Bulletin Board #1 [March 14-May 17]
Bulletin Board #2 [May 18-July 14]
Welcome to the third Tales of the Gold Monkey bulletin board. Yes, I've had to start this one slightly ahead of schedule. The turnover rate seems to be about every two months, so expect Part 4 sometime in mid-late September.
I've finally found out the answer to my first query on bulletin board #1. I mentioned that Walter Koenig (a.k.a. Chekov on Star Trek) was listed in the Internet Movie Database as being a guest star on the show. However, I didn't remember ever seeing him on any episode, even in a cameo. Well, the mystery is solved. Mr. Koenig did not do a guest shot on Tales of the Gold Monkey. Instead he appeared in an episode of Bring 'Em Back Alive. I hate it when people confuse the two shows. Gold Monkey was a *MUCH* better show IMHO. Of course, if I thought otherwise, I would have created a Bring 'Em Back Alive web site. The problem with the Internet Movie Database is that anybody can submit information, regardless of accuracy, and nobody verifies it. I don't even want to mention the garbage they have for the biographical information for Jeff MacKay. Poor Lesley Pohl is still devastated by the whole situation.
Back to the subject of things that tick me off, I do get a bit irritated when people mangle the name of the show. My favorite mutilation came from someone in the rec.arts.tv newsgroup who was looking for VHS copies of the old series, Jake & the Golden Mongoose. He did qualify it with (Indiana Jones type show), but, of course, I knew what he was referring to even without that. I did offer him copies, but he never responded. Perhaps, he was embarrassed.
Some of the confusion of the title stems from the fact that the name was changed several times before the series premiere. Here's the rundown from an article that appeared in the Philadelphia Daily News on August 2, 1982.
Monkey Business
ABC's new escapist/fantasy series, originally called " Tales of the Brass Monkey," then " Brass Monkey," was finally renamed " Golden Monkey."
Until last week, anyway.
Latest word from the Alphabet Network is that the show now will be called " Tales of the Gold Monkey."
Now if they put as much effort into the show as they have into the name. .
Jayme Blaschke tdt@vvm.com Patricia, Congrats on opening Part III. When's the celebratory party?
Hey, everyday's a party at the Tales of the Gold Monkey -- kinda like a web site!!! You mean you don't sit in front of your PC with a silly party hat on? Am I the only one?
Leanne Richard volterra@znet.com Hi Patricia, I just watched an ep of "Tales of the Gold Monkey" that a friend sent me on tape. That was really strange, she and I started communicating because of our interest in musicals ... and then who should show up but Stephen Collins in "Putting It Together" (yes he can sing!) and it was "You loved ToTGM too!?!". The episode she sent me was the only one, alas.
Anyway, I thought to myself *somebody* has got to have a ToTGM page, so I searched the old Yahoo! and Yahoo! there was your page.
And the embarrassing thing is -- I fit your description almost 100%! (although I didn't wear my collar up or listen to Men at Work -- Wham! was the other thing I listened to at the time!) Well, no it's not embarrassing. heck, I still have those buttons!
Anyway, are you sure ToTGM is running in Australia, having just emigrated from there (I know, I know) I'm sure that there isn't a cable channel called TV1 ... however, New Zealand *does* have a channel of that name!
TV1 is carried on the Foxtel and Galaxy satellite systems, which aren't available in all parts of Australia. I know it could be viewed in the Melbourne and Sydney areas, but since I'm half a world away, I can't be sure of the other regions who have access. As far as I know, TV1 still airs Tales of the Gold Monkey. BTW, TV1 only airs reruns of American TV series. Hey, it's a living.
Finally, congratulations on a great page ... I'm passing it on to my friend, who will be thrilled ...
One last thing ... would this be the place to ask for video copies of the series? Or should I just write and pray to The Powers That Be, that the show re-airs?
Both. I have bootleg copies all the episodes (they're fading fast from much copying). Plus, go to the main web page of the site and contact the various Powers That Be that are listed and kindly ask (don't demand) them to put the show back on the air. Also, there's an address for MCA Home Video so you can ask them to issue the show on VHS.
One more last thing *grin* -- I have the Tales of The Gold Monkey Annual too!!! (I got it for Christmas from my parents). It's currently in a box traversing the Pacific Ocean from Australia, but when it arrives ... if you need anything from it just holler.)
Well, Leanne, if you can get near a copier, I'd love to see what the Annual looked like. I'd pay for it, of course.
One more last thing (it makes a change from PPS-ing): if I ever finish writing my "Lois & Clark" fanfic, I'll start back in on ToTGM. I used to write a lot of adventures in my head. Most of them with that annoying Sarah being written out. (and now, having watched an ep 10 years after I saw them I know why -- she can't act. And I thought it was just jealousy)
Thanks. I'd love to post it when you're done. BTW, you could always make Sarah less annoying in your fanfic. But I have a feeling you still want to keep Jake all to yourself.
Leanne Richard volterra@znet.com Forgot to add! ToTGM started first on Australian TV ... and then it was taken off the air (no idea whether we got to see all the eps or not, I haven't made it to the ep guide yet ... anyway the *dreadful* "Bring 'Em Back Alive" started immediately afterwards. After watching one ep, and concluding it was a ripoff of ToTGM, I wondered why the network was wasting it's money with a new series and promptly refused to watch the rest of the series. I black-banned cricket for pre-empting ToTGM too -- and that has held to this day!
Laura PeacInRTim@aol.com
FYI
My favorite thing about the Tales of the Gold Monkey except looking at Stephen Collins was the goose. I have always been drawn to planes more WWII planes than anything else. To my dismay I could never find a plane like the Goose in the television show. Just recently I was in Ketchikan. Alaska and noticed baseball caps and a jacket with the very Goose I had fallen in love with many years ago. There is a project called "Save The Goose" by the Tongass Historical Society restoring an old Goose that used to serve there. All of the proceeds from the jackets and the caps go to restoring the Goose. They also have information packets if you're interested. I learned that the Goose was a Grumman Goose G-21A. If you want to know where to write I can look up the address.
Sure, that would be great. I'll post it to the bulletin board. There are plenty of other Goose aficionados who'd been interested in this, myself included. Thanks.
Also. Is Tales of the Gold Monkey on any networks right now?
No [pout, pout]. But go to the main web page and contact the networks listed (USA, Fx, and TNT) and ask them to run the show. If you can think of any other channels to ask, let me know.
Thanks to the wonderful world wide web, I've found more information about the "Save the Goose" campaign in Ketchikan, Alaska at http://puffin.ptialaska.net/~kurt/noproject.html. Also in this site, you can take a look at the hats and jackets they're offering (not that they need to bribe you in order for you to donate to their worthy cause).
Fred ANIM8Rfsk@aol.com Okay, per your request, here's a note saying I was on your page! I'm number 00003756; and found the page via your signature in a message in rec.arts.tv.
Nice page!
Good to know Massachussets harbors Gold Monkey fans . . .
Thanks for the note. Just a little question, should I ask what you mean by that last remark or should I just let it drop? You must admit, it is a bit ambiguous and those ellipses don't help. Just trying to make sure if I should get my dander up, since my dander is difficult to get back down again.
NIT-PICK OF THE WEEK (July 18)
Jayme Blaschke tdt@vvm.com In the "Honor Thy Brother" intro, we see our old buddy Jake patrolling in his trusty Mustang. Above, he sees two Japanese Zeroes, and climbs up to engage them in a dogfight. Now we know why he finally got shot down--Jake may be a good pilot, but he's very stupid.
Follow. Mustangs were a big, heavy plane with a monster engine and very little agility. Zekes, in contrast, were slower, but light and very manuverable. Because of that, if a Mustang ever engaged a Zero in a dogfight, the outcome was simple--the Mustang was shot down.
Realizing this, the Flying Tigers turned a disadvantage into an asset. Combat procedure was for a Tiger to fly well above the Zeroes' standard operating altitude. When the Tiger spotted a patrol of Zeroes, it would dive into them, using the Mustang's mass to add to the already impressive airspeed generated by the engine. They shot up every Zero they could as they zoomed past, then continued on, hightailing it back
to friendly territory. The Japanese could never catch up. That's one reason the Flying Tigers were so successful in China. Or something like that.
Leanne Richard volterra@znet.com At the risk of ending up on the ToTGM bulletin board again :)
One always runs that risk when sending me e-mail, even junk e-mail!
>>I just watched an ep of "Tales of the Gold Monkey" that a friend sent me on
>>tape. That was really strange, she and I started communicating because of
(The ep was the Egyptian trunk one. I have to admit Caitlin (and I do like the name) looks good in that virgin Egyptian outfit -- and that was one of the funniest moments in the episode with Jake and Corky giving her this look that's: "You're a virgin?!"
>TV1 is carried on the Foxtel and Galaxy satellite systems, which aren't
>available in all parts of Australia. I know it could be viewed in the
>Melbourne and Sydney areas, but since I'm half a world away, I can't be sure
>of the other regions who have access. As far as I know, TV1 still airs Tales
>of the Gold Monkey. BTW, TV1 only airs reruns of American TV series. Hey,
>it's a living.
Ah, cable tv. It's *slowly* spreading out from the capital cities ...
>>One more last thing (it makes a change from PPS-ing)> if I ever finish
>>writing my "Lois & Clark" fanfic, I'll start back in on ToTGM. I used to
>>write a lot of adventures in my head. Most of them with that annoying Sarah
>>being written out. (and now, having watched an ep 10 years after I saw them
>>I know why -- she can't act. And I thought it was just jealousy)
>Thanks. I'd love to post it when you're done. BTW, you could always make
>Sarah less annoying in your fanfic. But I have a feeling you still want to
>keep Jake all to yourself.
Gee, what gave you that idea? *grin*
Call it a hunch. BTW, don't tell me that you didn't like Ms. O'Heaney's performance in 'Trunk From the Past'? She wasn't a bad actress, but at times... For example, in the scene when she realizes that her ex-fiance had her father killed, who could forget the emotion (and the fluttering eyelashes) when saying "Oh God! Oh my God! You killed him!" I try not to laugh everytime I see that scene, but I always do. Heck, I'm smirking just thinking about it.
