Legend (TV series)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Legend | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Format | science fiction Western |
| Created by | Michael Piller Bill Dial |
| Starring | Richard Dean Anderson John de Lancie |
| Country of origin |  United States |
| No. of episodes | 12 |
| Production | |
| Running time | 42 minutes per episode |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | UPN |
| Original run | April 18, 1995 – July 3, 1996 |
| External links | |
| IMDb profile | |
Legend was a science fiction Western television show that ran on UPN from April 18, 1995 until August 22, 1995, with one final re-airing of the pilot on July 3, 1996. It was Richard Dean Anderson's first major role after the successful MacGyver series, and also starred John de Lancie, best known for his role as "Q" in Star Trek: The Next Generation.
Contents |
[edit] Plot
Ernest Pratt, a gambling, womanizing, hard-drinking writer has created a dashing literary hero, Nicodemus Legend, the main character in a series of wildly imaginative dime novels set in the untamed West. Because Pratt wrote the novels in the first person and posed as Legend for their cover art, many readers believed that Pratt was Nicodemus Legend.
In the pilot episode, when Pratt learned that Nicodemus Legend has been impersonated and a warrant issued for his arrest, he travels to the scene of the incident to clear the name of his hero.
Pratt meets up with an impersonator and great admirer of his tales, the eccentric European scientist Janos Bartok--who had been Thomas Edison's research partner--and his assistant Huitzilopochtli Ramos, who'd taken every single course Harvard University had to offer. Bartok "borrowed" the Legend persona in order to help the townspeople of Sheridan, Colorado. They enlist the reluctant Pratt to their cause, and show him how their scientific expertise and outlandish inventions (frequently based on ideas from Pratt's books) can bolster the impression that Pratt really is Nicodemus Legend. Bartok says:
Your celebrity has the power to give our enemies pause. My science can increase that reputation. And together, we will create the real Legend.
Pratt reluctantly agreed to assume the persona of his literary creation and to live as the image he created of an adventurous man, Together, they adventured throughout the West solving mysteries, capturing wrong-doers, and making scientific discoveries.
[edit] Characters
[edit] Ernest Pratt (Richard Dean Anderson)
Ernest Pratt was born into a good, conservative Boston family in 1836 and attended Harvard College for a short time, where he fell under the spell of the Romantic poets and Gothic literature. Defying his banker father, Pratt decided to pursue the life of a writer and headed west to San Francisco where he became an apprentice reporter for the San Francisco Chronicle. A chance meeting with Mark Twain changed Pratt's life, and inspired the young man to set to work on his first successful book, Solitary Knight of the High Plains, which introduces the dashing hero, Nicodemus Legend. Pratt's gimmick of writing in the first person gives his readers the impression that Legend's exploits are real.
[edit] Nicodemus Legend (Richard Dean Anderson)
Nicodemus Legend is the fictional hero of fifteen popular novels by Ernest Pratt. Legend is a champion of the underdog, a crusader for justice and truth. His perfect manners, good looks and beautiful hand-beaded buckskin outfits make him a dashing and romantic figure. In reality, Legend is tough and quick-witted, with an impressive knowledge of science. He hates violence, preferring to use brains instead of a gun. Since Pratt's novels are written in the first person from Legend's point of view, many readers fail to realize that Legend is a fictitious character.
[edit] Janos Bartok (John de Lancie)
Janos Bartok was born in Hungary in 1840. He speaks five languages and is a prodigy in mathematics and electrical engineering. Bartok is fascinated with all aspects of life, from the discovery of new scientific advancements to spiritualism and extra-sensory perception and, especially, with the idea that man will one day fly. After winning a scholarship to the University of Budapest, Bartok came to New York to work at Western union, where he met the young Thomas Edison. A bitter competition developed between these two brilliant scientists. Eventually, Edison seeks to destroy Bartok's reputation by claiming that Bartok has stolen his ideas. Tiring of the scandal and the resulting media attention, Bartok leaves New York, and heads West where he begins experimenting with a "rain machine." His financial backing comes from a wealthy widow in Denver with scientific interests and, perhaps, other interests in Bartok. In his leisure time he reads the humorous novels of Mark Twain and a series of dime novels which chronicle the adventures of Nicodemus Legend. NOTE: Jonas Bartok is inspired by Serbian scientist Nikola Tesla.
