lamas was to play the part Patrick Macnee would take over after Lamas death. Milo was a family friend, conman and visitor that would never leave. Milo like any sidekick tried to help but usually got in the way. Macnee played Milo as a well-meaning loyal friend who was also a bumbling conman loser.
Kate Reid was burdened with the part of Gavilan’s boss. There wasn’t much for her to do beyond remind the audience Gavilan was brilliant, was not a PI, and had a real job when he wasn’t dropping everything to go off on some adventure.
GAVILAN never stood a chance opposite ABC hit series THREE’S COMPANY on Tuesday or CBS hit series DALLAS on Friday. There was nothing special or original about the series. There are moments that make you think of Magnum P.I. and every other TV action hero of the late 20thcentury, but that was not necessarily a bad thing for GAVILAN. There is a nostalgic charm to GAVILAN. It was supposed to be mindless fun, and for that it succeed more than it failed, but GAVILAN also lacked the substance and originality for it to be missed.
November 17th, 2018 at 3:12 pm
Gavilan’s preference for a knife must like that of Brock Sampson in The Venture Brothers — guns are for sissy’s.
November 17th, 2018 at 3:22 pm
Big fan of Brock. When that happens I wonder why Brock needed a knife.
November 17th, 2018 at 4:44 pm
After Robert Urich’s passing, TV Guide did a tribute article, which began with his sometime boss Aaron Spelling telling the interviewer that he wouldn’t find anyone who’d say anything bad about Bob.
The ensuing article proved that.
Beloved doesn’t even begin to cover it.
So if he had fewer successes than flops – that’s kind of par for the course, isn’t it?
November 17th, 2018 at 5:47 pm
Watching the Gavilan credits for the episode about the prison, convinced me I’d never seen the show at all before.
But the photo of Urich & the blue diving gear brought back instant memories. It was from a TV Guide “Fall Preview” issue, which summarized all the new shows. I used to read these enthusiastically every year.
Even remembered a pun from the caption: “For fans of Vega$, there’s the former Dan Tanna (Robert Urich), getting even tanna here as Robert Gavilan”.
So I read this Fall Preview article, but never saw the show.
I used to like Urich in “Tabitha”, a comedy not much watched today.
November 17th, 2018 at 7:18 pm
Mike Doran, his popularity with the money people and producers was an important reason in how he got all those starring TV series roles. Hollywood tends to hire its friends, people they can rely on when the budgets are high. Usually after a couple of failures Hollywood find other friends, but I am willing to bet Urich tested well with the audience.
In TV, especially in that era, having the audience like the starring hero was more important than the star’s depth of acting talent.
I feel Urich did his best work in SOAP and LAZARUS MAN.
November 17th, 2018 at 7:29 pm
Mike Grost, your comment illustrates how important the TV GUIDE was in those days.
I don’t remember GAVILAN either but this was the period I was the most involved in TV as a professional critic and visiting Hollywood pitching my wares, so I must have seen it – especially since I didn’t watch any of the shows opposite of it on Tuesday.
But GAVILAN is one of those shows you forget. You watch it and it leaves your head an hour later. Though the image of Heather Menzies in that white string bikini will stay with me for a long time.
November 18th, 2018 at 1:34 pm
I really miss the old 15c TV GUIDE, and among the people reading this, I’ll bet I’m not alone is saying that by the end of the week, I’d read it cover to cover, grid listings and all. Sometimes I wish we could go back to those days, but even with all of the dreck that’s on the air as well as I stuff I’d like to see, if I only could, today is better.
November 18th, 2018 at 12:51 am
I recall the series title, and that it was gone before I could ever watch an episode and managed to miss it in rerun as well. I generally liked Urich, but I don’t think I missed much with this one.
November 18th, 2018 at 1:06 am
Urich had a high TVQ – strong audience response to the actor if not his vehicles. Robert Conrad, among others, scored the same way.
November 18th, 2018 at 2:52 pm
7. Steve, the TV GUIDE was great for its time but I don’t miss it nor do I miss the three choice past. The past has better comedies but today’s dramas are unbelievably better – unless you watch the broadcast networks (ABC, CBS, CW, FOX and NBC). A few changes and GAVILIN could make it on the modern networks schedule. Which is why the broadcast networks are dying.
According to HOLLYWOOD REPORTER there has been over 520 original scripted TV series in 2018. Some of them are really good and among the best TV has ever produced. Now there is no time for reading the TV GUIDE, there is too much TV to watch.
November 18th, 2018 at 2:54 pm
8. David, as I have searched the past of television, I expected to find forgotten series in the early days of TV. I have been surprised how many forgotten series exist from the 80s to today.
November 18th, 2018 at 2:58 pm
9. Bill, there always seems to be some in Hollywood given endless chances. Today Ted Danson (10 series) leaps to mind. It is sad that I can not think of one actress with double digit series.
November 18th, 2018 at 11:18 pm
Urich had two moneymaking hits, and that buys a lot of pilots for a talent that is dependable and easy to work with and did even before TVQ.
November 19th, 2018 at 12:22 am
David, I was shocked to find none of his shows were hits. Both VEGA$ and SPENSER FOR HIRE failed to reach the 100 episodes needed for syndication in those days and long considered the mark of an hour long hit series.