>One last thing (O.K. so I'm a plagiarist. Sue me!) - I'll be posting both
>your notes to the bulletin board.
No probs!
The Gneech posted to the bulletin board sometime ago about not liking the occasional goofiness of the show. This, I'm sure, seems to have been inspired by the off-beat lines in "Casablanca" (which I recently saw for the first time). And what can I say? I like the odd bit of goofiness. Besides, Stephen Collins is cute when he smiles. (I'm rapidly losing all credibility here, aren't I?)
You still entirely credible here, Leanne. I've decided to coin a new term for that segment of Gold Monkiacs who watched the show primarily to see Stephen Collins and his fabulous dimples. I'm afraid you're now a charter member of the HTGs, Horny Teenage Girls. Of course, now we're (O.K., I'll lump myself into this category. It wasn't my primary reason, but it was right up there on the list.) HTWs, Horny Twentysomething Women.
Darin Luse darin_luse@om.cv.hp.com Hey Patricia - I told you I'd get those pictures. It took a little while because I had to go get them from my parents house. There are four pictures of the Goose and Boragora taken in sequence from the tram. Pictures 2 and 3 look pretty similar, so I don't know if you want to post both of them. They are between 55K and 75K in size. I hope you can download them. If there is a problem with them (wrong format, too many colors), just let me know and I can re-scan them and send them again, or send the original scan versions which are a little bigger (~100K). I hope to see them posted. :)
Hope no more, Darin. I've posted them to the Pics Page. There was a slight problem decoding the file you sent, but they seem to have come out O.K. Since I decided to make them interlaced .GIFs, they files are now between 61K and 79K in size. BTW, since the files decoded without names (that was part of the error message), I don't know if I got the sequence right. Thanks again!
Laura PeacInRTim@aol.com Patricia, Here is the address for the "Save The Goose Project"
"Save the Goose!" Project
Tongass Historical Society, Inc.
629 Dock Street
Ketchikan, Alaska 99901
When I bought my jacket they gave me a packet with lots of info on the Grumman Goose. The jacket is wonderful. Very warm and intense rain is just shed off.
Thanks for the address and the jacket endorsement, Laura.
Bill Cosson SRLB35A@prodigy.com Patricia, mes amis - I hate to be the Father of all Nit-Pickers, but in Jayme Blaschke's Nit-Pick of the week, she mentions that Jake is patrolling in his trusty Mustang. The P-51 Mustang didn't get into the air till late 1942, and not into combat until 1943. What she probably meant was (and this was the correct Flying Tiger plane) the P-40 Tomahawk, or Kittyhawk, or Mohawk, depending on the configuration. Everything else about her note is right on. Please don't think me obsessive, just detail-oriented.
Thanks for your nit-pick of Jayme's nit-pick, Bill. Now I have a nit-pick of your nit-pick of Jayme's nit-pick. Jayme is of the masculine gender. Though I can't speak for him, I don't think he'll like it if you keep referring to him in the feminine case. But then again...
Leanne Richard volterra@znet.com hi again Paticia:
Just thought I'd let you know I was a good little Monkiac and sent off my letters to the networks today. Now I'm off on another crusade ... getting Anthony Warlow to record some of his live concert stuff. *sigh*
My, aren't you the busy, little beaver. Thank you so much for your support of this noble cause. I'll have to post this to the board (you knew I would) as an example to the other children, er, I mean Monkiacs.
>Call it a hunch. BTW, don't tell me that you didn't like Ms. O'Heaney's
>performance in 'Trunk From the Past'? She wasn't a bad actress, but at
>times... For example, in the scene when she realizes that her ex-fiance had
>her father killed, who could forget the emotion (and the fluttering
>eyelashes) when saying "Oh God! Oh my God! You killed him!" I try not to
>laugh everytime I see that scene, but I always do. Heck, I'm smirking just
>thinking about it.
Seriously, her best acting moment in "Trunk From The Past" was when she gave Jake that filthy look when he made some faux pas (about her being engaged or staying behind or something). And I'm like "you go! Girl!" Of course, Stephen Collins' reaction was even better!
You just gave me a great idea, Leanne, a "What was your favorite Gold Monkey line/scene?" survey. Just a little something to get us through the hot, summer months. Thanks.
Bill Cosson SRLB35A@prodigy.com Woah, you got me, Patty. Jayme, Jamie, I get all confused. Like the Righteous Bluegrass band used to sing, "I Can't Tell the Boys From the Girls." I probably should have known (and don't take this to be a sexist remark I pray) that a girl wouldn't care about all the technical stuff about dive speed, air combat echniques, fighter planes, etc. Anyhooth, please feel free to edit that nit-pickery to make it gendre correct and to not offend Jayme, if you would. Thank you, thank you.
Remember, I never edit the notes I receive, except for the one that had a home address included. I'll just post your semi-sexist apology to the board. It's much more interesting than me correcting your first message.
Scott David Frank sfrank@chaph.usc.edu I don't know who you are or where you came from, but you have put up the "Tales of the Gold Monkey" page and should be blessed.
You are a godo person.
Peace,
Scott
I don't know who you are or where you came from either (Well, if I go by the your e-mail address, you're Scott David Frank from the University of Southern California. Your e-mail footer has a PDT timestamp.), but thanks for your note. You're not a bad egg yourself.
Scott David Frank sfrank@chaph.usc.edu Thank you. If you really want to be kind, you'll correct my misstyping of "good" when you post to the bulletin board. ;)
Peace,
Scott
With all these typos and mistakes in everybody's notes, I think I should create an errata page. I was wondering what "godo" was. I thought it was some new, hip term that I wasn't aware of, a go-do kinda person, like gung-ho. Well, your correction is now posted on the board.
(I can't believe that you have the series dated for such a short time - I remember it as being on for longer, though that was probably just wishful thinking and fond remembrances).
Yes, the show was killed just as it was hitting its stride. But it lives on forever in our hearts and minds and, with some luck, reruns.
Joseph Sullivan "Sully" Ensignro99@aol.com Please let me know of any showing of "Tales". I miss the reruns of it.
Believe me, if it ever pops up again on US TV again, I'll let everyone in cyberspace know about it, whether they care or not!
Any fan club on the show?
Not to my knowledge. I think the bulletin boards are the closest thing to one anywhere.
I could not find anything at all on "Bring 'em Back alive" on the web. That was very disappointing.
There is an episode listing in the Tardis episode guide archives. I don't know the URL, but I saw it before and it was pretty weak. There's also a listing in the Internet Movie Database. Maybe now that I've started my Tales of the Gold Monkey page, somebody will try to keep up by creating one for Bring 'em Back Alive.
Who was the girl lead in "Tales" ?. I don't remember seeing her any where else.
Caitlin O'Heaney played Sarah (You would have known this if you had also visited my Facts Page and my Episode Guide). I haven't seen her in anything for years. Maybe if she's not busy, she'd take some time to stop by the site and chat a while, but I'm probably just dreaming.
Jayme Blaschke tdt@vvm.com As the great Ray Davies sang oh those years ago: "Girls will be boys and boys will be girls." I'm pretty used to it. I've worked here at this paper going on five years and they, along with all my utility bills, still list me as "Ms."
Good. Bill Cosson will be glad to here it. Well, maybe not glad, but you know what I mean.
OH MY GOD! OH MY GOD! OH MY GOD!
If you thought the message from Don Bellisario was a big deal, take a look at this!!!
Stephen Collins Dear Patricia - Through a friend (a teacher whom I met years ago while shooting "Gold Monkey") I heard about your web site and found it using Yahoo. I'm thrilled and delighted to see what you've done. Gold Monkey was an enormously happy experience, and it's always frustrated me that it's not around more. I'd love to "talk" to you here on line, and I'm sending this via an old email address so as to protect my regular address. But I'll log on occasionally with this address and see if I hear from you.
It's late and I have to get to bed, but first of all, Faye and I are still very much married. And second, I noticed a message about some confusion regarding Walter Koenig guesting on GM. Someone wrote that it was Bring 'Em Back Alive that he actually appeared on. But coincidentally, he and worked together on the first "Star Trek" movie and became quite close as members of the ST softball team (he pitched, I played left field) and fellow baseball fans. I like Walter a lot, though I haven't seen him in years. I'm still somewhat in touch with Jeff McKay and Caitlin, and especially with Roddy, whom Faye and I see regularly.
Fun fact to add to your list: I added the "Stickney" to Sarah White's name. It's my father's middle name. I just felt she needed a snooty sounding middle name, and Don B. agreed.
I'm going to be doing a new series this fall for the WB Network, "7th Heaven," which'll be on Monday nights at 8 (not Sunday, as originally announced).
So much to talk about. Be in touch.....Stephen Collins
Thank you *VERY* much for your wonderful note. I will, of course, be posting it to the bulletin board area of the web site. I wasn't sure if you wanted your e-mail address, even an old one, floating about on the Internet, so I won't be posting it. Let me know if it's all right to do so in case some of the other Gold Monkey fans wish to chat with you, and, call it a hunch, but I'm sure there are a few who would like to. And did you really think I wouldn't respond to your note? HA!! Fat chance!
I would love it, whenever you can find the time, if you could stop by the site and answer the questions from the fans and give us the "inside scoop" on the making of the series (BTW, love the "Stickney" bit). And if you could bring along some of your fellow castmates, so much the better.
Good luck with your new series. I'm glad to hear that WB had the foresight to move the series to Mondays before the premiere. After CBS announced that it was moving Touched By an Angel to Sundays, I knew that 7th Heaven didn't have a prayer. (Sorry. I couldn't resist.)
David Lee dlee@au.oracle.com Thanks for the memories ... I saw the show about 12 years ago whilst finishing school in the UK (courtesy of the BBC). Now I live in Sydney, Australia but can't seem to find anyone, other than my best friend still in the UK, who remembers the show so the words and pictures brought a load of recollections back when life seemed so much more simple.
Once again ... many thanks.
You're welcome, David. The main purpose of the site is to bring back those memories of a simpler time when anything and everything seemed possible. (We were young. What the heck did we know?) BTW, you may want to invest in Pay TV down there in Sydney. As far as I know, Tales of the Gold Monkey is still airing in your area on TV1, which is carried on the Galaxy and Foxtel satellite systems. At least you're one up on us here in the States, where we haven't been able to see the show in six years. And I've been getting messages from people Down Under who remember the show. I guess you better start hanging around with a better class of people. ;-)
Guess who's made a second guest appearance?
Stephen Collins You're so right about Sunday/Monday nights. I, too, thought we were fine till CBS threw "Touched By An Angel" against us.
My time is severely limited right now because of the series and the fact that I'm trying to finish my second novel (my first, "Eye Contact," was a best seller. I think it still may have a site as part of the Bantam website [www.bdd.com, for Bantam, Doubleday, Dell]) I have virtually no time for online chat for a while till I get a new draft of my book to my editor in the next couple of weeks. But I'd love to answer questions and really look forward to it.
By the way, the Duluth Dukes weren't Triple-A. In those days (and up till the 70's), minor leagues were AAA, AA, A, B, C, or D. Then came the fairness decade and no one wanted to be B, C, or D, so they made the lowest designation A. (There's low-A and high-A, though. God forbid anyone should be B in this fair world.) Anyway, the Dukes were a Class C team in the Northern League (which, I think, still exists, although the Dukes don't, at the moment). I used to spend my summers on an island called Madeline Island in Wisconsin, about 90 miles from Duluth. It was nearest "big" city, so I knew my Island friends would get a kick out of the Duluth uniform. That and Stickney may have been my only "written" contributions to the show, but they're dear to my heart. (I, too, am a frustrated baseball player, but I never got much farther than JV.)
I don't mind people having this address, as I seldom use it. In fact, I'll designate it as a Gold Monkey address, so go ahead and let people know, if you like. Thanks for understanding about privacy.
I'll check in from time to time and look forward to it.........SC
Thanks for replying so quickly and correcting me about the Duluth Dukes minor league ranking. I'll make a change to my Facts Page. This is just the kind of material that I've been looking for to enhance my site. The pages started out four months ago as just organized "facts" and details that I remembered. I had no documentation to refer to or even tapes to review. All the data in the site came from my memory of a show that I hadn't seen in over five years. I'm surprised that I even remembered half of this stuff.
I won't post your e-mail address to the site; however, if people ask me nicely, I'll give it to them. The main reason for this is to limit the number of repetitive questions that would be asked. So if someone has a question to ask, he/she can forward it to me and I'll forward it to you. Then you can reply to me, I'll forward your response to the person who asked it, and I'll post both the question and answer to the bulletin board to avoid duplication by others. You'll save some precious time and I'll have more information for my site. If someone doesn't want his/her question posted on the board, then I'll supply your e-mail address.
Mark Chase MChase@netgate.compaq.com I was driving to work this morning, and for some strange reason I was thinking of "Tale's of the Gold Monkey" (I say strange - because it hasn't been on TV here for about 10 years).
I got to work - read my JAG mail - and found a reference to this page.
I've got to say that this is a really good page. It bought back quite a few memories.
Keep up the good work.
Mark (25 year-old --- part of 'Generation X' :-) )
Technical Support Ananlyst
Compaq Computers (NZ) Ltd.
Thanks, Mark. Maybe this whole situation wasn't a mere coincedence. Have you ever thought that you may have psychic abilities? Gee, this could be a whole new career for you. How secure is the computer industry anyway? You could make millions in psychic entertainment. On second thought, keep your day job. :-)
Leanne Richard volterra@znet.com Dear Pat, (I'm not sure I want this posted to the bulletin board :))
Aw, be a sport, Leanne. There's nothing to be embarrassed about. We're not here to judge, only to have some fun.
I'm reeling, I'm in shock and oh my god!!! He's read my hormonal flushes!!!!!! (I hope he forgives me.)
Somehow, I think he didn't mind. He probably likes all our female attention, which could be a reason he's decided to pop in.
Gee, so we're going to have a regular columnist now? :) This is the first I've heard about 7th Heaven, and having just seen "7th Avenue" (what is it about the number 7?) I hope it's a big success. (btw, was 7th Avenue an intended series pilot because there just wasn't an ending!) When (like a date) and where does 7th Heaven start?
On 7th Avenue was a failed pilot (Ooops, sorry. I meant that it was a pilot whose option was not picked up. Hope nobody was offended by my use of the F word.) from 1995 that NBC decided to run as a movie this summer. 7th Heaven will air on the WB Network (which is a start-up network, so check your local TV listings to see if it's available in your area). I don't know when it will premiere. I believe it's late August, but we could ask our semi-resident expert about it.
Umm, so some questions to pass onto Stephen Collins (can I call him Jake? *grin* Mr Collins is *so* formal> Ahem) after he's got that draft into the editors. (He's not allowed to procrastinate -- like me. Actually, he probably doesn't. After all, he's managed to get published and I can't even get a fanfic finished. (Well, three finished so far).
1) What is Caitlin up to at the moment?
2) What's his favourite episode?
Umm, I had a stack more ... but they've vanished out of my head ... is he going to pass on the URL to other "connected" actors from the show? that would be so neat :)
Still in total stunment,
Leanne
I've already given Mr. C. (a slightly less formal mode of address) a modified version of the survey I introduced on the first bulletin board which includes the favorite episode question. I'm going to compile a list of everybody's questions (keep 'em comin') and will forward them in a day or so depending on how many I receive.
Patti irishluck@worldnet.att.net Congratulations to you on your page and and congratulations to me on finding it. I too am a TOTGM lover. I must be the senior citizen of the group since I was 30ish when I first watched the show. I love that era of
movies, the 40's and WWII and that is what first attracted me to the show. After that I just found it had a charm, sometimes silly, but a charm anyway. I actually like all four major characters: Jake, Sarah, Louis and Jack. To pick one, probably Jake for the obvious reasons. I actually visited the set back then but as luck would have it they were filming out in the woods or something. We were too far away to see anything I could describe. I did see the lagoon, dock etc. I nearly broke my neck looking for any cast. No luck. I would love to see it back on cable or better yet have my own tapes. If you find a source fro the tape set let me know. I didn't have a VCR back then and never knew it was on cable in reruns, that makes me a two time loser. I have you bookmarked, so I'll drop in and visit occasionally. Let me know if I can get in on the
tapes, obviously I will cover costs. I will send my letter in pleading for a repeat.
Thanks for your note, Patti. As a matter of fact, I now have all the episodes on tape. They're not of the highest quality, but they're viewable. You can get them in SP mode (2 episodes per tape), LP (4-5 episodes per tape) or SLP (7 episodes). The current US price are $3/tape, but there's a volume discount because of the lowering cost of postage. I will also ship to Canada, but those prices start at US$4 per tape and it takes forever (about a month) for the tapes to arrive. Anyway you look at it, I'm not making any money off of this (Am I nuts or what?!). Let me know if you're interested.
Jayme Blaschke tdt@vvm.com Holy Geez! He's like, here! And he knows baseball! (Go Astros!) A slight addendum to Mr. C's minor league comments, since I don't think they're worthy of a full-fledged nit-pick: Although there are no letter designations lower than A ball, the minor leagues have several classifications lower. After short-season A ball, there's rookie ball
(which most draftees hope to avoid) and the instructional league, which is as dubious as it sounds. There's also the Arizona Fall League, which is short season and falls outside the set system and is reserved mostly
for players with potential that need extra work.
BTW, there's a catalog company that carries old-time minor league jerseys, caps, jackets, etc. My most recent catalog doesn't have Duluth in it, but I swear I remember seeing it once. If anyone wants to try them
out, here's their address: Ebbets Field Flannels, P.O. Box 19865, Seattle WA 98109-6865. And if Mr. C wants to talk sports any time... well, my e-mail's posted.
Ah, boys and their games! Aren't they just adorable? Thank you, Jayme - Sports Reporter Extraordinaire, for your baseball comments. And most people who come by my site think that all we talk about is a short-lived, early '80s action show. HA! We're a full service web site. BTW, should I ask how Ebbets Field Flannels wound up in Seattle? Also, no rooting for any baseball team except for the Red Sox in my site. They may be lousy, but I've got to be loyal. Damned if I know why after what they've put me through all these years. I've never recovered from the bottom of the 10th inning in Game 6 of the '86 World Series. To make matters worse, I was attending NYU at the time. I'm getting upset just thinking about it. AAARGH!!!!
I wasn't kidding when I said that this was a full service web site. Thanks to Lesley Pohl (who's obviously trying to avoid working again [Aren't we all!]) here's the address to visit Ebbets Field Flannels on-line. Their URL is http://www.onlinesports.com/pages/top,manu,ebbe.html. Also, Lesley, wonderful woman that she is, sent me a lovely lapel pin of a Grumman Goose that she purchased from Wm. Spear Design. You can find them on the web at http://www.carmelnet.com/spearpins/. If you prefer contacting them the old-fashioned way, their address is 227 Seventh Street, Juneau, Alaska 99801. Or you can call them at (907) 586-2209 or fax them at (907) 586-6858. Just choose your favorite method of communication.
Tsk, tsk, tsk. Things got awfully quiet around here after a certain celebrity stopped by. Don't tell me you people are too shy to talk in front of Mr. C? This kind gentleman has generously offered to answer any questions you folks may have regarding the series and now everybody's clammed up. What gives? I'm sure there must be something you all would like to ask. Come on, don't be scared. He won't bite. And don't feel you have to censor your e-mails either. Your First Amendment rights are fully protected by yours truly. So gush or nit-pick to your heart's content. There are no enemies' lists around here.
NIT-PICK OF THE WEEK (July 25)
Bill Cosson SRLB35A@prodigy.com In the episode "Legends Are Forever", Jake, Gandy, and Louis are up on the mountain with the Watusi's fighting the Bogas. Corky and Jack are on the lake at the base of the mountain, guarding the Goose. Corky hears gunfire from the mountain and he says,"That's Jake's Weatherby!" Everybody knows that Weatherby has never manufactured pistols, and as a company did not even exist in 1938. What Corky
should have said was "That's Jake's Webley!" A Webley is an old British army pistol, caliber .455, which is what Jake carries. Gandy of course had a Colt Single Action Army. Couldn't tell what Louis was shooting, because there were no closeups.
