Colt Seavers (The Fall Guy)

Created by Glen A. Larson

“It’s a death defying life I lead
But I’ll take my chances…”

Okay, you might consider it a stretch to include TV’s The Fall Guy (1981-86, ABC) on this site, but under-employed stunt man COLT SEAVERS (played by a post-$6,000,00 Man and post-Farrah Lee Majors) actually did moonlight as a bounty hunter. And sure, it may be even more of a stretch to include the 2024 big budget feature film, also called The Fall Guy, starring a post-Ken Ryan Gosling stepping into the lead, this time on the hunting (but not getting paid for) a missing actor.

But, hey, it’s my site. And I have to admit the film is a whole lotta fun–way more than I expected. Certainly way more than the cheesy but oh-so-eighties TV show it was “loosely based” upon. Which, in turn, may have been “loosely” inspired by the 1978 Burt Reynolds flick Hooper, which also dealt with stunt work.

How cheesy was the TV show, then? It even boasted a theme song that explained its premise. Week after week. Just like The Flinstones or Gilligan’s Island. But even better? The theme was sung by Lee Majors himself.

But hey, people loved this action-packed fromage. Colt and his “team” (stuntman-in-training Howie Munson and stuntwoman Jody Banks) shared a side gig as bounty hunters, working for bail bonds woman Samantha “Big Jack” Jack (Laugh-In‘s Jo Ann Pflug). Every week they would go after the bad guys, not at all shy about using their physical skills and stunt tricks to awesome effect. Cars were chased, cars were crashed, fist fights abounded, doors were kicked in, people jumped off buildings and from other high places, and most importantly, things blew up. But they always blew up real good.

It was also a treasure trove for TV junkies on the hunt for 1980s B-list and “where are they now?” guest stars and cameos, running the gamut from David Carradine and Heather Locklear to Roy Rogers and Doug McClure.

And then, after a respectable five-season run, it ended.

Until Hollywood came calling four decades later, reimagining the premise as a big-budget, action-packed rom-com summer blockbuster starring Gosling as Seavers, and Emily Blunt as Jody Moreno, a former flame of Colt’s who’s directing her first film, some sci-fi stinker called Metalstorm. The hook is that the film’s star Tom Ryder, an insufferable action star who does “all his own stunts,” has disappeared. She asks Colt, Tom’s stuntman (who of course had a real stuntman doing his stunts), to track him down.

So… not much more different of a plot than, maybe, the TV show. But this time around, they’ve got plenty of money to toss around. The stunts are suitably eye-popping, and if you didn’t like that explosion, wait a few minutes.

How big a budget, you ask? They brought in a ringer to sing the theme song this time: country crooner Blake Shelton.

And you’ve gotta love the stunt-packed movie-within-a-movie-within-a-movie cheekiness of it all, and how the whole thing is spritzed with a knowing douse of good-natured insider humor. Lee Majors and Heather Thomas, starts of the original show, even make cameos in the end, though I’m willing to bet younger viewers won’t be getting that joke.

It may just be the smartest dumb movie about movies I’ve seen in years.

UNDER OATH

• “The Fall Guy works best as an anti-blockbuster. It wants to blow shit up and wow us with its ballsy choreography, but it also wants to take the shine off these feats of movie magic. Funnier and more effective than most movies built upon a foundation of car chases and fistfights, The Fall Guy is smart enough to showcase its dumb action in a new and exciting way. Its affection is infectious, whether that’s for the art of filmmaking, the haywire pleasures of being on set, the adrenaline rush of a well-made gamble, or for finding someone special to share your simple corner of the world. The ambitious meta-film overcomes the baggage of trying to be both the movie of the summer and the movie that comments on those kinds of movies, hitting a cinematic sweet spot and singing the praises of stunt performers everywhere.”
  — Jacob Oller on the film (May 2024, Paste Magazine)

