Tarzan

This was one of my favorite shows as a kid. It was exciting and suspenseful and had some of the most evil villains on TV every week.

However, when I saw reruns of "Tarzan" in the early 1980s, either I caught a batch of bad episodes or I had evolved because I found 6 episodes in a row to be very poorly written and even boring, so I stopped watching.

Recently, a friend loaned me four episodes and all four were exceptional. So, I saw an additional four episodes and three were quite good. Aside from obviously being an uneven series (although I have read that the show had script problems during the first year), I agree with previous posters that just the fantastic on-location photography puts all of the other Tarzan TV series to shame. Ron Ely was perfectly cast, an honorable and articulate "lawman" who respected the native tribes around him. There's one episode, "Last of the Superman" (which must have been written by an Ayn Rand admirer) where Tarzan philosophically reflects on how humans owe it to themselves to be the best they can be.

The other distinguishing thing was that there was no holds barred when it came to violence - guest star William Smithers frantically firing a revolver as piranha fish devour him, and Bo Hopkins as a no-gooder who is lazing around a lake shore when he's pulled into the lake and killed by a crocodile (one of the goriest TV scenes ever filmed). When bad guy Pat Conway is shot to death as he tries to escape by swimming across a raging river, Tarzan angrily admonishes the shooter with, "He had a right to choose how to die!"

The show was attacked by critics in the 1960s, and yet dig the guest star roster - Helen Hayes, Jimmy MacArthur, James Earl Jones, Michael Dunn, Maurice Evans, Julie Harris, James Whitmore, George Kennedy, Sally Kellerman, Diana Ross, the great (if late) Gia Scala, Leslie Parrish, the late Michael Witney, Nichelle Nichols, etc. People like that don't appear on a show if it's bad.

TV Guide reported in June 1968 that the series still had a 31 share and finished in the top 40 during 1967-68, but NBC felt its demographics (too many older women and too many kids) made it unappealing and it was cancelled. Popular demand brought it back for summer reruns in 1969.

A good series.

I LOVE Ron Ely and the 66-68 Tarzan series. Watching recently when Tarzan was in a race to find an artifact in the mountains, and beat a tribe leader. As Tarzan and the woman companion with him ran up the mountain, I noticed that Tarzan had on flesh colored tennis shoes. I also recognize other times that he has bandages on his feet. Must have been rough walking and running around that jungle. Still love and am still re-watching the series. Go, Tarzan!

Whole show is clean cut IE the safaris coming into the jungle, never wearing jeans etc. Can tell the indoor sets from Mexico wilds alone. Otherwise routine TV fare, Very G rated. Even Tarzan is clean vs roughened by the jungle. In real life everyone would look gritty, dirty, etc esp Tarzan. Or hed look worn by the heat,humidity, etc. Classic for the ages. & who wears suits into the jungle? saw similar on Man from UNCLE episode. Very lame. Arms were always std Safari fare, never any semi autos, etc from WW2 era since show occured Today ( in 60s). OK plots. 2 bad didnt have Tarzan vs Commies seeking some ore to mine & Tarzan comes to rescue.

In commemoration of the show's 50th Anniversary Edgar Rice Burroughs' character was played by several different actors over the years not to mention a series that has it's origin going back to Johnny Weissmuller, Lex Barker, Gordon Scott, Jock Mahoney,and Mike Henry. Producer Sy Weintraub(who took over the "Tarzan" franchise in the mid-1950's after Sol. L. Lesser) was trying to bring "Tarzan" to television as early as 1958,but the project never got off the ground. By the early-1960's the "Tarzan" films were still theatrical releases,but it wasn't until the mid-1960's when the franchise went into a new medium. Gordon Scott was replaced by Jock Mahoney who abandoned the role in 1963 who lost out to football player turned actor Mike Henry. Henry made three theatrical "Tarzan" films between 1966-1968 and was originally cast for the television version of the series,but declined after some bad experiences while shooting the 1967 theatrical picture "Tarzan and the Great River". In a desperate search,the producers along with Sy Weintraub finally was able to bring "Tarzan" to television as a weekly series by casting Ron Ely in the title role. Ron Ely who was 28-years old when he got the part of playing the 14th "Tarzan" on television while Mike Henry still played him in the movies. Ron Ely had a strong resume of several films and television series to his credit including the films "South Pacific", "The Fiend That Walked The West", "The Remarkable Mr. Pennypacker",not to mention "The Night of the Grizzly", and in the TV-series "How to Marry a Millionaire" from 1957-1959. Ron Ely was cast in another series "The Aquanauts" that lasted one season from 1960-1961.

The television version based on Edgar Rice Burroughs character retained many of the trappings of the classic movie series including Cheeta The Chimp and a boy sidekick(Manuel Padilla,Jr.) leaving the character Jane on the cutting room floor. Under the production of Sy Weintraub who also served as executive producer under his production company Banner Productions and Starring Ron Ely as "Tarzan" made its television premiere in prime-time on NBC's Friday Night schedule on September 9,1966 for 57 episodes and two seasons,filmed on location in parts of Central America and Mexico in full color until April 5,1968. After NBC canceled the series in 1968,"Tarzan" enjoy a resurgence in summer repeats for CBS airing from May 22, 1969 until August 30, 1969. "Tarzan" the television series on Friday nights faced strong competition during its two seasons on the air opposite "The Wild Wild West" and "The Green Hornet" in Season 1 and in its Second and final Season opposite "Off The See The Wizard","Hondo" and the wildly popular "The Wild Wild West". Several episodes of the "Tarzan" television series were two part episodes that were strung together and actually shown in theaters as feature length films that were released under Banner Productions and National General Pictures. The "Tarzan" television series produced 57 episodes all in color with 32 episodes in Season 1 and 25 episodes in Season 2. Actors that had recurring appearances on this series were Maurice Evans, Julie Harris, along with Chips Rafferty and Woody Strode appear in numerous episodes.