I've been thinking again (Hey, somebody around here has to!). Maybe the reason you people haven't been sending me questions for Mr. C (or much else for that matter) is that you're uncomfortable communicating with someone you've never seen. And since you all know what Mr. C looks like, you must be wondering about me. Well, stop wondering. I don't have any recent pictures of myself (I found some cute ones of me as a cute kid, though), but here's an incredibly life-like drawing of yours truly.
Jayme Blaschke tdt@vvm.com Aarrgh! Don't bring up the '86 playoffs! It's too painful (if the stinkin' bullpen could've just held a lead for Nolan Ryan, Mike Scott would've thrown game 7, and The Hated Mets would NEVER have faced your Sox) *Sob sob*.
Bullpens! You wanna talk bullpens!! How about Bob Stanley!!! The second that MacNamara motioned him from the bullpen, I knew that the Sox had not only lost Game 6 but the series as well. But, let's not dwell on the miserable past. It's bad for my blood pressure. Besides, if you remember from one of the articles that I "borrowed" and posted on BB #2, it described Mr. C as "A staunch fan of the New York Mets". He's probably reading this and gloating just a bit. Well, I'm glad *somebody* got some pleasure out of the whole situation.
Kudos to Lesley. That's a quick turnaround on the website address!
That's just Lesley being a good do-bee. Now be a good boy and send her a copy of the laserprint you sent me. She's even offered to pay the $5 up front.
Lesley Pohl pohl@wpo.sosc.osshe.edu If you're continuing the favorite scene/bit "poll" from TOTGM, here's mine. Although it's not my favorite episode, in Bora Gora or Bust, there's a scene wherein the gang is bored and the Reverend Willie has his back to the monkey bar and is describing the positions of the monkeys at the top of the bar. When Corky's body language indicates to Willie that he is incorrect, the Reverend insists he is correct with a forceful "Ya, Ya." I found that particular scene quite delightful. All of the scenes where the gang is just hanging out at the bar are great, the character interplay was one of the strongest elements of the show.
Come to think of it, John Calvin really was an integral part of the show. I see he's still working quite a bit. I've seen him recently on Renegade and on a movie about a boy and his dragon. We should try and round him up too.
What? One cast member isn't good enough for you, Lesley? Just kidding. But back to the favorite scene/line survey, here's one of mine. In 'Once a Tiger...', Jake, Corky and Sarah are confronted by the "cargo cult" whose leader in wearing a thatched bamboo airplane on his head. Jake tries to communicate with him. To help explain that he's a pilot, he starts flapping his arms like a bird to simulate flying. Watching this, Sarah sarcastically declares "Oh brother, to think my life depends on this." The whole scene is hilarious.
Bill Cosson BillPresto@gnn.com Hi Patty, I'm back on the Internet after a 2 week sabbatical. I have a friendly new server, one who I assume will not take me for an expensive ride like the last one. My first official act was to dial up my favorite Web site, and what do I see but correspondence from Stephen Collins. What a good sport he is. I hope we hear more from him in the future.
Oh, I'm sure we will, but the man is extremely busy so it could be a while. After all he's starring in a new TV series, 7th Heaven, which will air Mondays at 8 ET on the WB Network. Plus he's finishing up his second novel. His first, "Eye Contact", is available in paperback in the fiction section of your local bookstore. Yes, I'm giving the guy free publicity. Hey, it's the least I can do. But if you have any questions for him, let me know and I'll pass them along.
I gotta see it: Keep up the good work. You can be justifiably proud of a high quality Web page.
Gee, thanks Bill. Speaking of high quality, how did you like the likeness of me that I posted to the board? Is it too much? Not enough? Just curious.
Bill Cosson BillPresto@gnn.com Hi Patricia. I'll try to come up with some succinct questions for Stephen Collins to run by you. I saw your picture and I said to myself, "Yep, that's Patty." Very flattering. I appreciate your swift response to all your email. You are inspiring.
I forgot to ask (and I'm probably showing my age here), what is a 'fanfic'?
Thanks for your flattering opinion of my likeness. I kinda like that picture myself. As to the definition of "fanfic", it's short for fan fiction, where you, the home viewer, write a story using the characters and situation from your favorite movie or TV show. I don't have time to write any fan fiction myself, but I'll gladly take it from others.
Craig Nystrom psdjuni@qnet.com While watching the episodes, 2 scenes jumped out at me as very dramatic and well played scenes. The first and I think
best scence is the scene in Cooked Goose when Jake is talking to Corky about the Goose blowing up. Corky is doing his "remeber the time when..." and was recounting when a bully was pushing around him and Jake. Jake at the same time kept saying "What was the rule?, You broke the rule, Corky!" By the time
Corky finished he was in tears. Very dramatic, you have to see it to appreciate it. The other scene was in Last Chance Louie when Louie was recounting to Jake the events leading up to the reason why Louie shoots and kills an apparent stranger. He swears Jake to secrecy and later in episode Jake breaks the
confidence. But that scene in the bar was pure character development.
Keep up the great work with the page, and I will try to contribute more often.
Yes, I liked both of the scenes you mentioned also. Very few action series can handle dramatic scenes, but Tales of the Gold Monkey had "actors", not just "TV stars" (There's a big difference.). Let's face it, action shows, especially ones from the early '80s, aren't exactly noted for the wide acting range of their casts. Gee, Mr. T was never nominated for an Best Dramatic Lead Actor Emmy for The A-Team. Hmmm...I wonder why. ;-)
Brian & Lesley MORLEYB@msn.com hi, just a note to say we visited. good luck with the rerun campaign ! the series was screened in england and we watched it before we had our kids (fond memories). the kids (triplets 2 boys and a girl) have got all the tale spin vid's. that must mean something?
Having all the Tale Spin tapes does mean something. It means that Tales of the Gold Monkey tapes are long overdue. Now if we can only convince MCA Home Video to sell them, then I'd feel that I had accomplished something worthwhile.
Steve Doherty sjd@sprynet.com Dear Patricia, Thank you for this WWW page, Tales of the Gold Monkey was and is a great show! It was responsable for motivating me into getting my Private Pilots Licence! My instructor who was originally from Finland was a big fan of the show too!
I learned to fly at Tew-Mac Airport in Tewksbury Massachusetts, its a small field but as a pilot friend of mine said, "If you can land at Tew-Mac you can land any place." I learned to fly in a "Grumman" AA-1B
Trainer, not a Goose but at least it was a Grumman.
It is 2:41 AM and I would like to explore your work but I have to work in the morning. The reason I tell you this is I want you to know that all day tomorrow I will be looking forward to getting home and
looking at your Gold Monkey site.
I am a Firefighter and unfortunatly I don't make enough money to have my own airplane but after looking at your web site tomorrow I am sure I will be motivated again, this time to work toward aircraft ownership!
See you at the Monkey Bar
Steve Doherty
P.S. I wonder how much a Goose Costs? Oh, I almost forgot, If you go to the "Air and Space Museum" in Washington, they have a Grumman Goose on display. Well they also have a video of a Goose in flight. Guess what, the video was part of the opening shots from Tales of the Gold Monkey!
The show may not be running in the U.S. but Jake and his Goose made it to the Air and Space Museum!
Well, it's great to hear that the show has now become part of our national heritage (as it should be, of course). If you want to read more about the Goose and how much it costs go to the home page of our absent, mystery-writing, bagpipe-playing friend, The Gneech. There's a link to the site on my main web page. There are also links to some other Goose sites, including Seattle Seaplanes, the current home of Cutter's Goose. I hope you enjoy my web site just as much the second time around
NIT-PICK OF THE WEEK (August 1)
In 'Once a Tiger...', Jake tries to make a trade with the tribal leader for the gunsights for the Flying Tigers. When Sarah mentions that they don't have anything to trade, Jake asks for her watch. With much reluctance, she gives it to him. Later on, you can notice that Jake is wearing a watch. Why didn't he offer his own? Clearly chivalry *is* dead!
Bill Cosson BillPresto@gnn.com I notice that not much is happening on your Part Three page. Are we all just stunned that Stephen Collins would log in and we just haven't gotten over it yet?
I am getting a bit frustrated that things have gotten considerably quieter since Mr. C stopped by. But I'm not sure if I can solely blame his presence for this lack of enthusiasm. It's probably a combination of shock over a TV star reading everything we've said about him and his show, summer vacations and the Olympics. We'll see if things pick up after closing ceremonies.
It's Q&A time! I sent what few questions I got from you folks on to our special celebrity correspondent, Stephen Collins, and here are his answers. At least *somebody* is sending stuff to post to the board!!
I'm sorry, but it seems that most of my web site visitors are starstruck and tongue-tied. Here are the questions I've received so far:
Leanne Richard - What is Caitlin up to at the moment?
[You might as well go through the entire cast since someone else will ask sooner or later.]
A few months ago, Caitlin was out in in the LA area looking for work. I haven't heard anything from her since then. We've stayed in touch, but are not CLOSE close. Jeff MacKay is also in LA, and doing a lot of writing these days (in addition to acting).
Lesley Pohl - My first question to him would be, did he get to keep the outfit he wore on the show, especially those cool pants?
[I don't write them. I just forward them.]
I kept one jacket and one hat as souvenirs, but not the pants.
Jayme Blaschke - I just thought of a question for Mr. C, but I promise it'll be the only one in this vein: Was Mr. C to play Commander Decker in the planned (but abandoned) Star Trek: Phase II series? I've always been curious about that.
[While we're on the subject, there were rumors last year that you would reprise the Decker role on an upcoming episode of "Voyager". Were you ever formally approached about doing a guest appearance?]
I was never formally approcahed about being in another Star Trek series (or movie) although I heard the rumors, too.
Me - Did you feel at the time that too much pressure was being placed on the show to be a huge success?
Yes, there was HUGE pressure on the show to be a success right away. When you're on the #1 network, as ABC was then, the pressure is always great (and creatively destructive to many shows).
Hope all is going well with the novel and the series. Do you know when "7th Heaven" will premiere? I'll make sure that everybody who visits the site tunes in. It's the least I can do.