TELEVISION

• THE FALL GUY
  (1981-86, ABC)
  1 120-minute “pilot”
  112 60-minute episodes
  Created by Glen A. Larson
  Writers: Glen A. Larson, Burton Armus, Lou Shaw, Ted Lang, David Garber, Bruce Kalish, Sam Egan, Andrew Schneider, Michael Halperin, Doug Heyes Jr., David Braff, Larry Brody, Ron Friedman, Nick Thiel, Steve Greenberg
  Directors: Daniel Haller, Hollingsworth Morse, Bruce Bilson, Michael O’Herlihy, Russ Mayberry, Bruce Kessler, Don McDougall, Don Medford, Paul Stanley, Tom Connors, Ted Lange, Alan Crosland Jr, Lawrence Dobkin, Vince Edwards
  Theme song written by
  Theme song “Unknown Stuntman” sung by Lee Majors
  Starring Lee Majors as COLT SEAVERS
  With Douglas Barr as Howie “Kid” Munson
  and Heather Thomas as Jody Banks
  Also starring  Jo Ann Pflug as Samantha “Big Jack” Jack (1981–1982)
  Markie Post as Terri Shannon/Michaels (1982–1985)
  Guest stars: William Bryant, Doug McClure, Terry Kiser, Robert Donner, Jock Mahoney, Red West, David Carradine,  Clu Gulager, Katia Christine, John Vernon, Lou Ferrigno, Randolph Mantooth, Beau Starr, Buddy Hackett, Shecky Greene, Monte Markham, Melody Anderson, Guy Stockwell, Carol Wayne, Ken Swofford, Mickey Gilley, Tab Hunter, Heather Locklear, Don Stroud, Erin Gray, Roy Rogers,Henry Gibson, Delta Burke, Lonny Chapman, Paul Williams, Bo Svenson, Farrah Fawcett, Tom Selleck, Robert Wagner, Linda Evans, Herve Villechaize
  • SEASON ONE | Buy the DVD | Watch it now!
  • “The Fall Guy” (November 4, 1981; 120 min)
  • “The Meek Shall Inherit Rhonda” (November 11, 1981)
  • “The Rich Get Richer” (November 18, 1981)
  • “That’s Right, We’re Bad” (November 25, 1981)
  • Colt’s Angels” (December 2, 1981)
  • “The Human Torch” (December 9, 1981)
  • “Japanese Connection” (December 16, 1981)
  • “No Way Out” (January 6, 1982)
  • “License to Kill Part 1” (January 13, 1982)
  • “License to Kill Part 2” (January 20, 1982)
  • “Goin’ for It!” (January 27, 1982)
  • “The Adventures of Ozzie and Harold” (February 3, 1982)
  • “Soldiers of Misfortune” (February 10, 1982)
  • “Ready, Aim… Die!” (February 17, 1982)
  • “Ladies on the Ropes” (February 24, 1982)
  • “The Snow Job” (March 3, 1982)
  • “Guess Who’s Coming to Town?” (March 17, 1982)
  • “Child’s Play” (March 24, 1982)
  • “Charlie” (April 7, 1982)
  • “Three for the Road” (April 14, 1982)
  • “The Silent Partner” (April 28, 1982)
  • “Scavenger Hunt” (May 5, 1982)
  • SEASON TWO | Buy the DVD
  • “Bail and Bond” (October 27, 1982)
  • “The Ives Have It” (November 3, 1982
  • “Colt’s Outlaws (1)” (November 10, 1982)
  • “Colt Breaks Out (2)” (November 10, 1982)
  • “Mighty Myron” (November 17, 1982)
  • “Reluctant Traveling Companion” (November 24, 1982)
  • “A Piece of Cake” (December 1, 1982)
  • “Hell on Wheels” (December 8, 1982)
  • “How Do I Kill Thee… Let Me Count the Ways” (December 22, 1982)
  • “Win One for the Gipper???” (January 5, 1983)
  • “Happy Trails” (January 12, 1983)
  • “Manhunter” (January 19, 1983)
  • “The Further Adventures of Ozzie and Harold” (January 26, 1983)
  • “Death Boat” (February 2, 1983)
  • “Eight Ball” (February 9, 1983)
  • “Spaced Out” (February 16, 1983)
  • “Strange Bedfellows” (February 23, 1983)
  • “The Molly Sue” (March 2, 1983)
  • “One Hundred Miles a Gallon” (March 9, 1983)
  • “P.S. I Love You” (March 16, 1983)
  • “The Chameleon” (April 6, 1983)
  • “The Chase” (April 13, 1983)
  • “Just a Small Circle of Friends” (May 4, 1983)
  • SEASON THREE
