Official Edgar Rice Burroughs Tribute Site
Since 1996 ~ Over 15,000 Webpages and Webzines in Archive
Volume 7553
TARZAN TV SERIES ~ 1991-1994
Starring Wolf Larson as Tarzan and Lydie Denier as Jane
Reviews by Charles Mento
SEASON THREE
CONTENTS
68. TARZAN AND THE EVIL TWIN
69. THE DANGEROUS COMPETITION
70. TARZAN AND THE PIRATE’S REVENGE
68. TARZAN AND THE EVIL TWIN 
“Man looks like Dan but does not smell like Dan?”
“Tarzan does not want to fight.”At first, I thought it would be either Tarzan’s evil twin or maybe Jane’s but NO!
Dan’s journal: Tuesday the 8th: 1993 has June; 1994 has November and March; 1997 has April and July; 1998 has Sept and December.
Tarzan has to return a cub to her pride on the Camboda plains. Roger has taken “a million baby photos” of her because she’s so darn cute. He will not be back until tonight. Dan’s friend at the Photo Stop or Shop Library has turned Roger down five times already when offered pictures from Roger. Roger’s father hasn’t raised his salary in three years. The last time Roger said there was commission in it for Dan if he sells the photos, Dan ended up with two ostrich feather and a chipped bone.
William S. Taylor plays his evil twin Joseph. This displays his acting skills even further than other episodes and he goes a great job. Dan has not seen Joe “in years.”
Joe needs ten thousand dollars. Dan asks who it is this time: the gov’t or the loan sharks. Joseph pulls a large thick industrial plane wrench on him when Dan says he does not have the money and they have a physical fight at the airplane compound. Joe wins. He ties up Dan and using a mirror puts gray streaks in his facial hair and hair, which Dan has and Joe does not. While doing this, in the mirror he’s giving us the middle finger (I’m not even kidding, he really does as he holds his beard). One his traits is to wink. He winks at himself in the mirror and as he leaves in Dan’s jeep, he winks at Dan.
This jeep has the steering wheel on the right side. Was it always like that?
For some reason, without saying it Joe relays to Dan that he’s going to threaten Roger and Jane for the money? What kind of plan is that? Joe has been spying on them so knows that Tarzan is gone for the day.
Tarzan calls the cub Rawa. Is it me or is there something dark and round under Wolf’s left eye? He promises to get her home before the sun hits green mountain.
Roger tells Jane he has 50 cents to his name. He gets 100 bucks a week. Tarzan rescued the cub among five cubs and was one week old and would have been left to die by the others. Now, she is four weeks old and weights six pounds and three ounces. Jane has her two piece on again and the head band. They have tagged the cub and check on her progress bi weekly. Jane told Sr that not giving him money will teach him responsibility. What does he need money for anyway? He’s living in the jungle? Does he go into town for night life?
When Joe, posing as Dan, arrives, Cheetah is nervous around him AND Joe touches the wrong animals when Jane asks him to hand her a lizard. She also says Lizards do not bite? WHAT? They don’t? Maybe this lizard doesn’t? Jane thinks Cheetah is mad at Dan for not sharing his pineapple. Jane suggests he looks at her jeep’s distributor, he told her she might have to replace it.
Roger goes to the jeep and asks if Poppa M’ngee (?) nuked him at the poker game Monday night. Roger quizzes him on what is wrong and assumes, at first, it is a girl and he’s noticed that Dan was spending more time in Bandali lately. Joe tells him it is a bit of a family crisis. He asks Roger for ten thousand dollars and Roger tells him he doesn’t have that kind of money and asking his father is like asking Cheetah to part with a banana.
Cheetah goes to the air strip and starts to try to untie Dan while a huge, horrid tarantula starts to crawl up his leg! Despite being initially scared away, Cheetah gets it off Dan’s neck with a stick. Cheetah gets a knife to Dan and he cuts himself loose. It takes a long time so he sends Cheetah to find Tarzan to tell him it is an emergency.
