Colt Seavers (Lee Majors) is a professional stuntman in Hollywood. On this particular day, he is bursting into flames on a motorcycle stunt for a James Coburn movie. No sooner has the fire been extinguished than he finds his cousin Howie (Douglas Barr) on set. It turns out that Colt had been paying for Howie's college education and Howie rarely stayed at any college for more than a semester. He often offers lines that begin with "When I was at <presitigious college>..." followed by something that causes Colt to roll his eyes. In addition to Howie, Colt has his protege stuntwoman, Jody Banks (Heather Thomas). When not doing stunt work, Colt pays the rent by capturing fugitives of justice for Samantha Jack (Jo Ann Pflug), a bail bondsman. In the pilot, Colt has to somehow nab John Cramer (Eddie Albert) from an Arizona town where he is the sheriff! Then there is the issue of another fugitive, Country Joe Walker (Lou Rawls), who is being pursued by drug dealers.
The best thing about the pilot is the theme song. Seldom has a show had a better theme song than The Fall Guy. Sung by Lee Majors, it details the realities of the stuntman who takes all the risks while the movie star gets both the glory and the leading lady.
Watching it now, it's formulaic and often goofy, but it was one of my favorite shows back in the day. I had become a fan of Lee Majors when he was the Six Million Dollar Man. He had launched a movie career from that show, but a series of mediocre to bad movies (The Norseman, Killer Fish, The Agency, The Last Chase) put him back on TV.
An enjoyable show and worth revisiting, though not bingeworthy.
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