We have a photo essay prepared today
that examines the habit of television producers of pairing up
gentlemen for a series in which one has light hair and one dark. One
imagines that such a concept was initialized because it helped
viewers to tell the characters apart in those early days when TV was
in black and white and broadcast over a diminutive, blurry screen.
Perhaps you'll be reunited with some old friends here, or meet new
ones to discover, as we putter along. This is not an inclusive
listing, but I feel like I nabbed a lot of the major ones.
Though it surely existed beforehand,
we're starting off here in 1959 with the western series Laramie.
Tall, strapping, blond John Smith costarred with the dark-haired,
compact hunk Robert Fuller.
The series, in which the two men ran a
ranch and stagecoach stop, premiered in color, but was filmed in
black and white for two seasons before going color again for the
third and fourth, ending in 1963.
They were often shown doing domestic
chores together, sometimes with one in an apron! It was also one of
the earliest westerns to show cowboys shirtless and in their long
johns. No TV cowboy to my knowledge ever wore more eye-popping pants
than Smith, though Fuller was no slouch either. Trust, children...
we'll be revisiting this show because I've been watching season two,
often goggle-eyed!
Next up is a series that began in 1960
and was in black and white throughout its run. Route 66 starred
dark-haired George Maharis alongside strawberry-blond Martin Milner.
In this semi-anthology show, the two
adventuresome gents were always headed along the title roadway in
their convertible, stopping off to become embroiled in one bit of
drama or another, usually helping someone out of some sort of fix.
The wheels began to come off, so to
speak, near the end of the second season when Maharis came down with
infectious hepatitis and missed a few episodes. The next season, he
was back, but soon departed again. Rumors swirled that he was
leaving in order to protect his tenuous health during the grueling
series or that he was bailing out in order to pursue movie offers.
In any case, after a series of solo
appearances by Milner, he suddenly got a new partner, brunette natch,
played by Glenn Corbett. Corbett stayed on through the end of the
fourth season in 1964 wherein the show was neatly tied up with a
two-part finale, a rarity for the time. Milner returned home to his
estranged family and Corbett was married (to Barbara Eden!)
The show was noted for its roster of
guest stars including, as seen here, Miss Joan Crawford! Lucky
devils...
In 1961, John Derek starred in Frontier
Circus, a black and white western about a traveling troupe of
performers who often found themselves in the midst of trouble of one
sort or another. Veteran character actor Chill Wills was top-billed,
though many of the action scenes were left to Derek and his sidekick
Richard Jaeckel, a little white-blond dynamo.
You'll notice as we plug along here
that the efforts to demonstrate camaraderie among these partners
(along with cramming them together in order to facilitate space in
publicity photos) sometimes leads to unintentional homoerotica. Look
at how closely John and Richard are nestled here (not helped by
Jaeckel's beguiling facial expression!) Frontier Circus was
cancelled in 1962 after one season.
1964 brought the spy series The Man
from U.N.C.L.E, staring raven-haired Robert Vaughn and his blond
counterpart David McCallum. Weighing in just prior to the era of
predominantly color television series, it was black and white for its
first season and then color for the remaining three, ending in 1968.
It can also be perceived that by
casting a blond and a brunette together, one might be covering many
of the bases in tastes, for often people tend to lean towards a
preference for one shade of hair versus the others.
Then, of course, it also just makes for
a more visually varied color and contrast palette.
In The Underworld, we sometimes read
homoerotica into places where it hasn't necessarily reared its head.
And sometimes, we FORCE the issue! Ha ha!
These two re-teamed in 1983 for The Return of The Man From U.N.C.L.E.: The Fifteen Years Later Affair, a bit
older, but still demonstrating their individual tress tones.
For contrast in dual leading men,
pairing gentlemen of different races is a no brainer! The color
series I Spy (1965 – 1968), starring Robert Culp and Bill Cosby,
was a trailblazer in that it was the first non-comedic American TV
series to feature a black actor as a lead.
Even more notable is the fact that the
distinction was never noted in any way within the show. They were
just two secret agents working together, with Culp as a slightly more
experienced spy, but with Cosby as the “brainier” of the two.
It may seem hard to believe now, but in
the mid-'60s, I Spy was banned on certain southern United States
television stations simply because it prominently and regularly
featured a black man in a competent, non-subservient way.
