Oh, hey, I've got an idea for a show. No, no, wait, it's good. Bear with me.
A hard-bitten Hollywood stuntman is struggling to pay the bills so he starts moonlighting as a freelance bounty hunter, chasing bail jumpers for the courts. Transferable skills, you see? Of course, he will have a staggeringly beautiful and badass sidekick who'll sometimes wear a bikini for no narratively obvious reason. And maybe a male one, too, who's more of a loveable doofus with a pet chimpanzee. And there will be lots of explosions and car crashes and the occasional leap from a helicopter or train. Yes, lots of crashing through windows too. Hang on, there'll be an orangutan that's been accused of murder. Then our hero, fresh from being extravagantly blown up on a film set, will embark on a tense race against time to clear the ape's name before he's put to sleep.
No? I have another: Our stuntman-slash-bounty-hunter enlists said staggering beautiful sidekick to go undercover on a roller derby team to try and root out a criminal. There will be lots of wisecracks and explosions and a car chase.
OK, how about this: A local Santa Claus is arrested for freeing the reindeer. But Santa jumps bail to help a struggling orphanage. In a fateful twist, our hero finds out that Santa has been righteously hiding a cache of stolen treasury bonds from a gang of thugs. So he and Santa team up to return the bonds, catch the thugs, and save the orphanage.
And, hey, we'll call it The Fall Guy, geddit? It's genius because it's wordplay: a) it's about stuntmen who literally take falls for actors who wouldn't dare do them themselves, but b) he's also a bounty hunter who becomes "the fall guy" for the justice system, working off the books and taking all the risk catching escaped criminals.
Storylines of the original The Fall Guy television series were as wild as they were wonderful – a swashbuckling high-jinx of 1980s Americana about a hard-bitten stuntman with a side hustle catching crooks.
The TV show, starring Lee Majors, was a hit for ABC across its five seasons, running between 1981 and 1986. But now it’s largely forgotten, gathering dust on the “product-of-its-time” shelf with other beloved but benignly problematic shows of the era like The Dukes of Hazzard and Charlie’s Angels.
That is, until Universal Pictures got their hands on it and turned it into a major Hollywood movie starring Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt. But The Fall Guy movie, out this week, isn’t just a straight remake. Unlike its small-screen inspiration, it’s essentially a one-last-job movie. Only, in Gosling’s case, the job is a stunt. One more thing: while Gosling must still endure being blown up, shot at, crashed into, thrown through windows and dropped from buildings… this time, the stunt is real.
A quick synopsis: Ryan Gosling’s Colt is a faded stuntman clinging to what’s left of a glorious past. Unexpectedly drafted back onto a film set by his ex, the now high-powered director Jody Moreno (Emily Blunt), Colt is forced to confront their tangled past. Then the film's leading man, Tom Ryder (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), mysteriously vanishes, and Colt gets pulled into a dangerous web of secrets that could reignite his career – so long as he can survive.
No. Nothing like the TV show apart from the stuntman bit.
Still, the film had a barnstorming premiere at the SXSW festival, earning an average 89% from 34 critic reviews on Rotten Tomatoes. “With action, comedy, romance, and a pair of marvellously matched stars, The Fall Guy might be the rare mainstream movie with something to entertain everyone,” froths the review site’s critics consensus.
It looks set to be one of this summer’s box office hits. But what of the TV show upon which the movie is, as its makers say, “loosely based”?
It was based on a song
The first thing to know is that, while the TV show ended up with 112 episodes, its entire concept was founded on a 16-line song.
“This was the most unusual pitch that ever took place in television,” series creator Glen A. Larson told the documentary series Behind the Stunts in 2013.
It was a chance encounter with a former musician friend named Dave Somerville, formerly of the 50s group The Diamonds. But Somerville wasn't just catching up; he had a song in his pocket – a catchy tune titled "Unknown Stuntman" about the daring life of a stunt double.
The song began with the words:
Well, I’m not the kind to kiss and tell, but I’ve been seen with Farrah
I’m never seen with anything less than a nine, so fine
I’ve been on fire with Sally Field, gone fast with a girl named Bo
But somehow they just don’t end up as mine
It’s a death defying’ life I lead, I take my chances
Right there was Larson’s premise. Fired up by the music, they stormed into ABC Studios and Somerville strummed his guitar and Larson pitched. The meeting lasted five minutes. “At the end of the singing of the song they said, ‘go write the pilot’,” said Larson. “It was probably the most perfect and easy pitch I ever had in my life.”
