The Immortal

hard to believe I woke up this AM thinking about Barry Sullivan in his role trying to capture 'The Immortal'. 37 years ago and the idea still reverberates. imagine, one person's blood able to smooth the wrinkles out of veteran actor Sullivan's face, make him young again, cure AIDS (more than a decade before we knew about AIDS), cancer, heart disease, and all else. handled differently, as one reviewer suggested in the Sci-Fi genre, this could have been a TV long run gem instead of a variation of 'The Fugitive' and chasing Dr. Richard Kimble. possibilities with the plot were untapped, thus the idea was wasted. perhaps it's time for a rebirth with more courage and bigger budget. the Sci-Fi channel might be the ticket. enjoyed remembering George and his rugged good looks. believe he was married to that beautiful Dove soap lady.

A guy (Christopher George as Ben Richards) has immunity to all things and even ages at a fourth the rate of the rest of us and it's his blood that's the key. He's offered "everything he could ever want" by a rich guy that wants him for regular blood transfusions. Problem is, immunity guy leads a dangerous life so rich guy demands of immunity guy to live a risk free lifestyle, soft and cushy protection hosted by rich guy. Immunity guy loves his dangerous lifestyle and prefers it to a protected one that would be torture to him so he refuses the offer. Rich guy doesn't take no for an answer and considers himself entitled, irregardless to any idea of individuals having self ownership.

So then comes the drama, rich guy hires an oily creep to capture immunity guy and bleeds him when he catches him, but immunity guy keeps getting away...DOH'.

While the chase from rich guy and company goes on, immunity guy comes upon various unfortunate individuals whom he saves by giving them a blood transfusion.

There's also an undercurrent (and actually most important) theme about individualism, freedom etc. There's something to the theme about the nonconformist personality who is always under attack to get back in the box. This show was a variation of that theme.

This may seem familiar or similar to those who know the Fugitive but I became pretty obsessed with this show when I was about 8 or 9 and recall being apoplectic when it was canceled! The story of a man who would live forever or 1000 years seemed so appealing to me as a young kid with my first portable Sony TV that parents gave me to lose my pester presence in front of living room TV nightly! Chris George was very good in this (my 8 year old mind was fairly discerning given I was kind of a oenophile even then). Think it was head an shoulders above many other dramas at that time which were mostly formulaic detective shows like Mannix. I never gravitated towards fantasy or Sci Fi other than this show and Twilight Zone but believe this was first show on at 10pm that I woke up tired for school because of. Sorry I don't remember more plots but if I can rematch it perhaps it will come flooding back.

Christopher George is excellent in this short lived man-on-the-run series. The stories are odes to friendship, loyalty, honesty, treachery, perseverance etc., the show is about life, the episodes are morality tales.

The Immortal is derivative of The Fugitive but don't be disappointed when you compare the two. The producers were not trying to equal the former show and The Immortal should not thus be judged too harshly for not measuring up. It is not The Fugitive 2.0 but it is a lot of fun and adventure, even when on occasion the writers could have done a better job.

Let us examine alleged plot holes.. Some ask why is he running, why doesn't he just go to the police for protection from the evil corporation ? Or, why doesn't he just agree to make regular donations of blood to Maitland (or Braddock) and remain free ? 1. We should assume that Maitland is kinda all-powerful, he controls the political machine in a large swath of the nation, as well as the media. This is why Ben Richards cannot just go to the police or FBI for protection, they are corrupt. 2. If Ben Richards agreed to make regular donations of blood to Maitland it is easy to see how this arrangement would quickly fall apart. For one thing there would eventually be a host of other 'Maitlands' lining up to have a piece of the immortality pie. And back in 1970 technology could not extend ones blood components like we can today. Every rich dude in the world - or just ordinary folks with big dreams- would, be wanting a piece pf Richards, this tug of war would probably result in the premature death of Richards through misadventure. This is why Maitland must be the sole controller of the blood source and Ben Richards must be captured and isolated.

I watched every episode and the pilot. Most of them knocked the ball right outa the park. Highly recommended.

It had a few actors i like in it. Always loved Christopher George but it really wasn't all that good. The rainbow butcher ep was not bad. Vic Morrow played the SOB cop in it. Made that nice. That was it.