| Gemini Man | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Action Adventure Drama |
| Written by | Steven E. de Souza Leslie Stevens Frank Telford H.G. Wells (book) |
| Directed by | Michael Caffey Alan Crosland Alan J. Levi |
| Starring | Ben Murphy William Sylvester Katherine Crawford |
| Opening theme | Lee Holdridge |
| Composer(s) | Lee Holdridge Mark Snow |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 11 (plus two hour pilot) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Harve Bennett |
| Producer(s) | Frank Telford |
| Editor(s) | Earle Herdan Gene Ranney Robert F. Shugrue |
| Cinematography | Enzo A. Martinelli Vincent A. Martinelli |
| Running time | Approx. 50 minutes |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | NBC |
| Picture format | Technicolor |
| Audio format | Monaural |
| Original run | September 23, 1976 – October 28, 1976 |
| Chronology | |
| Followed by | Riding with Death |
Gemini Man is an American action/adventure drama series that aired on NBC in 1976. This is the third of four weekly television series based on the H. G. Wells science fiction novel, The Invisible Man.
Contents |
The series stars Ben Murphy as secret agent Sam Casey, who was injured in a diving accident which rendered him invisible. The agency, called INTERSECT, found a way to control his invisibility by the use of a wrist watch, referred to as a "DNA stabilizer". Pressing a button on the watch would make him invisible, which was a helpful tool in his line of work. He could however, only do this for 15 minutes per day or else he would become permanently invisible.
A pilot of the series aired on May 10, 1976, and the series began airing on September 23 of that year. Although 11 episodes were produced, only five were aired in the United States before the cancellation of the show although the entire series was seen in Britain. Richard Dysart played Leonard Driscoll in the pilot, and William Sylvester played Driscoll during the series.
Two episodes, "Smithereens" and unaired "Buffalo Bill Rides Again", were re-edited into one ninety-minute television movie titled Riding With Death, which was released in 1981.
Riding with Death used scenes from Colossus: The Forbin Project as establishing shots for sweeping computer room scenes. The "Guardian" logo ("Guardian" was the Russian version of "Colossus") appears in at least one segment. Though not immediately verifiable, at least one segment uses the "Colossus" speaker/microphone.
The film clumsily dealt with the dropping of Katherine Crawford (Abby Lawrence) from the cast by the latter episode, the length of time between filming (William Sylvester had grown a thick bushy mustache in the intermittent time), and the appearance of an arch-villain in the second "half" who did not exist in the opening of the series (save for a clumsy overdub referring to the villain's elusiveness in the final minutes of the first segment). Both parts feature singer Jim Stafford as a trucker named Buffalo Bill who befriends and helps Sam.
In 1997, Riding With Death was featured in an episode of movie-mocking television show Mystery Science Theater 3000. Mike Nelson and his robot friends highlighted the rather thin connection between the two halves of the "movie," and the general incoherence of the plot.
The two hour pilot episode of the series, The Gemini Man, originally aired on May 10, 1976.