“Well, I’m not the kind to kiss and tell, but I’ve been seen with Farah, I’ve never been with anything less than a nine, so fine…”;

With the song “The Unknown Stuntman” the episodes of the classic series began The Fall Guy – in Brazil nostalgically known as hard in the fall. Classic of open TV reruns, especially on the Globo network during the 1980s and 1990s, hard in the fall premiered on November 4, 1981 in the US, airing on the ABC channel – but funded by 20th Century Fox Television. That is, the action-adventure series has just completed its fortieth anniversary of release in 2021.

Long slated to become a feature-length blockbuster on the big screen, the series never managed to get off the ground to actually become a movie; but now it’s closer than ever with names like the director David Leitch and the actor Ryan Gosling linked to a new version. Check out a tribute below. CinePOP recalling the beloved and nostalgic classic production, as well as information about the upcoming new version.

As said, hard in the fall (The Fall Guy) premiered in 1981. The show would be so successful that it would remain on the air for five seasons, until 1986. Starring, we had a true icon of North American TV. Lee Majors made his name in the annals of television drama and pop culture in the role of Colonel Steve Austin on the equally classic show The Six Million Dollar Man – another project that Hollywood is constantly trying to get off the ground in the form of a movie, to no avail. With this series, majors became a TV star, in the role of a military man who, after an accident, receives cybernetic components in his body, becoming half-machine, half-man. Fever in the 1970s as one of the most popular shows, the series ran from 1974 to 1978, and even spawned a spin-off (spin-off): The Bionic Woman (1976-1978).

majors he would return soon three years later, but already in the following decade to star in a new series of immense popularity, although at first he was reticent to star in a series about a stuntman who in his spare time works as a bounty hunter. What sold the idea once and for all to the star was the presence of the experienced producer Glen A. Larson, the creator of the concept. An industry veteran, Larson was behind such hits as Battlestar Galactica (the original from 1978), the supermachine (1982-1986) and magnum (1980-1988). In other words, it was an offer that Lee Majors couldn’t refuse. And he did very well, scoring another “goal” for the duo.

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In hard in the fall, Lee Majors is Colt Seavers, a movie stuntman, from Hollywood movies. hence the original title Fall Guy, something like “the guy who falls”, roughly summarizing the role of stunt doubles. The title in Portuguese can also be associated with the role of the protagonist and also with his second work. In addition to his day job on film sets, where he does the “dirty work” for the stars, Colt in his spare time makes a living as a bounty hunter, going after criminals that justice can’t catch on its own. His work “cheating” death behind the scenes makes him the right subject for dangerous and unbelievable feats. Another factor that helped majors with the paper was that his beginning of his career happened precisely in this medium. The actor knew many stuntmen and eventually started working as one. In hard in the fallLee Majors made a point of putting on as many stunts as possible on the scene, giving them all jobs.

The character Colt Seavers also had his sidekick Howie (Douglas Barr) – the brains of the operations – and the pretty blonde Jody Banks, a fellow stuntman who was an added attraction in his operations. Jody was played by the beautiful Heather Thomaswho after the series premiere, the following year would star in the comedy A Special Blend (Zapped!, 1982) – which would also mark his career.

The main trio: Colt (Lee Majors) in the center, sidekick Howie (Douglas Barr) and fellow stuntman Jody (Heather Thomas).

The theme song mentioned at the beginning of the article, which served as the opening for the program, was actually sung by the singer himself. Lee Majors. Also the idea of ​​the mega producer. Majors did not think he was fit for the task, but he decided to accept. The lyrics of the song even draw a strong parallel between the character Colt Seavers and himself. Lee Majors, as if both were one. An example of this is the part that says “I’ve been seen with Farah”, referring to the Farah Fawcettstar of the series The Panthers (1976-1980), who had been married to Majors. The actress even made a cameo in the pilot episode, in order to demonstrate to the public that the divorce between them happened in an amicable way, contrary to what the numerous tabloids at the time reported.

Movie stunt doubles are cool again and popular with audiences. Proof of this are films like the franchise John Wick, true paradise for professionals like these, films created entirely with choreography. Other than that, in his latest work Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019), Quentin Tarantino made the character of Brad Pitta stuntman, putting him to ruin the plans of the psychopaths of the Manson family and even get the fuck down on Bruce Lee. This is the most appropriate moment for the return of Colt Seavers and hard in the fall. And it looks like this is closer than ever to happening.

A muse of the 80s, Heather Thomas was at the height of her beauty in Falling Hard (1981-1986).

For years, as said, Hollywood has been trying to get this project out of the drawer. The first attempt came with producers taking the project to Dreamworks, where Martin Campbell (Royale Casino) would drive. After that, in 2013, Dwayne Johnson was the name that tried to film a version to be directed by McG (Terminator: Salvation), which would have the screenwriters of X-Men: First Class (2011). But equally, nothing done.

Now, it seems, the project has found a home at Universal Pictures. The studio reportedly won in a bidding dispute the rights to an adaptation, beating Hollywood giants like MGM, Lionsgate and Sony. According to sources, the figures reached the sum of US$125 million for the project. No streaming platform entered the dispute, as one of the requirements was for a big screen release for this production. In this context, Universal would have already glued two names to the upcoming film: Ryan Gosling and David Leitch. Interestingly, both have experience in the stunt universe.

It happened a lot. Because it was a series about stuntmen, cars were constantly flying and being destroyed.

The director David Leitch emerged precisely from this segment, working for years in Hollywood as a stuntman and stunt coordinator in films such as Matrix (1999) and the franchise bourne. Leitch made a rather satisfactory transition to the directing chair, having directed films such as John Wick – Back in the Game (2014), atomic (2017), deadpool 2 (2018) and Hobbs & Shaw (2019). That is, it is an expert in action and blockbusters. Ryan Goslingquoted to star hard in the fallalso performed a previous work where he played a stunt double: the cult drive (2011). The duo’s union for the film version of the series already arouses great interest, and not just from the nostalgic. On the other hand, the series, despite being in the action and adventure genres, also used a lot of the “ham” humor typically notorious in the 1980s. , described as an action drama about stuntmen.

Ryan Gosling is bound to star in a film adaptation of the Tough Ass series.

the star Lee Majors remains active, working at the height of his glorious 82 years. The actor was recently seen in the cult series Ash vs. evil deadwhich continued on the screens the saga of the films evil deadin Sam Raimiwhere he played Brock, the father of the protagonist of Bruce Campbellin the second and third seasons – in 2016 and 2018.

hard in the fallalthough a little less known, is part of the pantheon of “macho” adventure shows that permeated the 80s and serves as a companion to timeless classics such as Squadron class, Miami Vice, MacGyver, law Angels and the aforementioned the supermachine and magnum.

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