Even though this series was attacked by critics,"Tarzan" was indeed a series that was action-packed throughout with breathtaking excitement and high adventure each week. Basically throughout production, Ron Ely did all of his own stunts and took it seriously. But yet check out the big name directors that were associated with this series from William Witney, Robert Day, Barry Shear, Anton Leader, Robert L. Friend, Charles S. Dubin, William Wiard, R.G. Springsteen and Hollingsworth Morse along with Paul Stanley,James Komack, Alan Crosland, Jr. and even Ron Ely himself directed an episode. Big name writers ranging from Jackson Gillis, Richard and Esther Shapiro, Wells Root, Carey Wilber, Don Brinkley, Samuel Newman, John Hawkins and Lawrence Dobkin.

The guest star roster for this series consisted of James Earl Jones, Cicely Tyson, Don Mitchell, Don Marshall, Raymond St. Jacques, Brock Peters,Rosie Grier, Diana Sands, Rafer Johnson, Clarence Williams III, Hari Rhodes, to William Marshall, Bernie Hamilton, Lloyd Haynes, Yaphet Kotto, Nichelle Nichols, George Stanford-Brown, Diana Ross(and the Supremes),to James MacArthur, Jock Mahoney, Sam Jaffe, Michael Witney, Simon Oakland, Ethel Merman, George Kennedy, Sally Kellerman, Russ Tamblyn, John Dehner, Antoinette Bower, Fernando Lamas, Peter Whitney, Pat Conway, Michael Dunn, James Whitmore, Warren Stevens, Neville Brand, Morgan Woodward, Ted Cassidy, Barbara Luna, Judy Pace, Jan Merlin, Michael Ansara, to Ralph Meeker, Jeremy Slate, Leslie Parrish, Rockne Tarkington, Roscoe Lee Browne, and Helen Hayes.

The best "Tarzan" episodes out of this series from it's first season "The Pearls of Tanga","The Day The Earth Trembled", "The Ultimate Duel", "The Deadly Silence:Parts 1 & 2", "Faces of Death", "A Life For A Life", "The Perils of Charity Jones:Parts 1 & 2", "The Ultimatum", "A Pride of Assassins", "The Fire People", "Jungle Dragnet", "Village of Fire", "Man-Killer", "The Prisoner","The Mask of Rona",and "The Prodigal Puma". The best episodes out of this series from it's second and final season were "Tarzan's Jungle Rebellion", "Last of the Supermen", "Alex The Great", "The Convert", "Mountains of the Moon:Parts 1 & 2", "Jungle Ransom", "The Four O'Clock Army:Parts 1 & 2", "End of a Challenge", "Trek to Terror","Tiger,Tiger", "The Blue Stone of Heaven:Parts 1 & 2","Hotel Hurricane", "The Thief Catcher" and "The Muguma Curse"....

TV Guide reported in June of 1968 that the "Tarzan" television series had a 31 share and finished in the top 40 during the 1967-1968 season,but NBC felt its demographics made it unappealing(due to the show's violent content) and it was abruptly canceled after 2 seasons after NBC rejected a renewal for its third season. Popular demand brought it back in repeats as a summer replacement over at CBS in 1969(on Saturday nights as the summer replacement for CBS' The Jackie Gleason Show). For the 1968-1969 season, NBC replaced "Tarzan" after 2 seasons on Friday nights in prime-time with the Western adventure series "The High Chapparal".

I have fond memories of this show, which one of our local independent stations used to air on Sunday afternoons as part of `Tarzan Theatre.' I loved the show at first simply because I was a big Tarzan fan, but I truly came to appreciate it once I started reading Edgar Rice Burroughs' novels. This is one of the few times Tarzan is portrayed as ERB envisioned him: intelligent and articulate. ERB, however, gave Tarzan a savage and violent side, something you would never see on a `family' TV series of the 1960s. Fortunately, the producers compensated by loading the show with plenty of action.

All the elements came together nicely: Ron Ely had both the physical presence and the acting skill to play a convincing ape-man. I've heard stories of the punishment he took while making the series, injuries that would make Jackie Chan wince, but he kept going. The producers were smart enough not to film in a studio jungle set, but instead take the show on location. The Mexican locations were a gorgeous stand-in for the African savanna and rain forests, and they increase the show's credibility.

There's just one thing I never liked: Jai. I realize there's probably a lot of Jai fans out there, but the kid just irritated me. His main function was both to ask simplistic questions about what was going on so Tarzan could explain for his (and the audience's) benefit, and to eat up valuable screen time that could be spent on Tarzan. It's part of the whole `juvenile sidekick' syndrome in TV, movies and comics that drives me nuts. Ugh.

In spite of that, `Tarzan' was a great series, deserving of much more attention than it currently gets. It may not be the way * you * see Tarzan, but you can't deny it was a well-crafted, exciting and eminently watchable show.