The Green Hornet

I have been a Green Hornet fan since the TV series first appeared in 1966. I was very angry when ABC took it off the air after the first season without even having the decency to run reruns. I first had to do with reel-to-reel recordings to help me remember my favorite TV show, so when I finally found a source for the videotapes I was thrilled. These tapes like most pirated tapes made from the TV were not very clear and suffer horribly from the butchering TV stations do to fit in the extra commercials added to recycled TV shows. I am eagerly waiting for the day when Fox finally decides to put out official uncut epsiodes. For all that butchering, the Green Hornet series has held up very well considering that 33 years have passed since that first airing. While a lot of people like to compare the Green Hornet TV series to the Batman series, it is like comparing apples and oranges. The Batman series, although it was typical of the overblown psychedelica of the mid 60's, is considered by this long time Batman reader to be an insult to one of comicdom's most powerful characters, an error that was not rectified until the first Batman movie (Micheal Keaton?- who woulda' thought?). The Green Hornet series does not owe its style to psychedelica but is closer in feeling to the black and white detective stories of the forties and fifties, and especially to the original radio show of the 40's. Also the Green Hornet TV series was designed to be more serious in tone with James Bond in mind than that horrid Batman show. I believe that given the time restrictions of the half hour format the Green Hornet did quite well. After all, there was a lot of stuff to fit in that short time including the story set up, the story itself, and the conclusion- and adding the gadgets and Bruce Lee's Gung Fu. Especially considering that all 30 mins were not alloted to the story but time had to be allowed for commercials. The driving, jazzy theme by Al Hirt fitted the series beautifully. The Black Beauty still is the greatest, and coolest supercar to ever hit the streets. Van Williams, who played the Green Hornet, was the sexiest man on TV then- those eyes!!! And Bruce Lee was great in his first TV series. In other words see the Green Hornet, and enjoy for what it is. Don't expect Camp, or pychedelica, and don't expect to see Bruce Lee as the star of the show. Remember it is called THE GREEN HORNET. BTW re: the comment from the Irish chap- leather mask?, peaked cap? excuse me... the masks used were plastic formed to the shape of the actors' faces, and Kato's hat wasn't peaked, at least not the way I define it.

I was a huge fan of The Green Hornet TV series when it premiered in the fall of 1966.Several years ago I bought the complete set of tapes for the show & watched it with great interest having not seen it since it went off the air in '67.It has many wonderful qualities to it.A fine cast,intriguing hardware,and a serious approach.I am still impressed with The Black Beauty,loaded with an array of clever weapons, as it revolves out of its hiding place.The Hornet Gas Gun is a nifty,non-lethal device that originated with the character when he first came to radio.I always loved The Hornet Sting as it telescoped outward in order to use its sonic waves.And what an imaginative premise it was to have a crimefighting duo "appear" as mastermind criminals in order to infiltrate the bad guys orginizations,and thus break them up from within.Yes, the series does have its drawbacks.The 30-minute format does not allow much character development of the cast or guest stars,as well as the plot.Bruce Lee's superb martial arts skills are underutilized,and he was never happy that Kato was a servant.Some of the scripts are formulaic and the crooks of the week routine.Van Williams who played Britt Reid,a.k.a.the Green Hornet,said that the show was renewed for a second season.But there was a dispute between the ABC network & the producers of the show.One wanted to have the series return as an hour show,the other wanted it to remain in its half-hour format.As an hour series it could have corrected its flaws & become a cult classic.Come to think of it,it already is.

Like it's predecessor Batman, The Green Hornet was a campy and funny show. Van Williams did an excellent job as he played Britt Reid aka The Green Hornet. The best character was Kato, played by Bruce Lee. I've heard that during the filming, Bruce Lee was going too fast with his slick karate moves that the filmmakers had to play his fight scenes on slow. But that Mike Axford character in this show was such a wimp!

Instead of the silly villains of Batman, The Green Hornet and Kato fought organized crime. Even though it was more of a serious format, I've never failed to see any humor in this show. I've always watched this for laughs as well. Van Williams is the only surviving cast member of this show. Also you could see him play a small part in "Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story" as a Green Hornet producer. Another great film.

Unfortunately, this show only had 2 seasons. Batman and The Green Hornet have some things in common as TV shows, but not everything. They're both good shows. And like Batman, this was popular for a while too, until it faded away.

I just watched the Green Hornet for the first time since MeTv just ran a marathon of all episodes. It was great. I thought it would be as campy and cheesy as Batman (although I grew up on that and still like it), but it wasn't. Yeah, some of the effects were low grade, and the scenes of the Black Beauty driving around town were always the exact same clips, but I still liked it a lot. Bruce Lee is awesome, and Van Williams had to be one of the most handsome guys on TV at the time (or even now). I really can't understand why this show didn't make it. I know that Batman is much more popular, but as far as "cool" ratings go, this show has it beat. Cooler lead character, cooler sidekick (no comparison), cooler car, and cooler music. I got them all on DVR and will probably go through them again this weekend.

You often wonder why this show only was on for one season and how Batman outlived it. This has to be one of the best superhero shows to ever be shown on television and the thing that made it work was that it didn't rely on camp or the crazy quilt of villains that Batman did. Instead, it pretty much was, more or less, a straight crime drama with very little frills unlike other similarly themed shows that were on the air at the same time. Also, Van Williams and Bruce Lee showed that you can have good acting in a superhero show. Too bad that this show never really was given a chance to catch on. If given the time it deserved, it probably would have outlived Batman.