What is the carrying case Tarzan is using made out of? It looks like fur or an animal! It can’t be!? Tarzan lets the cub into its pride.
When dumbo Joe searches a book shelf (expecting to find money?), and Roger calls him, it more than looks like Joe says the F word!
Jane and Roger inform Joe who they think is Dan, that “old money bags” Roger’s dad will lend him the money but it will take next week to get to him. Roger mentions the banks in Bandali. Roger suggests wiring it might help but Joe, frustrated pulls a gun and holds Roger in a grip. He calls Jane “sweet thing” and say she is Joseph Miller. He mumbles something about why he needs the money. A gem? He now wants 100 grand and refers to dad not seeing Roger’s “skinny little butt again.” It’s actually him saying there’s a very large gentleman who’s going to break him into a hundred little pieces unless he gets that money. His new plan is for Jane to give money bags a call and then to have brother Dan fly him into Bandali.
Dan arrives but Joe herds Roger into the jeep to go into the jungle and he will be back around 4. He wants to hear the wire is coming through or Roger is dead. He winks at Dan and then drives off with Roger.
Tarzan arrives. They are three hours out of Bandali and the police will never make it in time.
A log blocks the jeep so Joe takes Roger out on foot and tries to shoot some monkeys but Roger stops him. Joe tells Roger he lived 40 years of his life on the streets of NY so anything “his ape man can throw at him” he thinks he can handle it.
Dan got the jobs, the grades, the girls, he got everything. He explains how everyone always mistook him for Dan and when they realized it was not Dan, how their faces changed. Roger calls it a chip the size of the Empire State Building. Joe calls it a curse.
Tarzan, in a tree, talks to a bird (parrot?) to find out more as he tracks Joe who has Roger.
Roger explains about survival to Joe, “Man, I’ve seen animals a whole lot tougher than you, die out here. It’s not the strongest, the toughest, the fastest, it’s the smartest, the ones who make the most out of what they’ve got.” Roger tells him to crawl into a hole and DIE, “That’s what you want.” Roger tells him he is breaking the heart of the only person on this planet who still loves him: Dan.
They hear the Tarzan yell. Tarzan swings into them and kicks the gun away and Joe away. Tarzan tells Joe he does not want to fight. Joe cannot land a blow with a club that he uses to try to hit Tarzan. After a lengthy fight, Tarzan gets Joe into two holds and the final one floors him. “The fight is over.”
It is interesting seeing Taylor vs Larson.
Dan puts his brother into a plane. He gives Roger an advance from his friend at the library for Roger’s photos: 100 dollars. Jane thinks love of money can make one like Joe. Tarzan tells Dan that “family is more than blood.” Dan will take Joe for a week in Bandali together. Dan didn’t do anything to make Joe like this but didn’t stop him from becoming like this either. He hopes they can listen to each other this time.
Savor turned her back on the cub Rawl (or Raoul?) to save the other cubs but Rawl is fine now.
Tarzan says, “Each day brings new hope.”
Production 318.
Fairly predictable but fast paced and lively. Taylor is good as a villain and it’s nice to see him more involved and face off against Wolf. BUT as it is Tarzan’s show, of course, Tarzan will win. I’m also not sure how fast a cub can be acclimated back into the pride, IF ever but I’m far from knowing about such things. I’m almost afraid to research this as the male lions seem to be very brutal and cruel to cubs, even their own, at times.
There’s actually dialog before the Dan journal narration. Tarzan is feeding a cute baby elephant. He seems to call the elephant Bala.
Dan’s journal: Friday the 25: 1993 has June; 1994 has Feb, Nov, and March; 1997 has April and July; 1998 has Sept and Dec.
An intriguing start as Dan narrates, “Today we learned just how far Tarzan would go to protect the animals in his jungle.”
Tarzan detects trouble and tells Bala to stay there. He runs past a giraffe and some other animals, the others running, to find an elephant in a trap by a hunter and his helper. NOTE: Wolf’s hair seems to change from scene to scene in this sequence. First it looks thin and straight, then fluffy and almost rock star-ish and then longer and straight again as he loads an arrow into his bow.
