From: bxp1628@hertz.njit.edu (Brian Perler)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.tv
Subject: Re: Higlander: The Series
Date: 6 Oct 92 15:16:01 GMT
Organization: New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, N.J.

In article <1992Oct5.153847.1@uwovax.uwo.ca> 4224_5201@uwovax.uwo.ca writes:
>
>I am a computer science major (second year) at the University of Western
>Ontario, and until two weeks ago did not have access to the internet news.
>I too was distraught with the possibility that I might not get Highlander
>the series, but discovered two stations in the TV guide that carried it.
>
>Channel 20 (Detroit) is a station that the local cable operator does not have,
>which is a tragedy because they carry three other Detroit stations. Channel
>20 carries Highlander on Saturday evening. They also carry reruns of Battlestar
>Galactica on Saturday mornings, a show I like which I can not get on TV.
>
>Channel 43 (WUAB Cleveland) carries a lot of crappy Cannon action movies from
>the 80's starring Chuck Norris and Charles Bronson. They also carry some
>syndicated shows like Street Justice and the new Renegade show from Steven
>J. (a-team) Cannell. They carry Highlander on Sunday evenings. Lucky for me
>I do get this channel.
>
>The premier episode introduced a new immortal to the Highlander mythos. His
>name is (I think) Duncan McLeod, a cousin of the Lambert character ( I am
>Connor McLeod, of the Clan McLeod, born on the shores of Lochshire... blah,
>blah, blah). The actor who plays the character is obviously North American and
>does a bad Scottish accent. He used to play a paramilitary type on of War of
>the Worlds, shot just outside Toronto. He was a friend of the male doctor and
>the female doctor and her daughter, on the very depressing second season. One
>of the later episodes had Street Legal's Cynthia Dale as a guest star (she
>played a humanoid representation of one of the Martians).
>
>On the first episode, Lambert guest stars. His cousin is living in a big city
>(LA?), and has a girlfriend who knows all about the immortals. She has a thick
>European accent, but I do not know what it is. In the course of the show a
>Curgan-clone shows up (Night Court's Richard Moll, who is the voice of the
>Bat-computer on Batman the Animated Series). He threatens, steals the
>girlfriend and confronts Duncan. She escapes but so does Moll.
>
>The Highlander cousins confront Moll on a bridge. Lambert is thrown into the
>river, and his pacifistic cousin finishes the fight. Reluctantly, he cuts off
>Moll's head (there can be only one), and Lambert says goodbye to his cousin.
>TV special effects show car trunks flying open, bursting headlights, Moll's 
>floating corpse, lightning et al. plus one screaming Highlander.
>
>There are flashbacks in this episode. In Scotland Duncan builds a residence
>near holy ground so no one can fight him. In North America, they are present
>during a massacre of Indians (Duncan's Indian girlfriend dies). Lambert 
>(20th century) remarks that Duncan gets all the good women.
>
>There is this kid who witnesses the Highlanders doing a sword fight in a 
>warehouse. He rips off hubcaps for a living (punk!) and also saw the 
>dismemberment of Moll. Watch for him in upcoming episodes.
>
>This is a French/Italian production. Other crappy European productions include
>the horrid Tarzan half-hour show and some show about a vigilante judge. Casting
>was done in Vancouver, LA and London. Shooting was done in Vancouver and LA.
>Several tracks of Queen's Some Kind OF Magic were remixed in this episode, 
>including Who Wants to Live Forever ( for the Indian massacre) and the full-
>length version of the Highlander opening music ("I am immortal, I have inside
>the blood of kings") was used for the warehouse sword-practice and the end
>credits.

Just to set the record straight:  The Queen album was "A Kind of Magic."
The song used in the opening and closing, etc. was "Princes of the
Universe."

>This show is a rip-off of the first movie. It is also a prequel to the events
>of Highlander I. This show might get better, but probably won't. Note that
>Russell Mulcahy, Australian video director and creator of the Highlander 
>movies, is not mentioned in the end credits. If you are lucky, you might get
>a chance to rent out a movie called Tusks, an Australian low-budget horror 
>movie about killer Rhinos. It was also done by Mulcahy.
>
>I look forward to Highlander III. It will probably be better than this.
>
>John P. LaRocque

Whew!  After reading some of the other posts, I thought I was the only
person who hated this show!  Glad I'm not alone!

The ONLY saving grace for this episode was Lambert's appearance.  
Without him, this show is going to go downhill FAST.  The acting
(especially those AWFUL accents) was pretty poor (except for
Lambert's, and, to a lesser degree, Moll's).  The premise was
lame (ANOTHER MacLeod immortal?  How many are there?).  Slan
(although Moll did fairly well in the part) was nothing more
than a cheap Kurgen-wannabe.  There was nothing new here, at
least nothing you couldn't get from the movie (the REAL one).
Sorry if I'm ranting here.  I just couldn't stand this mockery
of one of my favorite movies.

Oh, and I've rumors of the plot of Highlander III.  It might be
better than this (or even HL II), but it just won't be worthy
of the name "Highlander."

-- 
"Dog bites man--that's not a story.  Man bites dog--*that's* a story.  And
if the dog and the man slug it out for six issues, and then Wolverine shows
up for a guest appearance, and the dog turns out to be a mutant, that's a
*Marvel* story!"			-Marvel Editorial Handbook
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