"7th Heaven" premieres August 26th on the WB network.
Linda Sardaro LSard@aol.com Patricia, I am very pleasantly stunned. As a fan of TGM I was heart sick when it went off the air. I did manage to catch some of the reruns on USA, but did not have a working VCR at the time. Finding your web site is wonderful. I can't believe there are so many fans. I once believed that I was the one and only viewer of the series.
Hmm...that seems to be a common misconception on most people's part. Heck, I thought I was all alone until I started sifting through e-mail postings on the Net and realized that we all needed a place to go and have some fun. Viola! A web site!
I look forward to digging deeper into the site and reading the many notes that you receive on the Bulletin Boards. The notes from Stephen Collins were great. I look forward to more.
Be patient, Linda, he'll be back. He already has more questions to answer. Let me know if you have anything you'd like to ask him.
I would be very interested in any tapes or memorabilia. If you could let me know how much you need to send me copies of the tapes I would greatly appreciate it.
The current price is $3/tape, sometimes less. For that, you get 2 episodes on SP, 4 or 5 episodes on LP and 7 episodes on SLP. What a bargain!
I also will be writing to USA to request a return of the reruns. I hope that this helps.
Every little bit helps. Thanks. Remember, a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. Oops, sorry. I guess that belongs in a "Kung Fu" web site. :-)
Steve Doherty sjd@sprynet.com Hello Patricia, Since I last wrote you I have had a look at the rest of your TOTGM page and it is inspirational. I will be writing to everyone you suggest to try to get the reruns back on in the U.S.
I may be repeating someone else's information because I haven't read all the bulletin boards yet but if anyone is interested in a CD quality copy of "The Tales of the Gold Monkey" theme it is out on a cd
made by 'Primetime USA' #PTD 3002. The cd is called "The Television music of Mike Post & Pete Carpenter". It has sixteen tv themes on it with the Gold Monkey as number twelve. Obviously, they are not in order of importance. Thanks again for the page, I hope all the "Monkiacs" enjoy blasting the theme out of their stereos. I think I will go bless the wife now.
Yep, Steve, Tracy Yee already told us about that CD on Bulletin Board #1. The same company also has a CD entitled "Fantastic TV" (#PTD 3006). The Gold Monkey theme is the last song on that CD. Obviously, they saved the best for last. I was able to get the "Fantastic TV" CD from a company called Star Tech, but they were out of stock of "The Television Music of Mike Post & Pete Carpenter". Star Tech also sells all the original Tales of the Gold Monkey scripts, in case you're interested. I've posted their address to BB #1 and #2.
Give your wife my love. Oh, I guess you already thought of that. ;-)
And the stars just keep on coming!!
Jeff MacKay 'Corky' What a great surprise to find your web page! Steve Collins alerted me to it today and what fun to find a page dedicated to the show. You see, for me (as well as for Steve) it was a wonderful time. I couldn't have been luckier than to work with Steve and the gang.
I'm so pleased to know that the show is not entirely forgotten by all but my family! Thank you and everyone who has written in for all the kind words.
Thank you very much for your lovely note. I'll be posting it to the bulletin board, but, as I do with all my celebrity guests, I won't post your e-mail address. I am truly touched that so many people associated with the show have taken the time to send their kind words. I had no idea when I started this site back in March that all this would happen. Please feel free to stop back any time. I'm sure every one of the regular visitors would love to hear what you've been up to lately.
Greg Hopkins hopkins_g@jpmorgan.com Hi, I just read your web-site thingy, well impressive!. Tales of the gold monkey was my favourite program.
I hope they do show it again, I'll write them a letter one of these days.
Don't procrastinate too long on that letter writing or you'll forget all about it, even though the show is pretty unforgettable.
Bill Cosson BillPresto@gnn.com Jeff MacKay writes in? Wow! This is getting exciting.
Yeah, at this rate we'll have the entire cast and crew stop by before the end of the year. Being such a gratious hostess, I'm always willing to entertain large groups of interesting people.
Hey - my family and I were watching "High Stakes Lady" the other night (doesn't Corky look great in a tux, by the way) and it got to the end, where Sabrina pulls a derringer on Jake and Louie pulls a Walther PPK on Sabrina, so we rest easy that Jake isn't gonna get killed and the German spies get their just desserts.
Then my tape cuts to a commercial (actually a bunch of commercials - you know how the USA Network is) and when the show comes back on, Jake is treating Sarah to a gourmet meal as a means of apologizing
for having his eyes dazzled by the lovely but deadly German spy, Sabrina. So the show is over and I got to thinking - don't I remember Sabrina getting shot or falling over the rail or something and dying in Jake's arms, or am I confusing this with something else? Did I accidentally edit my tape, or is my memory a little
foggy? You're the expert, Patricia. Did Sabrina die and my tape doesn't have it, or is there a bit of unresolved business at the end of "High Stakes Lady?"
I'd say your mind is indulging in a bit of wishful thinking. Sabrina didn't die in 'High Stakes Lady'. Louie arrested her and, we assume, turned her over to the proper authorities. Your ending is a bit more dramatic though.
Jeff MacKay mackay@mail.westworld.com Patricia, thanks for the nice response. I will check in often to answer any questions anyone may have, and will also blow the dust off some old photos and scan them for you if you'd like. Seems to me I have a bunch of private photos of all of us somewhere. It's also ok to give my email address to everyone.
I'll have my people call your people. ;-)
Gee, Jeff, I don't have any people. I'm a one-woman enterprise. It cuts down on overhead, you know. To compensate for my lack of an entourage, I've been accepting help and goodies from people all over the world. So, of course, I would love to add your photos to my site. THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! And feel free to stop by anytime. The door is always open.
Leanne Richard volterra@znet.com Hi Patricia! I have a really good excuse for not writing earlier, honest! (what about 4 days in LA and then showing around two Scots FoLCs (Fans of Lois & Clark) around San Diego sound.
Couldn't you think up a better excuse than that? How about the dog ate my mouse pad? ;-)
So, Mr C. replied already! I guess he got that draft in and finished sooner, huh? And it's great to see Jeff McKay here too! (BTW, I think I'm going to have to think of something different than Mr C. (just to confuse him even further!) because that's what I called my 6th grade teacher (one of *the* best teachers I've ever had but not Stephen Collins! But if it turns out that our Mr C loathes purple as much as my Mr C does (with me?) then maybe I have a case for a double life here *grin*))
O.K., new contest - Nicknames of the Stars. You folks submit your nickname choices for our special guests and I'll choose the best ones. Of course, the decision of the judge is final. Remember what I said at the beginning of the first bulletin board, this is not a democracy, but a benevolent dictatorship.
And I'm sorry, but I can't cheer for the Sox. My fiance would kill me. I've been in the states for just over a month now and I'm a rabid Padres fan along with the rest of my fiance's family! And they're at the top of their League! (heh heh, just testing Pat's "I don't touch emails" rule!) Keep the faith!
That's right, Leanne, rub it in. BTW, Red Sox fans don't have faith; we have a kind of long-term pessimism punctuated by periods of euphoria, only to have our hopes dashed in the cruelest of ways. Rooting for the Red Sox is not for the weak of heart.
Once upon a time, I went to look up Bora Gora on a map. (Well, it was possible). Big surprise, it doesn't exist. However, there *is* a tiny island called Bora Bora floating in the Pacific. good enough for me! Just something for your trivial fact file, Pat!
Thanks for the geography lesson. Did your Mr. C teach you that? :-)
Shaun hhervey@ucsd.edu Patricia, I didn't think anybody remembered Tales of the Gold Monkey. Thanks for bringing back fond memories of wasted hours in front of the television. I'll have to go out and rent _Only Angels Have Wings_.
WASTED?!! You think of your time watching Tales of the Gold Monkey as wasted?! What's this world coming too?
Seeing Jeff Mackay's name reminded me of Baa Baa Black Sheep. I'm off to see if there's a Web site for it. Take care,
Shaun.
I think that there's a Baa Baa Black Sheep page under construction, but it wasn't finished when I checked a while back. But we have Jeff MacKay as our new guest to the site. Let's see the Black Sheep folks top that!
I'M BACK!!! Did you miss me? Did you even notice I was gone? It wasn't by choice. As many of you have heard, AOL was doing a little system maintenance yesterday morning when something went a little ca-ca. So I couldn't access my e-mail or update the web site. And what was even more frustrating was the fact that I knew that waiting for me was a wonderful file chock full of personal Gold Monkey photos from Jeff MacKay. Well, the good news is that AOL is back up and I was able to download his file.
Jeff MacKay mackay@mail.westworld.com Patricia, I'm sending you a self-extracting archive of 12 of my personal pics from the show... many are from the pilot, some I took myself. If there is a problem with the transmission, we'll have to figure something else out. I sure hope you use a Mac. Some are jpegs and some gifs. I tried to make them as small as I could. Hope you like them!
The bad news is that I have an IBM and can't decode the file. We are currently working on rectifying the situation as quickly as possible. Gee, I sound like those AOL folks yesterday. ;-) BTW, Jeff (Isn't great that I can address TV stars by their first names?) sent me commentary about the pictures. If the pics are half as good as his comments then you and I are in for a real treat!
Michael FitzPatrick mpfitzpa@fedex.com SJD gave me this URL.....good to see someone is keeping the legend alive!!!
How's 'bout are where are they now link?
I don't need a link. I know where they are. They here in my web site, at least Stephen Collins and Jeff MacKay are. Who knows who'll show up next! Both stars will answer questions and pop in to talk a bit about the show. Plus, Jeff sent me a file with 12 personal photos. And now I've been able to decode it!!! Just hit the PICS PAGE link below to check out the pics and his comments. You'll love 'em!!!
Bill Cosson BillPresto@gnn.com Patricia - I saw Jeff MacKay's photos on your page today - they are terrific! I especially liked Jeff and the monkeys. He's the one with the white suit on, right? Just kidding; he's a totally decent guy to send over his personal photos. Pry some more out of him, wouldya? Jeff has just vaulted himself into the Number One position of my Swell Fellas List. Corky for President, n'cest pas?