The two actors became close friends in
real life and worked together in 1972's Hickey & Boggs, a
downbeat crime thriller, and later came together again for I Spy
Returns in 1994, this time looking after their characters' children
who, by now, were also spies. Not sure whose decision it was to get
them naked, though, at this late date!
Debuting in 1966 (and always broadcast
in color as were all of the remaining series in this post) was Star
Trek. William Shatner, with his light brown coiffure, was contrasted
with Leonard Nimoy and his severe, dark-brown bowl cut.
Star Trek ran for three seasons, ending
in 1969, though that was hardly the end of the road.
After having soared in popularity
through syndicated reruns, there was an animated series (1973-1974)
and then a series of movies, which began in 1979 with Star Trek: The
Motion Picture.
By then, Shatner was sporting a darker
'do (and if there is a God, please don't let this be a pee-stained
moose-knuckle on Mr. Spock below...), but for the recent
re-boot/prequel series in 2009, the hair color contrast was back in
full force between Christopher Pine and Zachary Quinto.
Here's a couple of clean cut young men,
strawberry-blond Martin Milner (previously of Route 66) and
brown-haired Kent McCord, of Adam-12 (1968-1975.)
In some photos, the contrast is more
pronounced than others, but there was definitely a difference in
their hair hues.
Though the majority of their time was
spent in dark, buttoned-up police uniforms, occasionally they could
be seen in civvies. (Considering the groovy era we're talking about,
maybe it was best that they mostly stuck to their cop duds, though I
think the inset on this picture is from a real life occasion and not
the show itself!)
Incidentally, I dearly love (and miss!)
the beautiful, staged (and, okay, corny) publicity shots like this
one that used to herald the arrival or return of a given TV to the
airwaves.
With the police procedural of Adam-12
working out so well, producer Jack Webb sought to duplicate its
success, and did, with a similar approach set in the new realm of
paramedics. Emergency! (1972-1977) featured another pair of
uniformed workers, one with notably lighter hair than the other.
Keven Tighe was the blond while
Randolph Mantooth had dark hair, though as the show progressed, they
both wound up with lock very close to each other in color. (By the
way, I always thought that Tighe had truly awful hair in almost every
episode and in later years some of the worst, ugliest sideburns I
have ever come upon!)
To back up for just a moment (I didn't
want to interrupt the Adam-12/Emergency! connection), there was a
western series in 1971 called Alias Smith and Jones, all about a pair
of outlaws coerced into working as agents for the government in
exchange for release from jail.
The sandy-haired one was played by
delectably hunky Ben Murphy while Peter Duel played the darker-haired
one.
Unfortunately, the series was dealt a
critical blow when a depressed and inebriated Duel committed suicide.
The network (ABC) demanded that Universal Television continue with
the contracted series and so Roger Davis, who'd served as narrator
for the program, was brought in as an immediate replacement.
The show limped along for a partial
second season before finally being cancelled. Interestingly, the
much-blonder Davis' coming on board meant that Murphy was now the
darker-haired half of the duo. The chemistry, not to mention the enthusiasm, just wasn't there in this rendition. For those who are interested, Davis
was married at the time to future Charlie's Angels star Jaclyn Smith
(they were wed from 1968 -1978.)
Meanwhile, a surprisingly similar in
concept crime-solving series was being filmed in Europe with two
stars of differing hair color. Tony Curtis and Roger Moore were the
stars of The Persuaders!, a show about two well-to-do adventurers who
are arrested for fighting and faced with a jail sentence
Rather than serve ninety days apiece
for their offense, which included property damage, they agree to work
together to right various situations which are just outside the
everyday parameters of the law.
Thus, blond, English Moore was placed
against Brooklyn-born, brunette Curtis in a series of escapades. The
extremely expensive series only lasted for one season before the
off-screen animosity between the comparatively straitlaced Moore and
the (then) drug-addled Curtis helped hasten its end, as did a lack of
viewership on American TV. The chief reason for its demise, however,
was the selection of Moore as the new James Bond in Live and Let Die
(1973)
This offbeat publicity photo sort of
sums up the discombobulated situation.