Also note: it’s very annoying having the action having the credits over them. It’s distracting from the action, which is well filmed as ever and colorful. In the past, the post theme credits were over slower moving moments. Now, the entire scene of Tarzan running, swinging, firing his bow, and more as well as the elephant (is this Tantor?) chase the two men up a tree has the credits over them. Sigh.
Jane is in her fringe crop top and denim shorts at the compound, unbefitting a scientist, to be honest. She has a headband on. She calls for Rog. He is in his tent, on his bunk, reading a magazine with Sharon Stone on the cover. Their chat across lab and tent reveals it was Tantor and that the men were after an elephant hair bracelet.
World famous archer, Robin Conway is driven up by Dan, who drives fast here. Robin has heard about Tarzan for years and came to see him for himself. He’s come all the way from London. Robin asked Dan questions at the airport about Tarzan but never revealed that he wants to see how good Tarzan is with a bow and arrow, which Jane mentioned. He seems, so far, non nefarious.
In a “not so great way to meet Tarzan” way, Robin shoots a gathering of fruit from a tree Tarzan was aiming at. As Tarzan meets Robin and Jane introduces him, we see what could be a boom mike above her head, swaying. Tarzan asks if he is famous and Jane acknowledges that he is. Roger jokes, “The next thing you know we’ll see you on the cover of Rod And Arrow.” This makes Jane roll her eyes.
When Robin wants to challenge him for a one shot competition, Roger wants to sell tickets but Tarzan says, “Tarzan does not have time for fun. Tarzan is worried about the poachers.” Robin told Jane, already, that he was not here to hunt, that life is more important.
Later, at dinner, Roger and Jane wear different clothing. Dan, too. Tarzan tells Roger, “Tarzan does not care who is best. Tarzan cares about the animals.” Tarzan seems to be ready to eat dinner with them. Robin shows up with an idea that may interest Tarzan. He will donate 25 thousand dollars to the game preserve (or reserve) to stop poaching. With that money, Dan tells Tarzan the game commission can buy a high powered jeep and catch the poachers. They are eating fish. Tarzan does not seem happy about competing, nor about Robin reaching a fork on the fish he was about to eat. Dan calls it the game commission later on, when he is sure that Tarzan will win. Tarzan comes upon Dan defending Tarzan’s future win against Roger’s doubts that anything could happen. Roger tells Dan he was not being disloyal and Tarzan agrees. Dan says anything is likely like Robin can grow a curly tail but when Cheetah whines, Dan tells him it is okay, he is just kidding.
Dan scolds Roger putting pressure on Tarzan the night before a competition. Roger apologizes but Tarzan tells him not to worry, he will do his best.
Across a lake is a target that has a swinging fruit (a pear?) that the two have to hit. Roger tosses a coin and Robin wins to go first. I think he called heads. When Tarzan is about to take his shot, Robin taps his arrow on his leg. Roger tells them he read about this: an old archer’s trick to ruin the opponent’s concentration. Tarzan wins anyway, dead center. Roger tells him he knew all along Tarzan would win. Robin gets surprised, then mad and yells that he will not pay the money.
Later, Jane tells Tarzan she does not blame him for being angry. Tarzan tells her that he is not angry but she tells him that she is furious. He tells her, “Many men that come to the jungle do not keep their word.” She says those men were after something that could make them rich: gold, ore, jewels. Tarzan understands : it is pride and like a wounded animal, Conway does not act as he should.
Dan and Roger discuss Conway at dinner, which, judging from the food, looks like breakfast. Jane tells Robin off after bringing him dinner. He doesn’t get it. Roger is disappointed in Conway.
Dan tells Tarzan, Roger and Jane that this morning (a new day?) that two black rhinos disappeared from the Rift Valley: poachers again.