Gee, Bill, I just wouldn't feel right asking Jeff for more pictures after all of the trouble he went to sending me this batch. I don't want to appear greedy. But, I have no problem with *you* appearing greedy. You could ask him yourself, very politely of course.
Jayme Blaschke tdt@vvm.com Mondo spiffy keen! Mr. McKay as well! Apart from Gold Monkey and the (waaay afore mentioned) Project Blue Book, Black Sheep Squadron was one of my favorites. I remember fondly when 20-Vision in Houston started running it again (along with Hawaii Five-0) about ten years back (doesn't seem like so long). Isn't it cool how all our old favorites--those actors we're so familliar with, like McKay, Collins and even John Larroquette just interlace these great old shows?
Oh, yeah, I noticed you were down. You were missed. BTW, the asinine PTB here have decided the internet is better off sitting here unused than handling personal correspondence, so from now on, there's no guarantee anything you E me will get through to me. They've gone trash happy, the scoundrels.
Rant, Jayme, rant!! Well, I guess we can correspond via the bulletin board. You e-mail me, I'll post a response to you on the board. Of course, this does have it's drawbacks, like anyone in the world with a modem can eavesdrop. Hey, you can't have everything.
Jeff MacKay mackay@mail.westworld.com I'll send you more pictures next week if you like. I'll be out of town until probably Tuesday, but will check in then and scrounge up some more.
The pics page is indeed filling out! I think you did a swell job of putting the pictures I sent you into your page. This is fun for me as the time spent shooting this series was truly a different and wonderful experience.
Until next week.............
El Corko
Thanks for the additional pictures offer and the compliment. Of course I'd love more pictures. I never say no to free stuff. But there's no need to rush. I have plenty of things in my site to keep the visitors occupied for a while. Besides, most of my generation can only pay attention for short periods of time, due to all that TV viewing we did during our formative years. :-)
Leanne Richard volterra@znet.com Hi Pat, Just thought you'd like to know that I've gone and bought and read Mr C's "Eye Contact" and what can I say but (completely unbiased here) "Wow". There were a couple of predictable moments, the "saving grace" was easy to spot from the very beginning, it was just a matter of waiting until someone with all the pieces who wasn't hysterical from umm, grief/guilt/shame to put it together. That said, I was hooked from Chapter Two onwards. I very reluctantly put it down to a) help my fiance with the bills and b) go to a party, but when I got back, the nose got back into the book and I read it until there was no more to read. I'm now *really* looking forward to seeing another novel from Mr.C's pen, so y'all stop pestering him with questions, y'hear?
Questions?! What questions? Not only is nobody asking him any questions (except for me in my official capacity as Keeper of the Gold Monkey Flame), but nobody's even sending me e-mail (well, only a few exceptions). Everybody must be at the beach. And for you folks who haven't read "Eye Contact" yet, here's a friendly warning: Due to adult language and content, reader discretion is advised. If you were expecting a warm and fuzzy story, forget it!!!
Leanne Richard volterra@znet.com Hi, Just visited your page again ... and I gotta say -- wow! what great pics!!! So now I have a question for Jeff -- how did you scan them in so well??? What's the secret? (of course the answer is, Jeff uses a Mac -- onya Jeff!)
You know, with all the visitors to my site (And I know you're out there. The counter doesn't lie.) it seems strange that I hear more from the stars of the show than from you "regular" folks. Today, the only web site related e-mail that I've received is from Stephen Collins (actually TWO e-mails). This is not a judgement or an admonition. It's just a fact. Make of it what you will. And if you feel a twinge of guilt, so much the better.
To understand the first message, here's the note I sent to him.
Here's a copy of the survey I posted on the first bulletin board to get a thumbnail sketch of the "typical" Gold Monkey fan. You are invited to take it in a modified version.
1) How old were you when you first saw the show? [Not applicable. I was trying to get demographic information. From what I've received, it seems the average viewer was in his (or hers) early teens.
2) Why did you first watch the show? [Modified version - Why did you agree to star in the show?]
3) Which element of the show did you like the best (e.g. action, writing, acting, etc.)?
4) What was your favorite episode and why? [You may wish to answer this question carefully if you want to remain "very much married".]
5) Who was your favorite character and why? [Not applicable. But if you want to answer it, be my guest.]
EXTRA CREDIT: Why, after all these years, do you still care enough about the show to visit this web site and answer this survey?
Stephen Collins Things get slow in every form of show biz (and I guess a website is one such new form) at this time of year. People are out and around and travelling and getting in a last dose of summer.
Either that, or Jeff's and my presence have somehow stifled people. I hope not, and doubt it. Thanks for the stuff about "Eye Contact" and "7th Heaven," which is going very well, by the way.
I scanned Board #3. It's great.
Without consulting the list, I guess my favorite episodes are the first one with Gandy, and "Last Chance Louie," where I met Faye. I also liked the nun episode, with Annie Lockhart.
More questions?
Well, since you asked, Leanne Richard, who just loved "Eye Contact", wants to know what your next book is going to be about. As you noticed, everybody else is pretty tightlipped. So I'll ask a couple of questions. What was your most embarrassing moment while filming Gold Monkey? And don't try to tell me that you didn't have any and that things always went the way they were planned to. Also, how much of your own stuntwork did you do? That's it for now. So now I'll move on to your second note.
Stephen Collins EXTRA CREDIT: Why, after all these years, do you still care enough about the show to visit this web site and answer this survey?
A: We all fell in love with the world we created on Gold Monkey. The fact that we didn't get to end the show, i.e., we didn't know we'd be cancelled when shooting ended that year - left us all in a kind of fictional-emotional limbo. There was no sense of completion. The characters are just out there, and I miss them. I loved Jake. I loved playing him, pretending to be him. I could've done it happily for years.
By the way, I wrote an episode, but needless to say it was never done. It was about Jake finding Amelia Erhardt, a former girlfriend on an island after getting shot down and crash landing with Jack (who breaks his leg in the fall). Jack stumbles around and drinks from a pond and is instantly healed. He has stumbled (literally) into a fountain of youth. And Amelia, when Jake finds her, hasn't aged. She's happy and has no desire to be "found" or to leave her little Shangri-La. Jake has to accept this and leave her behind to her fate, promising never to tell the world where she is. It was a pretty cool story and I wish we'd lasted long enough to make it. I think it would be a great plot for a reunion movie, but I don't think the world (aside form this website's devotees) is clamoring for a GM movie. But wouldn't it be fun?
Yes, it certainly would be fun, but I agree that the odds of anyone willing to produce and telecast a reunion movie are very slim. However, there are the rumors about a fourth Indiana Jones film and even buzz about a Battlestar Galactica reunion, so anything's possible. Of course it would help if Gold Monkey were actually rerunning somewhere. Reruns first, reunions second. It's ironic, though, that your story revolves around Amelia Earhart. Last season's premiere of Star Trek: Voyager used a similar Earhart story. And that was the episode in which you were to make your rumored guest appearance as Decker. If you still have your story packed away somewhere, please dig it out. I'd love to post it to the site. Besides, Jeff MacKay (BTW, thanks for telling him about the site.) has already sent me a dozen photographs and has promised to try to send me some more. I hate to say this, but he's making you look bad. :-)
Let's Go Mets.
That's right, Stephen, just give the knife one more twist. I think I still have one or two vital organs that haven't been skewered in the past 10 years. ;-)
Well, it's nice to see that somebody out there has the courtesy to send a thank you note.
JPrice7212 JPrice7212@aol.com Patricia: Oh my God! You have no idea how shocked I was to see this. I had heard you could find everything on the web, but... This was my favorite show. I'm visitor #4889. My facts: I was around 10 years old. I loved Indiana Jones, I wanted to be him( the girl version). The show looked "cool"(I was 10). I have always been a WWII fan. I liked the atmosphere. Sarah annoyed me, but she was still my favorite because she was a spy; Something I've always wanted to be. My favorite episode was "Trunk from the Past". Is that the one with the volcano that Sarah was going to be thrown in? But "Trunk from the Past" was definitely my favorite. I loved the moody flashbacks and the whole mystery story line. I found your page by accident. I could not be happier. I've been here for at least an hour. I would be interested in the tapes if you still have any: my e-mail address: JPrice7212@aol.com ( I feel like such a freak, I too thought that no one loved the show like I did) My sister use to make such fun of me. I don't remember Sarah getting killed off though, more info please.Thank you very much, you've made me very happy.
Take a deep breath, JPrice7212, and slowly exhale. Now, first thanks for your note. Second, the episode where Sarah was to be thrown into the volcano was 'A Distant Shout of Thunder'. Third, yes I have tapes. They're not high quality, but their viewable. The going rate is $3/tape which covers the cost of the blank tape and shipping. You can get them in SP mode (2 episodes per tape), LP mode (4 or 5 episodes) or SLP mode (7 episodes). If you don't like paying for tapes, then we can arrange some sort of trade. And lastly, Sarah didn't get killed off. You're probably refering to my episode guide listing for 'The Late Sarah White'. Jake and the gang are told that Sarah has died from hepatitis while in the Philippines. But Jake doesn't believe she's dead, so he sets off to find her, which of course he does. I'm so happy that you're so happy.
Bill Cosson BillPresto@gnn.com It's great to see Stephen Collins and Jeff MacKay's input to your board, Patricia. Not to put too fine a point on it, but when Stephen Collins said one of his favorite episodes was the nun one with Annie Lockhart, I think he meant the Amish one with Annie Lockhart. The nun one had one of his old friends, Brigitte, whose dad taught Jake to fly, I think. I don't remember the actresses' name. Annie Lockhart was the daughter of June Lockhart, who we remember from Lassie and Lost in Space.
Anxiously awaiting hit #5000 to your site.
I guess since I've run out of Nit-Picks of the Week, we've taken to nit-picking each other's notes. Anne Lockhart played the Amish widow in 'The Lady and the Tiger'. Pamela Susan Shoop played the nun in 'Force of Habit'. I'm not sure which episode Stephen was refering to and in the grand scheme of things, does it really matter? I'm in a really generous mood today. Either that or I'm just too tired to quibble. BTW, Bill, since you're always in a nit-picking mood (not that that's a bad thing), did you catch the slight inconsistency in Mr. C's Amelia Earhart story? Not that it's very important to the plot, but think time/space continuum.
