Coronet Blue

I see this on SuperChannel, which is a Japanese cable channel that's basically a graveyard for short-lived American TV shows. (Shaft, Serpico, Funny Face,...etc.) I got into it quickly.

This is obviously the inspiration for Matt Damon's 'Bourne' films.

The amnesia angle was played very well. Watching Frank Converse do what he felt he needed to do without knowing WHY was eerie.

You really felt for the guy. I'm surprised this show wasn't a hit and Converse wasn't a bigger star.

It was apparent that the cold war was the 'hidden' secret. But since the show never made it...we never really found out until Larry Cohen told us himself.

Only about a dozen episodes of Coronet Blue were made and it wasn't chosen for broadcast during the regular season. Someone had the idea to show it during the summer - and it was a ratings sensation. Everyone wondered what the mysterious words "coronet blue" really meant, and hope that the show would go into production again so we'd find out. But no more episodes were ever made, and no writer stepped forward to give viewers the answer to the mystery!

I have read various accounts of the premise of Coronet Blue and how the pilot episode opens. There are two details I vividly remember differently and was wondering if anyone else noted them as I did. Most interesting is the origin of the series title. Some websites state Frank Converse's character climbs out of the water himself and mumbles only two words: "Coronet Blue" - hence, the title. I watched the pilot episode the night it first aired on television. Specifically, he was pulled from the water by other people, and unconscious at that. The people go through his pockets looking for identification, but the only thing he has on him is a matchbook with a design of a blue coronet (crown) on the outside of it. Doesn't anyone else remember that detail?

This was, to me, my first exposure to the possibility of "good television." This show was SOOOO special because it was a 30-year precursor of the ALIAS/LOST/PRISON BREAK intricate continuing series.

In today's entertainment marketing environment, this show would have been through the roof in ratings and been short-listed right into production.

Back then, I think the network was stunned by the audience reaction. By the time they realized what it hit it had on its hands, it was too late to do anything about it. What a shame.

Bravo!!

Artie

This was a short lived amnesia spy show that I only occasionally seen..comparisons with the 2011 Liam Neeson flick "Unknown", and as the first reviewer also noted, "Bourne Identity'(forgot that series..). This becomes a real popular theme...but it doesn't get used more often.

This show was so odd that it wasn't rerun..or even given closure (no big surprise for many shows..)..or a video release.

8 out of 10 at least for something unique. Even if it seemed a bit weird. But now with the Matt Damon "Bourne series", and thanks to the first reviewer for refreshing the old cranium here, and Liam Neeson "Unknoqn", this gimmick in a popular state has gotten a favorable status with producers and, as box office shows, fans.