Before he is to leave with Dan, Robin apologizes. He gives them a check which, comically, Roger tries to grab before Robin changes his mind. Robin draws a new challenge: he will double the money if Tarzan will do another competition. If Tarzan loses, he must hand over his bow to Robin. Tarzan agrees.
Around a clearing, Roger and Dan have set up targets that will make themselves known. What? The first one that misses, loses.
The first is a drop target (how’d they set that up?) which they both hit at the same time. It looks like Robin’s is closer to center but I guess that does not count here.
A spotted leopard appears in a tree and Tarzan tells Robin, “That is Bengala, he is a friend.”
Another target flips from a tree and they shoot it at the same time.
A triangle target pops up from the ground and they shoot it at the same time. The same happens again.
Is Wolf having a wardrobe malfunction?
Tarzan wins on the last target but rather than celebrating, he merely tells Robin, “Tarzan keeps his bow.”
Robin tells them that they taught him a lesson in good sportsmanship. He gives them the checks for the animals.
Later, Dan in new shirt, comes to the compound. It is just in time for lunch. It is 12:15 on the clock. Dan overheard news: the games commission, with the two jeeps bought with Conway’s money, overtook a truck on the way to the animal collector. They freed the two black rhinos.
Cheetah comes in and fires an arrow from a bow and hits a melon while everyone ducks. This is supposed to be funny.
Production 319.
I was dreading watching this episode. Perhaps I’ve done too many of these. To be honest, this is a lame episode based on a premise that…Tarzan can’t stop poachers himself, which is the plot of many other movies and probably Ron Ely’s show at times, too.
So, while this is a fresh take on that, it’s really not: Tarzan seems incompetent as he stop ONE set of poachers (all two of them) but needs to rely on the game commission and money to help the animals. Given that non-action premise, I guess this makes some sense. What doesn’t make sense is the last completion. How did Dan and Roger set up those spring “trap targets” in the clearing?
What’s worse is that, instead of relying on Tarzan’s skills as a protector of animals, Jane, Roger, Dan, and Tarzan have to put up with the whining, prideful, sneaky, tricky, cheating and ignoble jerk Robin, who, of course is either going to turn out to be evil (that would not make sense because he’s already rich) to cover up his good name as best archer (all he seems to care about) or will learn a lesson from Tarzan (and this time the others as well). It’s the later, which is fine but it just feels wrong. Tarzan has to take part in a competition he doesn’t want to in order to…get money.
I’m almost over this show, though it still looks good. The plots are just sort of there. I’d rather watch 23 and change minutes of an episode about Tarzan fighting poachers than THIS.
70. TARZAN AND THE PIRATE’S REVENGE
“Tarzan has brought a visitor.”
“Hauser!? And what are you doing here?”
“I had no choice. Your ape friend doesn’t take no for an answer.”Dan’s journal is Saturday the 12th: 1993 (which at this point is shouldn’t even be) has June; 1994 has Feb, March, and November; 1997 (shouldn’t be this year either) has July; 1998 has Sept and Dec.
Roger spent the last couple of days nursing a sick monkey. Dan’s journal also tells us that monkeys are usually a lot of fun under normal circumstances. The journal starts giving away spoilers again as in the old days, telling us the sick monkey would lead Roger into the hands of a dangerous smuggler.
Roger is playing baseball…with himself as Cheetah watches. He uses his screwball. This leads me to the question of: what kind of life is this for Roger anyway? I get Tarzan, especially as he has Jane for prospects but unlike Jai in the Ron Ely TARZAN series, we NEVER see Roger with anyone local, with no friends and almost no prospects for friends or girlfriends and almost nothing to do but work. If you were Roger, would you stay in the “jungle” which btw this usually doesn’t look like. If Lydie’s interview can be taken at face value, it was rough in this wilderness though and it is a jungle…just not Africa.