The song became the theme tune for the show after Lee Majors himself – who has spoken of his unrealised crush on Sally Field at the time – recorded it himself.
“I’m Colt Seavers, just your friendly neighbourhood bounty hunter”
While the "Ballad of the Unknown Stuntman" song laid the foundation for the show's action sequences, Larson knew he needed more to truly hook viewers. For Lee Majors, fearful of being typecast for his previous role as The Million Dollar Man, it was an easy sell. But they needed more. “[It] needed jeopardy,” Majors told the documentary. “You can't just do a show on a stuntman.”
Enter the bounty hunter twist. Lee Majors' Colt Seavers wasn't just a daredevil on set – he was also a skilled tracker and bounty hunter. This dual life allowed the show to explore two wildly different worlds.
One episode might see Colt leaping from a burning building onto a runaway train, while the next could involve him infiltrating a high-society gala to capture a jewel thief.
And he'd compliment every caper with a wisecrack like “I’m Colt Seavers, just your friendly neighbourhood bounty hunter” or "Kid, stuntmen live by a rule of thumb: any stunt they can walk away from, they're a winner."
Stunts So Crazy, They Became Iconic
But The Fall Guy wasn't just about plot twists. The show's signature element was its outrageous stunts. With veteran stunt coordinator Rémy Julien at the helm, The Fall Guy pushed the boundaries of what was considered possible on television.
From outrageous car chases to mind-blowing explosions, the show revelled in practical effects and dared viewers to believe the unbelievable. Some of the most iconic stunts included Colt leaping through plate glass windows, escaping from speeding trains with inches to spare, and performing daring motorcycle jumps.
These stunts were so impressive and often perilous that they became a major talking point, turning Colt Seavers into a household name synonymous with death-defying derring do. Amazingly, according to Larson, no actual stuntmen ever got hurt in the making of the show.
It was a cameo-cradle for (but don’t remind) Jack Black
Lee Majors may have been long in the tooth when he played Colt, but The Fall Guy is where a number of stars-in-waiting cut theirs.
Joaquin Phoenix was a wide-eyed 10-year-old when he momentarily burst onto the screen as “kid” in the aforementioned 1984 episode about the naked fugitive and the frat house.
A 35-year-old Ron Perlman’s eyes were a little narrower by the time he played “thug” in a 1985 episode about a mobster who forces a shoe salesman to impersonate him with unfortunate consequences.
It was Forest Whitaker’s ninth time on screen as “friend” in 1985.
Then there was Jack Black, who, when asked what his first ever IMDB credit was, he forgot playing “Chuck” in the 1984 episode Old Heroes Never Die. "Lee Majors!", he says when reminded. "He was the Six Million Dollar Man, and that was my favourite show growing up and it was his new TV show. And when I went into the casting, it wasn't just the casting director, or the director... it was mother f******* Lee Majors. So I made the cut... He liked what he saw."
Other cameos on the show included Caitlin Jenner (as Bruce), La Toya Jackson, Tom Selleck, Dionne Warwick (poker player), James Coburn, Tony Curtis, Priscilla Presley and Heather Locklear.
Lee Majors has his own cameo in the film (but he'll make you wait)
Spoiler alert
Like all good things, Lee Majors comes to those who wait. And it is quite the wait for the old Colt to join the new Colt on the big screen - a full two hours and five minutes until after the credits roll to be precise.
In a not-so-subtle “Easter egg” moment that will serve to remind us that the credits are far from rolling on the 84-year-old's glorious screen career, Majors arrives with Heather Thomas in tow to deliver the final insult to Tom Ryder and Gail Meyer.
An ode to the humble stuntman
Yes, The Fall Guy was a product of its time. Certain aspects of its portrayal of gender, violence, and stereotypes may feel outdated by modern standards. But at its core is a heart-pounding casserole of explosive action, relatable content (friendship, loyalty, "doing the right thing" etc.), tongue-in-cheek humour, and above all, an ode to Hollywood's forgotten heroes.
Or as Colt puts it in the show's opening credits: "This is the story of one of America's great unsung heroes. I mean you've seen him, but you never knew who he was. You've cheered for him and cried for him and women have wanted to die for him. But did he ever get any credit, or the girl? No! He's what we call the stuntman."