Here's a bit of a message that I received last week from Lesley Pohl. I've been forgetting to tell you folks about this.
Lesley Pohl pohl@wpo.sosc.osshe.edu I stopped for gas after work yesterday (this is another one of our kismet scenarios), and while waiting for the attendant (I'm not lazy, Oregon has no self-serve gas), got the feeling that someone or thing was watching me. When I turned to look in the direction the vibes were coming from, I found myself looking at a big advertisement in the station window for the 4th in the series of die cast metal coin bank airplanes. You guessed it, a 1940 Grumman Goose in bright red. I didn't hesitate for a second, I bought myself one despite the $29.95 price tag. It is exceptionally cool. The attendant wasn't sure how long the promo was going to run, so get yourself down to your nearest Texaco dealer and check it out. I have no regrets about shelling out the money for mine, as I said, it is fantastic.
But when I checked out here (Massachusetts and Rhode Island), they didn't have that promotion, so it may not be available in all areas.
Bill cylon3@ldd.net I never thought i would find a page on a show i like i was actually looking through old shows and the page fot TOTGM actually showed up in the airwolf page a great suprise.
I am a huge fan of the show and i am looking for a replica of the gold monkey statue shown at the beginning of the show, i am a proffesional prop maker and have often thought of making one but it would not be the same do you by chance know of anyone doing copies of the orgional one?
And on that note although i must admit the urge to converse with a fellow TOTGM fan i have not read the bulletin boards yet as they are still printing i will mark the page as a favorite and hope to hear from you soon.
I hope this is soon enough for you, Bill. No, I don't know if copies were ever made for sale. You can try contacting somebody at MCA/Universal about the fate of the props and designs. I have a picture of the idol on my pics page, but it's not very clear so I'm not sure that it would be of much help to you.
Troy New.Beginings.Production@MAVDMH.honeywell.com This message was sent using a custom form that is not installed on your server. Some information from the original message may not be displayed. To view the complete message, ask your network manager to install the form on your server.
Patricia, I have a confession to make....I'm a closet reader of your TOGM website.I have been visiting tour web site since#2097but never have let you know how cooooool this place is.I figured if Stephen Collins and Jeff McKay(I loved him as Mac on Magnum P.I.) could take the time to drop you a line so could I.It was so nice to talk to my brother and not have to say "do remember that show called TOGM" without us both being fustrated cause we couldn't remember all the details.Now it has all come back to me...haaaa!I'm the same age you are so imagine we both saw the pilot at the same time(little did I know then I'd be talking to you on this thing called the Internet,god I miss my ATARI..Not!)I liked Indiana Jones but loved TOGM because I got to watch it every week.My favorite episode is the one I get to watch in the future with out the it coming from the beta..OOPs, I mean vhs recorder!I can feel for you as a Sox fan since I myself have have lived with being a Cubs far longer than the surgeon general suggests :-) Troy
P.S. My e-mail adress is going to be long since I'm doing all this"hard" work while at work.Thanks
Thanks for finally coming out of the closet, Troy. There's nothing to be ashamed of here, unless you don't want your boss to know what you're up to. BTW, did I get your complete message? I always worry when I get those warning messages telling me to ask my network manager.
Bill Cosson BillPresto@gnn.com Let me go back and read his note again. I know he did misspell Amelia's name, but thought better not to mention it. I don't want to get a reputation as a crotchety old guy.
Aw, we wouldn't think that of you, Bill. But what I talking about was the fact that in Stephen's story, Jake finds Amelia Earhart and she hasn't aged. Amelia Earhart disappeared in 1937. Gold Monkey was set in 1938. How could he notice if she aged a year or not? Unless, of course, he meant that Amelia hadn't aged since she had been Jake's girlfriend, which brings me to another beef. Did Jake ever meet a woman that he DIDN'T get romatically involved with?! What a chick magnet!! But I digress. Anyway, as I mentioned before, the timing isn't really important. After all, Jake was a Flying Tiger four years *before* they were created. That's the magic of television. Heck, the three year Korean War lasted 11 years on M*A*S*H.
Tom Sisk msisk@nbnet.nb.ca Just a note to say I dropped by. Great page !! Keep adding.
Bill Cosson BillPresto@gnn.com Plus, Amelia Earhart was married at the time she disappeared, but I don't remember when she got married. Some research would be in line to find out how far back her marriage went, in order to slip Jake in there somewhere.
Marcelo Mercio Dandrea - Brazilian Biggest TaleSpin Fan koki@opensite.com.br
Leanne Richard volterra@znet.com To spare you from having no new posts on Bulletin Board #3 ....
Jayme Blaschke tdt@vvm.com Geez, I used to watch Salvage 1 (Seems like there isn't anything I didn't watch), after all, who could resist Andy Griffith in space? I've got a space-time continuum crossover for the Monkiacs--in one episode Andy takes his junkyard spaceship to a tropical island to collect spidermonkeys, and they find giant monkeys living there. Sounds to me they revisited the Gold Monkey island about, oh, six or seven years before Jake got there. Ha ha. Speaking of goofy shows, anyone remember Quark from the late 70s?
Bill cylon3@ldd.net I have several friends at universal from gaffers to firefighters they all came up with nothing on the idol but that's not to say it is not
there just well hidden amongst the endless boxes and storage units the studio has fom arizona to san francisco to florida a milion place it could be hiding they usually dispose of short lived shows properties in a timely fashion which led me to believe it was bought at an auction they had and someone probably has it on display in a private collection or holding a door open (GOD forbid) well we can hope it will turn up feel free to give out my e-mail address to everyone and if anyone needs any props from other shows i have several from battlestar galactica to star trek (orgionals that i have made copies of) and the ocassional orgional piece for sale.
Bill Cosson BillPresto@gnn.com Patricia - Congratulations on hit #5000 to your site. Kudos to you and your entire Production Staff at the Tales of the Gold Monkey Web Page.
Jamie Auckerman jauckerm@asij.ac.jp Hi, my name's Jamie Auckerman. Recently I've been getting this strange mail that I have no idea what is about.
I happened to find your page, the Gold Monkey #2, and I found my name and address on it. I didn't write this message that is beside my name and address, and I would appreciate it if you would remove that portion from your page. Thank you for your time.
Stephen Collins I wish I had more time now, but with 7th Heaven at full tilt, my life and time aren't my own. I need the few hours left for time with my family, and rest. But I'll check in from time to time because it's hard to resist. You have a great way with humor on the GM page (and off).
And now it's time to hear from our other star, Jeff MacKay. I've named Lesley Pohl our "official Corky correspondant" so these are her questions. Remember your questions are always welcome (and I know I'm opening myself up for some doozies from you guys).
LP 1. Corky appeared to play the piano, do you play or was it clever camera work and a good fake on your part?
LP 2. The standard question, what was your favorite episode and why?
LP 3. How often, if at all, did you actually get to fly in the Goose?
LP 4. Are you as enamored of the Grumman Goose as many of the TOTGM fans are?
LP 5. According to Steve Collins, you're doing a lot of writing these days. Could you please provide some details?
LP 6. Have you had a chance to read the three Bulletin Boards on the TOTGM web site?
And on that note, we'll end this board. But head on over to Bulletin Board #4 for a very special announcement.
This WWW page is owned and operated by Patricia Annino gmonkey@goldmonkey.com
Male, forty-ish, loved the show because it was pure escapism. Made an impression.......named my daughter after Caitlin. Truthfully, my wife wouldn't go for that but we called the baby Kathleen.
Are the episodes available on tape? With the strides in Real Audio and VDO, screw the networks!! Some internaut will be video broadcasting very soon. Sounds like a good reason for a faster Modem, too!
Thanks a lot for your note, Tom. Regarding tapes, the show isn't "officially" available on video. Try writing to MCA/Universal Home Video and ask them to issue the show on tape. I have the address on the main web page. Of course, I have "unofficial" tapes, if you're interested.
Thanks to the information superhighway, I've learned that Amelia Earhart married publisher George Putnam in 1931. (Fun Fact: The publishing company bearing his name published the Tales of the Gold Monkey Storybook in 1983.) Also, I discovered that Earhart was born in 1897. So not only would have Jake dated her prior to 1931 (I hope, but you never know with the Chick Magnet.), but she would have been nearly a decade older than Jake. But that's the beauty of fiction. You can take "artistic license" with the facts. Remember Bring 'Em Back Alive? You don't really think that Frank Buck used to fight Nazis, do you?
> And please, send me a note proving that you were here. I can't stand all
>these numbers with no names.
Ok, since you asked here I am :)
I found your page looking for Talespin info on Altavista. On the last search page, there you were :)
Here in Brazil, Im not sure they ever showed the series. Back in 82, I used to watch series like Salvage One, and Im sure I would remember it, since its the kind of series I like. It does look TS is just *sort* :) of based on it, so from now on I'll keep my eyes peeled for reruns.
The page is really neat, and I think its nice how you started it from scratch and all of a sudden people from the cast started to post on the board :) It seems you like TOTGM as much as I like TS :)
Take Care,
Marcelo
Thank you for your note. I'm not sure if Tales of the Gold Monkey ever ran in Brazil either. However, the USA Network recently started a satellite feed into Brazil, and they may run the series. I know as of a few months ago that they were running it on their Latin America feed coming from Mexico. It aired in the early morning hours after Miami Vice in case you want to stay up *really* late.
I'm glad you like the page. Yes, I do like TOTGM very much and I like Tale Spin too, even though (or maybe because) it's a pretty blatant TOTGM clone. :-)
Oh, I found something that could be of interest to picture scanners out there: http://www.hsdesign.com/scanning/
Thanks for the tip.
You wrote:
>Unless, of course, he meant that Amelia hadn't aged
>since she had been Jake's girlfriend, which brings me
>to another beef. Did Jake ever meet a woman that
>he DIDN'T get romatically involved with?! What a chick magnet!!
Well, umm ... doesn't that give us all hope? That Jake wasn't picky? And you know, if you're out on those islands long enough ...