Numa scares Roger, who is wearing a baseball cap. We see Roger go to a cage and get upset. For, possibly, the first time (?), we see Roger and Numa in the same shot at the same time. As Jane looks through a microscope with Tarzan behind her, there seems to be a lot of wind blowing through the compound. Tarzan has never seen a sickness like the one Jane notes is a new strain of virus. They have to keep a close watch on the monkey. Roger runs in and tells them the monkey escaped.
Before he runs out, Tarzan, for maybe the first time ever at Roger (or anyone who’s not a villain) gives Roger an accusing look. Tarzan sees a plane flying overhead as he climbs a tree to get the monkey back.
On a beach with a tent is Michael Hauser.
The plane he is waiting for is two hours late.
There is a purple haze over some of the jungle shots: stock and on location.
The plane drops a box for him and it lands on the water (ocean?).
Tarzan has the monkey which is a female.
Jane is talking to someone who looks like an official, a policeman and/or a health cop or health official who swats at mosquitoes and has a police cap on. He trusts Jane’s judgement (!). Would you?
He wants the monkey to come to him for quarantine if Jane does not find anything soon but what does that mean? Time for her to do what? She’s cultured the virus. They trust her judgement but what are they doing about the virus and what CAN they do?
You know I’m distracted when I notice Sean Roberge’s eyebrow raising makes him a great candidate to be a young Mr. Spock from STAR TREK.
Roger knows the monkey cage was locked. Somebody must have opened it. They both think Cheetah opened the cage. Roger tells Jane he was to blame: he was too interested in his pitching technique.
Jane tells Tarzan it is taking too long to examine the virus. The monkey was too weak to get too far.
Roger overhears part of the conversation between a buyer and Hauser.
Roger calls using a handle: SR427349er Guitar. I’m only guessing but the SR can be Sean Roberge. His birth date was 72 so that might be the numbers reversed?
Roger tells Jane and Tarzan about the radio call he overhead about the box at sea.
Tarzan catches Hauser on the beach with the box and after a brief chase on the beach in the water, Tarzan questions him. When Tarzan attempts to open the box, Hauser kicks him and tries to drown him. Tarzan beats him down and takes the box. The beach fight is a bit like the beach fight Ely once had with a villain, only not as exciting. Tarzan leaves Hauser on the beach, alive and face down. WHY?
Frankly, so far, this episode just is flat and unexciting, nowhere as good as the other Mike Hauser episodes nor as the good as the brother episodes before them.
The box contains morphine. Roger mentions Mother Theresa in that he doesn’t think Hauser was planning on taking it to her. Jane thinks he was planning on taking it to the streets. Actually there seemed to be THREE parties: the suppliers, Hauser, and a buyer or some kind of perhaps a distributer?
Jane is sure it was stolen from a hospital. Dan calls Bandali to tell them Tarzan is going after Hauser and to put a trace on the morphine.
There are nice shots of Tarzan swinging and then in a canoe trying to find the box that fell from the plane.
Tarzan combs the beach and it occurs to me that Wolf seems to be moving more like an ape in these scenes than in any others, almost Ron Ely-like. It also occurs to me that Wolf is much taller than this Hauser when Tarzan catches up to him. Hauser lies he just saw the box floating out there. We know he’s lying so there’s nothing really terribly exciting about any of this. He takes Hauser by force and Hauser asks, “Are you gonna kill me, like you did my brother?”
Tarzan roughens him up as he leads him by the back of his neck. This is the most rough we’ve seen Wolf’s Tarzan, arguably.
Dan arrives to take the monkey and Jane to Bandali but she thinks she should stay here in case some of the other animals get sick. Roger asks them to let him go. He admits to blowing letting the monkey get loose. Jane says she does trust Roger and lets him go.
Tarzan brings Hauser in, prompting Dan to call Bandali. Roger sarcastically says, “Yeah and my mother’s the queen of England.” This might be the only reference to Roger’s mother in the entire 75 episodes.