They both made three seasons which did not make them a hit but they were not a failure either. What both are is remembered.
It really helped to have friends like Aaron Spelling who enjoyed casting old stars and friends. Who can ever forget Spelling casting Urich in the UPN remake LOVE BOAT THE NEXT WAVE? Here is the episode where the old crew visits the new.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7vHHjgZZJc
Urich was a TV star with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The public and money people liked him and that is often more important than a hit series.
November 19th, 2018 at 10:54 pm
michaels, Star Trek and Peter Gunn only made three seasons too, not hits, but series that scored with the public imagination, as Urich did. Certainly the fact he was well liked by both audiences and people he worked with and for helped. There is a sort of television star personality that Urich seemed to personify. Some actors, like Urich, Burt Reynolds, Darren McGavin Shatner, Conrad, Tom Selleck, and Lee Majors seemed to have that quality that gave them a pass into people’s living rooms whether they were in hit projects or not.
November 20th, 2018 at 10:38 am
I agree. You can add Rob Lowe and John Stamos to the list.
And it is not just actors in TV series, but also writers, producers, and musicians. Before the superhero movie took over some film directors had long careers without a box office hit. Today Alan Rudolph is my favorite example and he is still doing movies no one has heard of.
The importance of live ratings in TV is growing less and less. Today you have shows such as WYNONNA EARP with a handful of viewers but viewers so devoted to the show it attracts advertisers.
January 13th, 2020 at 1:01 am
Hi Michael,
I’ve left comments on your reviews before. This may surprise you but I actually rather liked Gavilan, mainly because of Robert Urich in the lead role. I’ve been attempting to locate the series on DVD and had limited success so far. I managed to find a grand total of 6 full episodes, all from the early 90’s TNT US TV airings and an incomplete version of the pilot episode Sarah And The Buzz (only have the last 23 minutes unfortunately).
I have the following episodes: # 2 Pirates,
# 3 By The Sword, # 6 A Drop In The Ocean,
# 7 Designated Hero, # 8 Best Friend Money Can Buy, and # 10 The Midas Keys. All are complete.
I am missing episode # 4 A Matter Of Geography, # 5 The Hydra, # 9 The Guns Of Harry August (a collector online is selling an original 16 mm film print of it, btw; does me no good though) and the three unaired episodes # 11 The Diamond Goddess, # 12 The Proteus Affair, and # 13 Rios En La Mar. I also need a complete version of Sarah And The Buzz the pilot episode.
I have checked in the collectors market; nobody has it except for the above listed 6 episodes.
Finding that incomplete copy of the pilot was
just a fluke. NBC-TV only aired episodes 1-10. The Midas Keys was their last episode.
If you know of anyone who has these presently
missing episodes of Gavilan please let me know.
TNT aired at least 7 of the first 10. The other 3 could have been aired there but the 3 unaired episodes probably were not. Thanks for reading. 🙂
January 14th, 2020 at 1:17 am
I googled Gavilan and some website selling bootleg copies popped up like this DVD Planet https://www.dvdplanetstore.pk/shop/action/gavilan/
The price is $56 for all 13 episodes but I don’t know how safe or reliable the seller is.
Hope you can find a better priced one.
January 14th, 2020 at 2:12 am
I checked with DVD Planet Store on this already.
The item is listed as out of stock.
A little too expensive for me anyway.
I sent them a message which the manager Aqeel
said they would respond to within 24-48 hours.
But realistically I’m not counting on it.
I left a post on hometheater forum about
the series but the member who started the
thread wrote me back and said that I should
not have posted the information I left about
what specific episodes I had, which ones I
was looking for, and requesting someone to
copy it for me as I was basically asking
for “an unauthorized copy of a program”.
I might add, a TV series that has not aired
in the US in at least 28 years now (since
TNT aired it in the early 90’s) and the
copyright of which is probably long expired.
MGM originally filmed it, and MGM TV series
properties are probably currently owned by
Warner Archive. If they were going to
officially release it on DVD, they would
have done so a long time ago. I’m pretty
sure they won’t release a series that only
lasted 13 episodes to begin with. Rather
surprisingly, Warner did release the other
short-lived 1981 TV series that TNT teamed
it up with in the 90’s, McClain’s Law
starring James Arness (best known for a
long-running TV Western series that needs
no mention) which ran around that same number
of episodes as a complete series. Why they
would release McClain’s Law and not Gavilan
(since Robert Urich starred in it and they
did release Spenser For Hire and not too
long ago The Lazarus Man, a TV Western
series during which he learned he had
cancer and as a result it was cancelled;
he subsequently sued for breach-of-contract)
makes no sense to me. But as my late stepfather used to tell me, it’s all about the money.
Thanks for the response. I’m still looking
for the missing 6 episodes and a complete
full version of Sarah And The Buzz the pilot episode. For now I have to settle for an
incomplete 23 minute version. 🙂
January 14th, 2020 at 2:15 am
P.S. Michael-Liked your article on Gavilan btw. 🙂
June 20th, 2023 at 6:40 pm
Every now and then, I get the urge to see if Gavilan has surfaced on the internet, and for the first time, I have hope. I was very young when it first aired, but I remember it fondly. About as close as TV ever got to a Clive Cussler style adventure hero.
June 20th, 2023 at 6:49 pm
Here’s good news: