Adventures in Paradise

One of my first television memories - Born in 1956, my parents watched it faithfully, and I can still remember, as a young lad, being fascinated with faraway places such as shown on this show. The theme is still with me to this day. Perfect music. I wish I could now see the shows today, and see if they bring back more memories.

This series enjoyed enormous popularity here in Australia due to its South Pacific setting. In fact, several Australian actors cropped up in the cast during the life of the show.

"Adventures" became a favorite of mine in the 1970s when it was being re run in a late afternoon time slot. Of course, these days, we all know that the whole thing was filmed on a back lot at 20th Century Fox in smoggy old L.A but it looked convincing. Gardner McKay may not have been the most animated actor but he was ideal as the authoritative Captain Adam Troy, master of the romantic Edwardian schooner the 'Tiki' and it was always a pleasant hour of entertainment.

As others have already mentioned, the musical theme was so dreamy and evocative of the South seas. One of my most prized collectibles is a copy of the sheet music with a photo of Captain Troy on the cover standing at the wheel of the "Tiki" which, by the way, was moored in Sydney Harbour for several years as I understand.

My call to the producers and owners of the rights of the series: Why not transcript all the episodes in a beautiful DVD box set, before thousands of meters of film are waisted in some remote forgotten draw... Like many of the fans, many young viewers would be delighted to discover what their elders have watched with so much passion in their youth! They would then understand why some of their parents became either sailors, adventurers or travellers, and had their lives changed by watching Captain Troy and his schooner Tiki!

My husband & I both grew up on this series and remember it fondly, though for different reasons. He liked the adventure tales (sometimes involving a certain sense of danger), while I was besotted with Adam Troy, the handsome, likable young captain, oozing with boyish charm and wonderfully portrayed by actor Gardner McKay. I haven't seen the program for decades so have no adult take on it, but expect based on my memories, that I would find it entertaining escapist fare. I was very surprised to discover recently that this series was created by James Mitchener, the famous author of Hawaii and other books.

The series revolves around the seafaring adventures of an American Korean War vet named Adam Troy, who captains the schooner, Tiki III, around the South Seas. Accompanied by his first mate, he drifts from one adventure to another, carrying both cargo and passengers around exotic locales. During his tropical travels, he encounters many old friends, enemies, and lost loves. Others have commented that Troy is too young to have had such a rich past, but that certainly didn't bother me at the time. Realism was definitely not a requirement.

Apart from the charm of the captain, the series with its exotic paradise travels appealed to some sense of wanderlust in me. Admittedly, I haven't managed to do much tropical traveling, but if I did...the ports of call from Adventures in Paradise would rank high on my list, especially French Polynesia. To this very day, whenever I hear the names of some of these South Pacific islands (especially Tahiti and its capital, Papeete), I recall Adam Troy and his romantic schooner sailing adventures.

I was only eleven when the series debuted, but immediately developed a major crush on "Adam Troy". Yes the music was great. I know I would recognize it if I heard it but couldn't begin to tell you how it goes. Many balmy summer nights as I tried to get to sleep, I would fantasize about living in Tahiti on a white beach with turquoise water lapping at my feet, learning to surf, sailing a catamaran, sailing to exotic locales with "Adam" etc etc. You get the picture. Gardner McKay's life story was unique. Not your typical Hollywood ego maniac hunk. He seems to have been much more interested in the world than in having the world interested in him. Was very sorry to hear of his death in Nov 2001.