Okay, so as with the previous Hauser (the brother) this sets up a unique problem again. In air order, it seems that PIRATE’S REVENGE aired first, as the seventh episode and THEN, as the third to last episode of the season (and the series as season three is the last season, too), CURSE OF DEATH aired. Which would be fine but…
…it also appears from the data we have (and that’s not that trustworthy either!), that CURSE OF DEATH was made FIRST and then PIRATE’S REVENGE was made. Which makes NO sense as no one recognizes this Hauser as the villain he is and he is able to fake that he’s some kind of photographer or journalist looking for Tarzan. Here, EVERYONE recognizes him right away. SO…this episode HAD to come first thus, the entire production order might not be the way to go but the AIR ORDER might be! Gosh!
Even so, here, nothing is made of Hauser going to jail and spending his time there, which is reminiscent of the continuity issue with his brother OUT of jail after a specific prison sentence was given in the episode before the one he reappeared in.
Gosh 2!
I do know that few if any cared about continuity in the 60s to the late 1990s but now TV DOES care about such things and to tell a specific kind of story but this is just blatantly confusing and messy: did anyone care at all about the entire story that this show was telling? They probably thought no one would see the problem or more likely this show again so, no, it felt like no one cared about the larger story or the continuity. At all.
Confusing things even further, some shots for Dan in the opening credits seem to come from this episode, which gives some credence to the idea that MAYBE this was not produced late in the season and that the production order we know IS WRONG. Or the air order is or both!?
Dan finds out the morphine was stolen from the Mojembie hospital.
Where?
Dan says, “Hmm. Looks like my load to Bendali is getting bigger all the time.” He, Roger, the monkey, and the morphine leave for the airstrip and eventually Bendali.
Hauser comes out of his tent with some kind of automatic weapon, a gun of some kind. WHY didn’t he use this before?
Roger checked the gauge on the plane’s gas and it says full which means, to Dan, that it is nearly empty, “Don’t ask.” He will fill it. Looking for the gas hose, Dan runs face to face with Hauser who starts shooting at him. Dan runs for his life while Roger is already in the plane. JBH is the lettering on the plane. Hauser escapes in the plane with the morphine, the monkey and a hiding Roger who is under a blue tarp. Dan calls Jane.
There’s little gas in the plane and they are headed for the Green Mountain but Dan doubts they will get that far before they crash!
Hauser hears the monkey and finds Roger, who has sweat running down his nose.
Roger makes a play for the gun. Hauser gets it but in the plane shaking the monkey cage opens.
Note: no one does fear like Sean does.
Jane and Tarzan rush in the jeep to catch up to the plane. Tarzan is standing in the jeep as his usual way of traveling in the jeeps. He holds onto the roll bar.
Hauser calls someone with the handles Alpha Omega, Romeo Juliet?
When Hauser tries to shoot the monkey, Roger stops him physically but get thrown out onto the ground. The shooting alerts Jane to where the plane has come down (not quite a large crash). Hauser also appears to literally kick Roger’s ass.
The numbers on the plane are 264624. Hauser is seen running toward the plane’s back fin as he shoots at Tarzan, who spectacularly leaps from the jeep, and then…Hauser is seen running toward it again. Unless he backed up a bit and then retraced his steps, this is an editing mistake. WHY didn’t he shoot at the jeep or the running away Roger? The leap and tumble and roll over by Wolf (Is it Wolf?) is wonderful but…
…well, there’s a lot of action in this episode but it all really feels rather run of the mill.
Hauser throws a grenade at the tree Tarzan is hiding behind and then gives chase after Tarzan.
Jane hands Roger a rock and Roger, wonderfully, pitches the rock into Hauser’s head just after he threw another grenade at Tarzan and was tossing another. NOTE: WHAT is that rope like vine that’s on Roger’s foot?
Tarzan endangers himself by tossing the grenade Hauser dropped away from him…but it is hard to tell as Roger and Jane are rushing toward him, too, so was it to save them, too or just save them? And Hauser? He tried to kill the monkey so I wish…well, that Roger’s rock killed him! ?
Tarzan takes the gun and gives it to Jane, “Roger has good aim.”