(I'll stop there before someone thwaps me)
Consider yourself thwaped! Yes, Jake Cutter, Chick Magnet. He never met a woman he didn't love!
and later:
>So not only would have Jake dated her prior to 1931
>(I hope, but you never know with the Chick Magnet.), but she would
>have been nearly a decade older than Jake.
So how old would they have been in 1931 (says me too lazy to do any arithmetic)? Could make a nice interesting prequel to Mr C.'s unscreened episode. And umm ... as I'm marrying someone 15 years older ... what's wrong with dating someone so much older? Perhaps she was Jake's first and *that's* where he got his passion for flying ...
Hmm...I never thought of it that way, Leanne. Lose your virginity, gain the love of flight. ;-) There's nothing wrong with dating someone older, but if they had ever filmed that episode, you just know they would have cast a very young woman to play Amelia Earhart, who would have been 41 in 1938. I don't know how old Jake was supposed to be. I'd say in his early 30s.
And I'm going to stop *right* there ... before I get too guttery on you all!
I, of course, have no qualms about getting guttery.
I LOVED QUARK!!! I have always loved the slightly warped humor of Buck Henry, ever since Get Smart. Yes, I'm one of those weird people who actually read the credits to see who wrote this stuff. Comedy Central ran Quark a few years ago, but I haven't seen it since.
There are no Goose banks in Texacos around here. And this is their home state, too. Darn.
The swine!!!
That Voyager episode you mentioned was pure stupidity. I've been a Trek fan for years, but I've given up on Janeway & Co. If they bring in Decker, though, I might give them a second chance. ;)
BTW, Lucasfilm came to A&M last March. The new Indy film is in production, and as soon as they wrap it up, old George is cranking up to tackle the next Star Wars movies. As a bonus treat, this coming March,
the "Special Edition" Star Wars will be released to theaters, complete with computer-generated space battles, and the missing Han Solo/Jabba the Hutt confrontation. New versions of Empire and Jedi will follow every few months.
As far as BattleStar Galactica goes, Richard Hatch is trying to sell three movie scripts to FOX, so a few letters there wouldn't hurt. Also, Hatch just wrote a Galactica story for the ongoing comic book series. The
story was called "Apollo's Journey." Big surprise.
Thanks for all the movie and TV info. Personally, I'm really looking forward to the new Indy film and the re-releases of the Star Wars trilogy and of course the new films starting in 1998. But, even though I would consider myself a Trekker (I'm not really fanatic about it, but I've always enjoyed the series), I've never really watched Voyager. From everything I've heard, I'm not missing anything. As for Galactica, I liked the show when it originally aired, but then I was 11 at the time. Now that I'm older, I can't sit through it. Is the world really ready for a reunion film?
GO ASTROS!
O.K., everybody's trying my patience. If I've told you once, I've told you a thousand times (All right, I've only told you once), no rooting for any baseball teams except for the Boston Red Sox when you enter my site. You people are taking advantage of my generous nature. :-)
Thanks again and keep up the good work on theweb-page and although it looks well at hand if you need any help feel free to call upon me i can supply friends with photos of other shows props for their pages if i happen to have the item i am willing to share the wealth so to speak.
Thanks for the offer. I don't have to take you up on it right now, but I'll save it for future reference. And good luck in your Gold Monkey quest.
Thanks, Bill. I'd like to thank everybody who has contributed *anything* to the site. Without everyone's help, none of this would have been possible. And though I don't have a Production Staff, I do have "little helpers" like Lesley Pohl. We're cooking up something REALLY special for you folks, so check next week to see what we have up our sleeves.
Thank you very much for your note. I'm sorry that there's been this misunderstanding. I should have known that the coward who sent me that note would have used somebody else's e-mail address. But, it's a bit unnerving when you receive threatening messages like that and I had to protect myself. I'll remove the message immediately. Also, I'm forwarding the original message to you. Maybe you know the person who was CCed on the original.
I blush. Thanks. And I fully understand your time limitations. Stop in whenever you can. We're open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Besides, I'm running out of things to ask. I wasn't prepared for all this.
I doubt there'll be any BoSox-Mets rematches in the near future. Last night, in Mexico, the Mets managed to score 10 runs and lose.
I'm not holding my breath for a '86 World Series rematch either. I guess you should be grateful that the Mets can score 10 runs in a game, unlike the Red Sox. And personally, it was great to see Fernando Valenzuela not only back in form, but getting the win in his homeland. Also, Leanne Richard, our recent Aussie immigrant and Padres fan, is probably overjoyed with the outcome.
I honestly can't remember my "most embarassing moment" of GM, but maybe it'll come to me. I almost drowned during the shooting of the pilot. Actually, it almost happened twice: once while swim-fighting with John Hillerman under the waterfall. The water was too deep and there were no platforms underneath (stunt people usually put platforms under the water so the real depth is actually about 3 feet, and the actors can PRETEND to try to drown each other). This was VERY bad planning. John was not a terrifically sure swimmer, and in our supposedly fake fighting, he was really holding me down under the water, so as to keep his own head above - a natural thing to do. I managed to disengage myself under the water and swim away, very out of breath and scared. It was extremely neglectful not to have put platforms under the swirling water - as is always normally done.
The only shooting the GM actors ever did in Hawaii was for the pilot/premiere. All the rest was on the back lot at Universal, edited together with 2nd unit aerial footage shot in Hawaii so it looked like the Goose was flying in the Islands. During the escape from the angry monkeys at the end, I had to run into the water and get dragged by the Goose as it pulled away to take off (with Corky at the helm). We used 4 Gooses for shooting, and this was the real one, the one that actually flew. The real pilot (hidden from camera so it looked like Corky was in charge) didn't understand what he was supposed to do, and he revved up and the Goose dragged me a LONG way until he finally cut speed. I couldn't let go or I would've been sucked under the plane. It was terrifying. The whole crew stood on the shore waiting for us to come back. The Goose had turned away so they couldn't see me, and they were sure I'd been injured or drowned. These weren't embarrassing moments, but they were utterly terrifying (and utterly unforgivable in terms of set safety).
I had a great stuntman, Diamond Farnsworth, who went on to double Stallone in Rambo as well as countless other projects. He's the son of actor/stuntman Richard Farnsworth, and Diamond's one of the best. He taught me a lot so I could do as much as possible. I did everything they'd let me do, including a lot of the fighting stuff, but Diamond did anything REALLY dangerous. Actors have always bragged about doing their own stunt work, but the truth is that very, VERY few do the really dangerous stuff. It's sort of a code of understanding between stars and stuntmen that the stun people let the stars take more credit for stunts than is usually true. The public eats it up. Harrison Ford does more than many do (or at least used to), and people like Steven Siegal are pretty adept, but even they become too much of an insurance risk to a film if they get injured. It's silly for an actor to do a stunt unless the camera can actually see that it's really the actor. With proper editing, the illusion can be maintained, and usually is. I did a fair amount of stunts during Gold Monkey, including the two mentioned above, but if I had to do those two over again, I wouldn't - or I'd make damn sure there was better preparation and communication. But we had a big brawl in almost every episode, and I learned a lot about film fighting which has helped me in many movie fights since.
Thanks for the inside scoop. We're all glad you lived to tell the tales. I just thought of something you could talk about next time you stop in. Could you help flesh out Jake's background, particularly about his father. I've gotten hold of copies of the original scripts and there are quite a few, somewhat ambigous, references to his being illegitimate, most of which never aired in the episodes. How much did the writers tell you about Jake's history?
JM I really can't play the piano. During my dinner theater days, there was always one around so I'd go try to teach myself a bit, but I'm no Chopin, let's put it that way.
JM The one that stands out in my mind is the one in which Jake and Corky find themselves in a 'Devil's Island' kind of prison. It was run by the inmates who'd taken over and we were trapped. We worked shoulder high in the swamps, and I thought, 'what a glamorous business'. Corky was bitten by a snake and suddenly, in his delerium, his memory returned...it was fun for us to make our own little 'Papillon'. As I think back, there are many that come to mind though, such as SHANGHIED, the Queen Mary show, etc.
JM As I recall, we only taxied in the ocean off of Hawaii once during the pilot. It was as we were making our getaway as the island blew up. Other than that, the aerial shots were done by a second crew which we never saw (I think they were in Hawaii), and the one we 'flew' was in a manmade lagoon on the back lot of Universal. It was really just a 'shell' for shots where we are docking, embarking or working on it. It used a small inboard motor to move us slowly through the water and two electric motors running the props. As the mechanic, it was my baby so the end of the dock which was my 'office' and the Goose became my hangouts on the set. Oh yes, the other mock-up was on a sound stage. It was the one we used for the closer shots of flying sequences. It was on a platform that was loaded with springs and two by fours by which crew members would tilt the plane in whatever direction coincided with the maneuver we were doing in the script. There was a screen with moving shots of clouds, storms, clear blue... whatever we were
supposed to be flying through, that was projected from the rear. This served as our background. It got hot in the mock-up after a while; confined space, no air and powerful lights... but fun! We did much the
same thing in BLACK SHEEP SQUADRON.
JM I really came to love the character of the old bird: always came through, funky looks, patched together with string and glue... much like an old MG I drove in college.
JM Actually not so much... I have a writing partner with whom I've written a suspense movie and a half hour comedy (neither of which has been made as yet), and on my own have written treatments (synopses) for other series.
JM I have read most of them and find it to be a trip that people remember so much about a show we made thirteen years ago. I always thought we could've made that show for years. If it had been allowed to hit its stride without interference from 'too many chiefs' and given a consistent time slot, I really think we would have surmounted the problems. As a matter of fact, a friend of mine at one of the other networks at the time was in the programming department. He told me that the other networks were shocked when we were cancelled... they'd planned their schedules figuring that we'd be around for a long time as a good family show. Show business does not necessarily reward quality... what counts is money (ratings), and especially in those days, the way they determined the viewership of shows was to sample 1,100 homes
across the country! In LA alone there are more religions than that. But...so much for sour grapes. (If the show'd been a hit, I'd probably have been a disciple of the Nielsen system!)
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