If You Can't Beat 'Em, Join 'Em

RIPTIDE was an action show co-created by Stephen J. Cannell that premiered on NBC in January 1984. Starring Perry King (CAPTAINS AND THE KINGS) and Joe Penny (JAKE AND THE FATMAN) as Cody Allen and Nick Ryder, respectively, handsome private detectives operating off a Los Angeles pier, and Thom Bray (DEEPSTAR SIX) as Boz, their nerdy computer-expert sidekick, RIPTIDE was a big hit its first two seasons.

Unfortunately, when RIPTIDE returned for Season 3 in the fall of 1985, it ran in the same Tuesday night timeslot as ABC's new juggernaut, MOONLIGHTING, which was not only a ratings sensation, but also the hippest water-cooler drama on television.

NBC finally moved RIPTIDE away from MOONLIGHTING to Friday nights, but it was too late. The Cannell show never picked up the viewers it lost, and RIPTIDE was cancelled after its third season.

However, thanks to writers Babs Greyhosky and Tom Blomquist, it went out with a bang. Its next-to-last episode, airing April 18, 1986, was "If You Can't Beat 'Em, Join 'Em." It guest-starred Richard Greene (not the ROBIN HOOD actor) and Annette McCarthy as the stars of a familiar-looking TV series who team up with the newly hired technical advisers Nick and Cody to solve a crime.

The good-natured parody was the subject of an article in the Los Angeles Times that focused on the episode's genesis and how the writers managed to appease ABC lawyers. What's really interesting, as you'll see in the clip below, is how spot-on Greene and McCarthy were with their impressions of Bruce Willis and Cybill Shepherd. Neither went on to great fame, though Greene still works steadily as a guest star in TV dramas (like BONES).

Here is the teaser and the opening titles to RIPTIDE's "If You Can't Beat 'Em, Join 'Em" with a cool surfer-dude theme composed by Mike Post and Pete Carpenter:

Random TV Title: Riptide

More cool private eyes, rousing action, character-based humor, and awesome music, as Stephen J. Cannell Week continues. RIPTIDE was a bundle of high-concept ideas. Three Vietnam vets--hunky Cody (film star Perry King) and Nick (Joe Penny, later on JAKE AND THE FATMAN) and nerd Boz (Thom Bray)--open a private investigation agency. Among the tools of their trade are their pink military helicopter, a badass classic convertible, and a robot (!) invented by Boz. Throw in screeching tires, macho chemistry among the leads, the typically light Cannell touch, and you've got a show.

Mike Post and Pete Carpenter composed the theme, which is reminiscent of the music they wrote for Cannell's shortlived RICHIE BROCKELMAN, PRIVATE EYE. What's interesting about this clip is that it also features the teaser to one of RIPTIDE's more memorable episodes. By its third season, RIPTIDE was being regularly trounced in the ratings by the new smash MOONLIGHTING, so they decided to do a parody of the competition.

Greatest Night Of TV Ever?

The voiceover artist is the late Danny Dark, who "played" Superman on the SUPERFRIENDS Saturday morning cartoon series of the 1970s. Growing up, Dark was "my" Superman, and whenever I read a Superman comic book, it was Dark's voice I "heard." When he wasn't voicing Superman on TV, he was NBC's #1 announcer and could be heard just about every night on show promos and reading the announcements over the closing credits. He also voiced Keebler commercials. He died about two years ago.

The preeminent TV voiceover guy had to have been Ernie Anderson. Most famous for the way he drew out the title "THE LOOOOOOOOOOVVVVVE BOAT," Anderson was identified with ABC for decades. Nobody could make a TV show sound kickass like Anderson could. Here he is selling STAR TREK III in 30 seconds and making it sound like it's the best film ever made:



We're having some very nice weather in Champaign this week. I just spent two hours sitting in Cowboy Monkey's beer garden. I took a sweatshirt just in case, but didn't need it. I wore shorts and a short-sleeved T-shirt and was just fine.

Tonight was the first time I realized that the days really are getting shorter. I've been sleeping with my windows open for about three weeks now. I love air conditioning, because I really like it to be cold when I'm sleeping, but it has felt really nice with just the cool air from outdoors coming in the windows. I live on a busy street, so I get plenty of traffic noise during the night, but it doesn't bother me at all.

I have my plane ticket for L.A. next month. I'm going out to California for about a week just before Halloween. It's just partially a pleasure trip. I'm going to spend a few days with friends in Los Angeles, and then I'm going down to La Jolla where my sister-in-law is having surgery. I expect her to pull through 100%, but she and my brother are going to be out there for awhile during recovery. He's scheduled to drive back home to St. Louis at that time, while she recuperates a few more days, so it looks like I'll be roadtripping back to Missouri with him. I've never taken a road trip of that length before--my previous record is Champaign to El Paso, Texas--so it should be exhausting and hopefully interesting. More to come.

UPDATE: Holy crap, I just found an Anderson LOVE BOAT spot: