Lost in Translation 472 – The Fall Guy (2024)

Television in the Eighties were dominated by several producers. Steven Bochco was known for legal dramas like Hill Street Blues. Donald P. Bellisario had series like Magnum, P.I. and Airwolf, with dips into serious drama masquerading as an action series. The king of Eighties action series, though, was Glen A. Larson. Larson had multiple series airing through out the Eighties to the point there wasn’t a year when one of his shows wasn’t on. While Knight Rider may be Larson’s best known series from the decade, it’s not the only series to be adapted.

The Fall Guy came about after a Larson heard a song meant for a television special about stunts. The song, “The Unknown Stuntman” was written from the point of view of a stuntman who took all the falls and hits only for the star to get the glory. ABC picked up the show on the description of the song. Helping with the decision to pick up the series was casting; Lee Majors was slated to be Colt Seavers, stuntman and part-time bounty hunter. Majors also sang the “The Unknown Stuntman”, adding to the character.

Joining Majors were Heather Locklear as stuntwoman Jody Banks, Douglass Barr as Colt’s cousin Howie Munson, Joann Pflug as bail bondsman “Big Jack” in the first season, and Markie Post as bail bondsman Terri in the rest of the series. The Fall Guy ran for five seasons, from 1981 to 1985, cancelled due to low ratings. The core concept of the series what that Colt was a full time stuntman who picked up bounties from Big Jack and Terri to make ends meet between gigs. The fugitives were mainly people charged with petty crimes who skipped bail, leading to Colt, with help from Howie and Jody, using his background as a stuntman to bring his quarry back.

It takes a generation for a work to be subject to a remake. Thanks to the development and rapid spread of home media like video tapes, DVDs, and on-demand streaming, older shows take longer to be considered for a remake. Forty years may be the new standard, though something very popular may get noticed earlier. The Fall Guy had a strong start in its run, breaking top ten in the Nielsen ratings in its first season. The theme song was released as a single in 1984, getting airplay on country and Top 40 stations.

In 2024, 87North Productions and Entertainment 360 released a film adaptation of The Fall Guy. The movie stars Ryan Gosling as Colt Seavers, Emily Blunt as Jody Moreno, Hannah Waddingham as Gail Meyer, Aaron Taylor-Johnson as Tom Ryder, Teresa Palmer as Iggy Starr, Stephanie Hsu as Alma Milan, and Winston Duke as Dan Tucker. Colt is still a stuntman, having started his career working on Miami Vice. Jody is a camera operator with dreams of becoming a director. Tom is an actor for whom Colt stunt doubles for; Gail is Tom’s first producer. Dan is a fellow stuntman and Colt’s friend.

Colt’s career is steady, getting regular work doing death-defying stunts, though with safety protocols in place. He and Jody are an item off-set. Everything seems to be working for Colt, until a stunt goes wrong and he falls several stories, breaking his back. Colt takes time to heal, but eighteen months after the accident, he’s out of the entertainment industry and is working as a valet at a Mexican restaurant. His relationship with Jody has ended, mostly from Colt pulling away.

During a terrible shift, Gail calls, offering Colt a job as a stuntman on Metalstorm, Jody’s directorial debut. On set in Australia, Colt finds out from Dan, now the stunt coordinator, that Jody hadn’t asked for him. Still, Colt’s an experienced stuntman that Dan has worked with, so he’s part of the crew. Jody does find out and takes advantage of the situation, including working out some of her frustration and loss by having Colt repeat a stunt that has him pulled into a rock face before being set on fire, all while airing her feelings couched in terms of the characters in Metalstorm.

Gail tells Colt that she needs him to find Tom, the film’s star who has disappeared after falling in with a rough crowd. If Tom can’t be found, the studio will pull the plug on financing Metalstorm, ruining Jody’s directorial debut. Colt agrees and begins tracking Tom down, starting with the actor’s apartment. After a brief tussle with Tom’s girlfriend, Iggy, where she attacks with a prop katana, Colt finds out about Tom’s regular hangout and drug dealer. Despite being slipped a spiked Shirley Temple and being attacked by the drug dealer’s goons, Colt makes his way back to Tom’s hotel room, where he finds the body of Tom’s new stunt double, Harry Herrera (Justin Eaton, who is Ryan Gosling’s real life stunt double). The body disappears before the police arrive.

Colt and Jody begin to rekindle their relationship as work on Metalstorm continues. Gail tells Colt that he needs to return to the US. Instead, Colt keeps looking for Tom, tracking down his production assistant, Alma. In return for a producer credit, Alma gives Colt Tom’s smartphone. Tom’s security team catches up, also trying to get the phone, leading to a chase through Sydney. With the help of Jean-Claude, an Australian Kelpie whose commands must be issued in French, Colt helps Alma escape, getting the phone in exchange. However, Colt’s relationship with Jody takes a hit as he misses a team-building karaoke night where he was supposed to perform with her.

Tom’s phone has video of Harry’s murder. The rest of the movie is Colt trying to keep the phone safe while the murderer tries to retrieve the video. Through all this, Colt uses his knowledge of and experience with stunts to keep himself relatively unharmed. The climax ends on the set of Metalstorm, where Colt finally opens up to Jody and the murderer is arrested while the last stunt of the film is shot.

There are a few obvious changes made for the adaptation. Jody’s job changed, though she is still in the film business. The relationship between Jody and Colt also changed; the needs of a TV series to allow the leading man be available as a romantic interest for the guest actress while film needs a romance on screen that has a happy ending. Colt is also just a stuntman, not dabbling with bounty hunting to make ends meet between gigs. Other than Jody, the rest of the regukar characters from the TV series didn’t make the cut, though there could be an arguement that Gail is analogous to Big Jack.

That said, Colt is essentially the same. He’s a stuntman, concerned about safety in an inherently dangerous occupation. Colt’s expertise comes out even when he’s dealing with the goons sent at him. The film does keep the spirit of the original. Colt never uses a real weapon in his investgation, but he is good at selling the idea he is. There are breath-taking stunts, both in Metalstorm and during Colt’s investigation. Colt also doesn’t have it easy. Things can and do go wrong. The phone with the video gets destroyed and he gets framed for the murder. He gets into a number of fights, getting out because he knows how to take and roll with a punch, but he is battered and bruised by the end of the movie.

The Fall Guy floundered in theatres on release. The movie is a good action comedy, but it didn’t have the draw of a major franchise blockbuster like a Marvel superhero film. The cost of going out for a night of entertainment is starting to unsustainable for audiences, especially the traditional young adult audience that went out pre-pandemic. Studios are starting to recover, but theatres need movies that will hang around longer than six weeks to be able to pay staff and rent. The Fall Guy fell victim to the shake out happening.

Still, The Fall Guy keeps to the spirit of the TV series, hitting similar beats and focusing on the stunts and the stuntman. Having an updated version of “The Unknown Stuntman” by Black Shelton during the closing credits while showing the film’s stunts from behind the scenes reinforces the idea that the stuntmen are the unsung heroes of Hollywood. Without Justin Eaton, would Ryan Gosling be the action star he is?