[edit] Huitzilopochtli Ramos (Mark Adair Rios)
Huitzilopochtli Ramos, a Mexican, is a descendent of Aztec kings, and has inherited the great Aztec genius for mathematics. His first name - Huitzilopochtli - means "Hummingbird of the South," and was the name of the chief tribal God in the Aztec religion. Ramos' brilliance was recognized early in his life, and he eventually went to work for a Harvard archeologist on a dig in Mexico. The archeologist was so impressed by Ramos' intellect that he helped the young man get a scholarship to Harvard. Ramos is fiercely devoted to Bartok, whom he met when they were both working for Western Union.
[edit] Skeeter (Jarrad Paul)
Legend’s version of the Artful Dodger who seems to come from nowhere and live nowhere, but who’s always around and into things.
[edit] Harry Parver (Bob Balaban)
Harry Parver is the representative of Pratt's publisher. He is an Easterner who is fascinated by the West but quite out of place in it. Parver is a businessman surrounded by geniuses, dreamers and lunatics. It is his job to be concerned with deadlines, re-writes and promotional stunts to keep the Legend book at the top of the best-seller lists.
[edit] Episode List
| Ep# | Title | Broadcast Date | Written by | Directed by |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Birth of a Legend | April 18, 1995 | Michael Piller & Bill Dial | Charles Correll |
| 2 | Mr. Pratt goes to Sheridan | April 25, 1995 | Michael Piller & Bill Dial | William Gereghty |
| 3 | Legend on his President's Secret Service | May 2, 1995 | Bob Wilcox | Michael Vejar |
| 4 | Custer's Next to Last Stand | May 9, 1995 | Bill Dial | William Gereghty |
| 5 | The Life, Death, and Life of Wild Bill Hickok | May 16, 1995 | Peter Allan Fields | Michael Caffey |
| 6 | Knee-High Noon | May 23, 1995 | Steve Stolier & Frederick Rappaport | James L. Conway |
| 7 | The Gospel According to Legend | June 12, 1995 | John Considine | Michael Vejar |
| 8 | Bone of Contention | June 20, 1995 | George Geiger | Charles Correll |
| 9 | Revenge of the Herd | July 4, 1995 | Tim Burns | Bob Balaban |
| 10 | Fall of a Legend | July 18, 1995 | Bob Shane & Ron Friedman | Michael Vejar |
| 11 | Clueless in San Francisco | July 25, 1995 | Carol Caldwell & Marianne Clarkson | Charles Correll |
| 12 | Skeletons in the Closet | August 8, 1995 | David Rich | Steve Shaw |
[edit] Legend Novels
| Novel | Plot |
|---|---|
| Land Of The Orange Sky | Legend helps a school teacher lady in Colorado. |
| Legend and Cherokee Joe | Legend takes a bad fall. |
| Blood On The Texas Sands | Includes the quadrovelocipede |
| The Chase Through The Booby-Trapped Arroyos | Also includes the quadrovelocipede |
| Legend And The Ghost Of The Chiricahuas | A novel that would worry a gunfighter. |
| Legend And The Massacre At Mesquite Flat | Disarmed and disabled five Apaches in this book. |
| Double Shadows | Legend helps out the Payson twins, who were accused of a crime they didn't commit in Amarillo Texas. |
| The Mystery of the Feathercreek Murder | Legend uses forensic science to solve a murder. |
| When Legend Came Marching Home | Legend is a Yankee cavalry hero, who was with the Michigan fifth, coming home after the Civil War. |
| Blood On The Moonlit Prairie | With a night vision device. |
| Legend And The Guns Of Brothers | Legend versus the James gang. |
| Wheels Across Montana | Stage Robbers rob a coach by coming up from behind. |
| Dry Gulch | Crossing the desert |
| Borderline | Takes place in El Paso Del Norte and features the colorful Mexican street Camino Real |
| Legend's Lost Love | About Clementine, Legend's first love, whom the angels took from him. |
| Legend Meets Frontier Laddie | Legend teams up with a Collie dog. |
[edit] Production staff
- Created by: Michael Piller and Bill Dial
- Executive Producers: Bill Dial, Michael Piller
- Executive Producers: Richard Dean Anderson, Michael Greenburg
- Music by: Ken Harrison
[edit] Production
The series was a Gekko Film Corp production in association with Bill & Mike Productions for Paramount Television, broadcast on UPN.
Twelve episodes were aired, including the 2-hour pilot episode. Despite critical praise, this program aired during UPN's first year of existence and after a change in network management, along with lower than expected ratings, the show was canceled along with every other program aired on the UPN lineup, except for Star Trek: Voyager.
It was shot on location in Mescal and Tucson, Arizona from January to June, 1995.
