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ed rhodes Inner circle Rhode Island 2885 Posts |
I used to love these shows. (Apparently, I was the only one watching Blacke's Magic, as it didn't make a full season.)
One thing that stuck in my mind was that the writer's used the same story THREE times, with slightly different settings! The main mystery was that a magician puts himself into a coffin and is lowered into a pool. When they bring him out, hours later, he's dead. Of a gunshot. "Who Killed Merlin the Great?" - Amos Burke gets called into a magician's conference (60's writers ideas of what "wacky" magicians are like) when Merlin the Great is found dead in his coffin. "Breathing Room 1 & 2" - Alexander Blacke, semi-retired magician, attends a conference where his friend is found dead in his coffin. "Who Killed Alexander the Great" - A charity party, held in a rich man's manor, is ruined when Alexander the Great (John Astin) is found dead in his coffin. This one only has three magicians; John Astin character is shown in flashback to be a terrible person, Roddy McDowell plays an old school magician, while Mark Hammill plays the newer, edgier type of magician. I hadn't paid attention before, but I noticed in watching the two Burke's Law episodes, that while the murderer, and the method remain the same, the MOTIVE is different in each story. (In one, the murderer was about to be exposed by the magician for something done years ago, in the other, the magician had a drunk driving accident that took the lives of the murderer's daughter and son-in-law.) I can't however, remember what the motive was in the Blacke's Magic pilot.
"...and if you're too afraid of goin' astray, you won't go anywhere." - Granny Weatherwax
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Cliffg37 Inner circle Long Beach, CA 2491 Posts |
I watched Blacke's magic for a time. I don't know how many episodes were made, nor do I remember how many I watched. My problem was that early on, Hal Linden stopped playing a magician and started playing a standard adventurer. Unlike Bill Bixby a decade earlier, Hal had no interest in learning and practicing magic. Hal is a fine actor on several levels as perhaps he was miscast at his co-star Harry Morgan stole every scene he was in.
Magic is like Science,
Both are fun if you do it right! |
ed rhodes Inner circle Rhode Island 2885 Posts |
Too bad. I liked what I saw of the show. Maybe that's why I stopped watching it, without consciously making the connection.
"...and if you're too afraid of goin' astray, you won't go anywhere." - Granny Weatherwax
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Orville Smith New user 87 Posts |
Ed, there was also one episode of Matlock where a magician was slain. In that episode even Matlock himself is a fan of magic.
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ed rhodes Inner circle Rhode Island 2885 Posts |
There was a Perry Mason tele-movie (Burr did a few of these late in his career) where an assistant tumbled out of a prop coffin, dead.
The trick with these three is, they are all EXACTLY the same story. Group of magicians, one magician's signature trick is to be in a coffin at the bottom of a swimming pool, when he comes up, he's dead... shot! As I said, the two "Burke's Law" stories made it the same murderer each time, just changing the motives. I'd still like to see the "Blacke's Magic" story and see how they handled it.
"...and if you're too afraid of goin' astray, you won't go anywhere." - Granny Weatherwax
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Cliffg37 Inner circle Long Beach, CA 2491 Posts |
Television does that. It recycles stuff.
In the 70's it was common for the hero of a show, with no medical training to perform a tracheotomy. In the 70's it was common for the hero of a show, with no appropriate training to have to land a plane. (The Hulk did that once if you can believe it) In the 70's it was common for the hero to somehow get stuck hanging off the bottom of a helicopter. How many TV heroes have had a villain undergo surgery to look just like them to set up a frame? How many sit-coms have found a star and co-star handcuffed together with no key? (This one is so common, that Lucille Ball did it on two different shows!) I have seen the college student slept through an exam on at least three different shows. (In all fairness, that came very close to happening to me in real life once) I am sure there are more of these.
Magic is like Science,
Both are fun if you do it right! |
landmark Inner circle within a triangle 5194 Posts |
Quote:
How many sit-coms have found a star and co-star handcuffed together with no key?
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ed rhodes Inner circle Rhode Island 2885 Posts |
Quote:
On Apr 12, 2020, Cliffg37 wrote: Standard trope stuff. These three stories were done by the same people. They took their script from the sixties, re-arranged a few elements for "Blacke's Magic," then again for the remake of "Burke's Law." (I happen to love "Burke's Law," by the way.)
"...and if you're too afraid of goin' astray, you won't go anywhere." - Granny Weatherwax
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ed rhodes Inner circle Rhode Island 2885 Posts |
Quote:
On Apr 12, 2020, landmark wrote: "Adventurers In Wonderland" managed to get SEVEN people handcuffed together into a chain when the March Hare tried to do a magic show.
"...and if you're too afraid of goin' astray, you won't go anywhere." - Granny Weatherwax
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