  • “Devil’s Island” (September 21, 1983)
  • “Trauma” (September 28, 1983)
  • “Pleasure Isle” (October 5, 1983)
  • “Baker’s Dozen” (October 19, 1983)
  • “The Last Drive” (October 26, 1983)
  • “TKO” (November 2, 1983)
  • “Dirty Laundry” (November 9, 1983)
  • “Inside, Outside” (November 16, 1983)
  • “Pirates of Nashville” (November 23, 1983)
  • “Hollywood Shorties” (November 30, 1983)
  • “To the Finish” (December 7, 1983)
  • “Wheels” (December 21, 1983)
  • “Cool Hand Colt” (January 4, 1984)
  • “The Huntress” (January 11, 1984)
  • “Bite of the Wasp” (January 18, 1984)
  • “Rabbit’s Feet” (January 25, 1984)
  • “Olympic Quest” (February 1, 1984)
  • “Always Say Always” (February 22, 1984)
  • “King of the Cowboys” (February 29, 1984)
  • “Boom” (March 7, 1984)
  • “Undersea Odyssey” (March 21, 1984)
  • “Old Heroes Never Die” (May 2, 1984)
  • SEASON FOUR
  • “Losers Weepers” (September 19, 1984)
  • “Stranger Than Fiction” (September 26, 1984)
  • “Prisoner” (October 10, 1984)
  • “Terror U.” (October 17, 1984)
  • “Private Eyes” (October 24, 1984)
  • “October the 31st” (October 31, 1984)
  • “Sandcastles” (November 7, 1984)
  • “Dead Bounty” (November 14, 1984)
  • “The San Francisco Caper” (November 21, 1984)
  • “Baja 1000” (November 28, 1984)
  • “The Winner” (December 19, 1984)
  • “Semi-Catastrophe” (January 2, 1985)
  • “Her Bodyguard” (January 9, 1985)
  • “I Love Paris” (January 16, 1985)
  • “Sheriff Seavers” (January 23, 1985)
  • “Tailspin” (January 30, 1985)
  • “High Orbit” (February 6, 1985)
  • “Rockabye Baby” (February 13, 1985)
  • “Spring Break” (February 20, 1985)
  • “Split Image” (February 27, 1985)
  • “Skip Family Robinson” (March 6, 1985)
  • “Reel Trouble” (April 10, 1985)
  • SEASON FIVE
  • “Dead Ringer” (September 26, 1985)
  • “The King of the Stuntmen” (October 3, 1985)
  • “Femme Fatale” (October 10, 1985)
  • “A Fistful of Lire” (October 17, 1985)
  • “The Life of Riley” (November 30, 1985)
  • “October the 32nd” (December 7, 1985)
  • “Seavers: Dead or Alive” (December 14, 1985)
  • “Escape Claus” (December 21, 1985)
  • “No Rms., Ocean Vu” (January 4, 1986)
  • “Miami’s Nice” (January 10, 1986)
  • “Reunion” (January 17, 1986)
  • “Trial by Fire” (January 24, 1986)
  • “In His Shadow” (January 31, 1986)
  • “Lucky Stiff” (February 7, 1986)
  • “Beach Blanket Bounty” (February 21, 1986)
  • “The Last Chance Platoon” (February 28, 1986)
  • “I Now Pronounce You… Dead” (March 7, 1986)
  • “Two on a Skip” (March 21, 1986)
  • “The Lady in Green” (March 28, 1986)
  • “Tag Team” (April 4, 1986)
  • “War on Wheels” (April 11, 1986)
  • “The Bigger They Are” (May 2, 1986)

FILMS

• THE FALL GUY | Watch it now!
  (2024, Universal Pictures)
  Premiere: May 3, 2024
  125 minutes
  Directed by David Leitch
  Written by Drew Pearce
  Theme song “The Unknown Stuntman” sung by Blake Shelton
  Starring Ryan Gosling as COLT SEAVERS
  With Emily Blunt as Jody Moreno
  and Aaron Taylor-Johnson as Tom Ryder
  Also starring Winston Duke, Hannah Waddingham, Stephanie Hsu, Teresa Palmer, Ben Knight , Zara Michales, Adam Dunn, Matuse, Dan Reardon, Lee Majors, Heather Thomas, Jason Momoa (as himself)

FURTHER INVESTIGATION

• “The Unknown Stuntman” by Lee Majors/Blake Shelton
  All the lyrics for both versions.
• Bounty Hunters
  “Not your average nine-to-five job”

Respectfully submitted by Kevin Burton Smith. 2024 illustration of Gosling as Colt by Kristian Hammerstad, from the May 13 issue of The New Yorker.