Roger says it was a lucky shot, “I’m just glad you’re okay.” He DOES NOT BRAG he saved Tarzan, for once!
Tarzan gets the monkey back quickly. Jane covers Hauser but when she has to drive on the long drive to Bendali, Jane hands the gun back to Tarzan! Will he cover him the whole trip? Probably.
This makes me think we’ve never really seen Wolf’s Tarzan go all attack on some villain, though we’ve come close. It would have been nice to see. He never really gets to play a total savage killing machine, as it’s against this show. BUT Wolf seems to have that just brimming underneath sometimes.
Tarzan calls the monkey Nacoata?
It seems that Dan, Roger and Jane come to the treehouse. Jane has on her jungle top and headband and denim shorts. They tell Tarzan that Hauser will be going to jail for a long time and he’s been convicted. The same is true of the rest of his companions. Hauser ratted on all his buddies. Tarzan is glad he will not see Hauser again. They were all part of a very big drug ring that Tarzan busted up. Huh? It seems he just got Hauser. The monkey is better but will not go into the jungle.
Jane says, “At least we have an antidote for the virus now.”
Now…can viruses have antidotes?
First sometime definition of antidote: An antidote is a drug, chelating substance, or a chemical that counteracts (neutralizes) the effects of another drug or a poison.
And also from National Geographic site: Unlike bacterial infections, antibiotics are ineffective at treating viral infections. Viral infections are best prevented by vaccines, though antiviral drugs can treat some viral infections. Most antiviral drugs work by interfering with viral replication. Some of these drugs stop DNA synthesis, preventing the virus from replicating.
The monkey chases Roger and Jane thinks she (the monkey, not Jane) is in love with Roger. Tarzan says the monkey wants to spend time with Roger (note: Tarzan almost always says the name of the monkey rather than the species).
Roger says, “You gotta admit, she’s kinda cute.”
This says PRODUCTION 320 but I don’t believe it for a second unless the series was made VERY far in advance of air order.
What can I say nice about this episode? The music was pretty outstanding for this show, for this episode in particular and especially during the fight scenes on the beach. It sort of sounded like the theme music.
So the medical science here is wrong and there is plenty of action but…it still feels very mundane. Maybe I’m just over this show already and burned out on it. I still think the cast is brilliant and it’s difficult to see Sean, knowing that a few years after this he’s killed in a car accident (some places say he was just 23 and other places say he was 24). What a loss. He’s so very fun in everything he’s in, especially this entire show. Without him, the show would that much less dull. Wolf, too, is probably the best TARZAN and if he were in a more Ely-ish, adult show, I think he would have been completely superior to every Tarzan. Given these scripts, he’s pretty good but I wonder if the show were more edgy, how great he would have been.
And once more: this episode isn’t bad, but it could have been, should have been better.
I mean at one point mid way through Tarzan beats up Hauser, who HAD a major gun AND grenades and did not use them until later. The plane crash is thought to be a very bad thing but it just seems to slam hard on the flat ground after going over some high tree tops. No one ever really feels they are in danger here, though Sean seems to really take a fall and a beating and a kick from the actor playing Hauser.
On the plus side, finally, Roger, Dan, and Jane are depicted as being major advantages to Tarzan, his jungle and the animals rather than liabilities and even dangerous idiots who know nothing. Though, Dan’s plane’s gas gauge should have been fixed and that would have saved Roger a lot of stress and a “crash” landing.
Wait? Pirate? What pirate?
BACK TO THE TARZAN TV SERIES INTRO
https://www.erbzine.com/mag74/7453.html
BILL HILLMAN
Visit our thousands of other sites at:
BILL and SUE-ON HILLMAN ECLECTIC STUDIO
ERB Text, ERB Images and Tarzan® are ©Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc.- All Rights Reserved.
All Original Work ©1996-2023 by Bill Hillman and/or Contributing Authors/Owners
No part of this web site may be reproduced without permission from the respective owners.
