Hong Kong (TV series)

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Hong Kong
Rod Taylor Lloyd Bochner Hong Kong 1961.JPG
Rod Taylor as Glenn Evans and Lloyd Bochner as Inspector Neil Campbell.
Genre Adventure/Drama
Created by Robert Buckner
Starring Rod Taylor
Lloyd Bochner
Theme music composer Lionel Newman
Country of origin USA
Original language(s) English
No. of seasons 1
No. of episodes 27 (26 + pilot)
Production
Producer(s) Herbert Hirschman
Fletcher Markle
Art Wallace
Running time 60 mins.
Release
Original network ABC
Picture format Black-and-white
Audio format Monaural
Original release September 28, 1960 –
March 29, 1961
External links
[{{#property:P856}} Website]

Hong Kong is a 26-episode adventure/drama series (plus an initial pilot episode) which aired on ABC television during the 1960–1961 season and helped to catapult Australian actor Rod Taylor into a major film star, primarily in the 1960s, beginning with his role in Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds. The series was a production of 20th Century Fox Television, and the final credit of each episode stated: "Filmed by Twentieth Century Fox Television Inc. at its Hollywood studios and in the Crown Colony of Hong Kong".

Synopsis

Hong Kong was set in the then British Crown Colony of Hong Kong. Taylor portrayed Glenn Evans, an American journalist who worked in the exotic Far Eastern city. His search for stories led him into encounters with smugglers, murderers, drug peddlers, and mysterious women who would disappear behind beaded curtains. Taylor’s principal costars were Lloyd Bochner, who portrayed Chief Inspector Neil Campbell, and Jack Kruschen as Tully the bartender.

In the television series, Evans' residential address is often given as the fictitious 24 Peak Rd. As shown in various episodes, the interior of Evans' bachelor apartment (actually a Hollywood set constructed on a sound stage at 20th Century Fox Studios) includes a large, sliding-glass door which opens to a small patio with a sweeping vista that overlooks the harbor and distant peaks. Today's view of the harbor from Peak Road is very different from the Crown Colony days of 1960-61. Today it is a cityscape of high-rise dwellings and skyscrapers crowding out what had been a magnificent natural scene.

Hong Kong was loosely based on the film Soldier of Fortune, which had Michael Rennie in a police inspector role similar to Lloyd Bochner's. Kruschen appeared in the film as well, in a role different from the one he played in the series. The series premiered on Wednesday, September 28, 1960, and ceased new episodes on March 29, 1961; repeats continued until September 27. Hong Kong ran opposite NBC’s Wagon Train, when midway in the season Ward Bond died in Dallas, and his trail boss character, Seth Adams, was succeeded without explanation by John McIntire as Chris Hale. CBS at the hour offered the short-lived The Aquanauts, renamed at mid-season as Malibu Run.[1]

Reception

The show struggled in the ratings against Wagon Train and was cancelled after one season. However it proved popular in syndication and was the third most popular drama series on TV in Australia in 1961.[2] No doubt the Hong Kong setting of the television series tapped into growing interest in the exotic "Orient" which also helped make the 1960 movie "The World of Suzie Wong" a hit. The film was released theatrically two months after the television series appeared.

Cast

  • Rod Taylor....Glenn Evans
  • Lloyd Bochner....Neil Campbell
  • Harold Fong....Ahting
  • Gerald Jann....Ling
  • Jack Kruschen....Tully
  • Mai Tai Sing....Ching Mei

Notable guest stars

Main crew

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Writers

Directors

Episode list

Episode # Production Code Episode Title Airdate
0
-
 "Blind Justice" (Pilot) September 19, 1960
1 4103 "Clear For Action" September 28, 1960
2 4102 "Murder Royal" October 5, 1960
3 4106 "Pearl Flower" October 12, 1960
4 4104 "Freebooter" October 19, 1960
5 4107 "The Jade Empress" October 26, 1960
6 4105 "The Jumping Dragon" November 2, 1960
7 4101 "Blind Bargain" November 9, 1960
8 4109 "Colonel Cat" November 16, 1960
9 4108 "The Turncoat" November 23, 1960
10 4110 "To Catch a Star" November 30, 1960
11 4111 "Nine Lives" December 7, 1960
12 4112 "The Dragon Cup" December 14, 1960
13 4113 "When Strangers Meet" December 21, 1960
14 4114 "Suitable for Framing" January 4, 1961
15 4115 "Lesson in Fear" January 11, 1961
16 4116 "The Survivor" January 18, 1961
17 4117 "Night Cry"[3] January 25, 1961
18 4118 "Double Jeopardy" February 1, 1961
19 4119 "Lady Godiva" February 8, 1961
20 4112 " The Hunted" February 15, 1961
21 4121 "With Deadly Sorrow" February 22, 1961
22 4123 "Murder By Proxy" March 1, 1961
23 4120 "The Woman In Gray" March 8, 1961
24 4124 "Love, Honor, and Perish" March 15, 1961
25 4125 "The Innocent Exile" March 22, 1961
26 4126 "The Runaway" March 29, 1961

References

  1. ↑ 1960–1961 American network television schedule, Wednesdays.
  2. ↑ Stephen Vagg, Rod Taylor: An Aussie in Hollywood, Bear Manor Media 2010 p 77
  3. ↑ This episode is a remake of the 1950 Otto Preminger noir Where the Sidewalk Ends

External links

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