The immense success of Planet of the
Apes (1968) and its sequels led to the attempt to mount a weekly
series based on the idea in 1974. In it, astronauts Ron Harper
(blond) and James Naughton (brown) experience a time warp that sends
them to Earth one-thousand years in the future, where apes reign
supreme and humans are little more than hunted and oppressed slave
workers.
The unsuccessful show, lasting only
fourteen episodes before ceasing production, might have stayed afloat
longer had the gents been in loincloths like Chuck Heston instead of
ratty, oversized get-ups, though occasionally there was a brief bit
of shirtlessness.
I love this photo below of Harper and
Naughton (the inspiration for this entire post if the truth be known.) Even though at first glance one might sense that this duo
is a rip-off of another, far more successful TV teaming (the next one
in our line-up), it turns out that the Apes pair came FIRST!
Yes, Starksky and Hutch, a very popular
TV twosome with hirsute brunette Paul Michael Glaser and blond David
Soul, came in 1975.
The contrasting crime-fighters often
had dates and short-term girlfriends on the show, but most critics
and audience members felt that the greatest amount of chemistry and
affection occurred between the two men themselves.
Initially, Soul was quite blond, with
jagged-cropped hair.
As the series continued, Soul's hair
deepened and lengthened and he grew a mustache (which I must say I
didn't like at all...)
1977 brought the hit show CHiPs to the
airwaves, with dark Latino actor Erik Estrada matched with blond
Larry Wilcox. The show ran until 1983.
Though things were sunny on the
outside, tension reigned behind the scenes of the California Highway
Patrol-oriented series. Eventually, Wilcox left the show altogether,
though he did return for the 1999 reunion/proposed revival, which
didn't come to pass (bottom right of the montage below.)
After his departure, Estrada got a new,
even blonder partner in Tom Reilly, but that didn't last when those
two also didn't see eye-to-eye and Reilly, while playing a policeman
on TV, was arrested for possession of an illegal substance. After
that, Estrada worked more with recent Underworld profile subject
Bruce Penhall, who you can see and read more about here!
Incidentally, for a brief while as Estrada convalesced from a motorcycle accident, Olympic Decathelete Bruce Jenner filled in as the brunette half of the patrol team, departing soon after Estrada's eventual return. (God forbid two blonds costar on a show!)
The late-'70s were a fertile time for
sci-fi in the wake of Star Wars' success, though most TV programs had
trouble finding a significant foothold. Even though Battlestar
Galactica offered then state-of-the-art effects, it just couldn't
quite stay afloat, even with these two hunks, brunette Richard Hatch
and dark-blond Dirk Benedict.
I know I never missed it, but it had
little chance to succeed up against the powerful sitcom All in the
Family. The highly-expensive series was dropped after one season,
prompting heavy viewer outcry and even one suicide! (An obsessed
fifteen year-old boy jumped off a Minneapolis-St. Paul bridge upon
learning of the cancellation.)
After much hue and cry from fans,
including a massive letter-writing campaign, ABC decided to retool
and bring back the show in a less expensive format. However,
Benedict was no longer available and Hatch decided not to re-sign due
to concerns over the concept. So, Light-haired Barry Van Dyke and
dark-haired Kent McCord (of Adam-12 fame) were trucked in to star in
the show, re-titled Galactica 1980. It lasted less than four months.
A hugely popular light 'n dark duo came
along in 1979 with The Dukes of Hazzard, an action-comedy series that
reveled in and wallowed in as much rural corn pone tackiness as it
could handle. Blond John Schneider and brown-haired Tom Wopat
played cousins Bo and Luke Duke (of Hazzard, Kentucky, of course!)
The series, which aired just before
Dallas on Friday nights and had spawned an avalanche of tie-in
merchandise, was about to head into its fifth season when the two
leads decided not to report for work. This was due to the lack of
salary increases and royalties they felt due them from having their
likenesses on everything from action figures to board games to gum
cards to “you name it!”
The producers responded by swiftly
hiring two vague look-alikes, blond Byron Cherry and raven-haired
Christopher Mayer, as Coy and Vance Duke, two more heretofore unheard
of cousins!
Literally pencilled-in to the show,
with scripts meant for Schneider and Wopat having their characters'
names scratched out and replaced by those of Cherry and Mayer, it was
a crass, thoughtless act that drove home the point that where
money-hungry executives are concerned, actors are interchangeable and
dispensable.
Trouble was, the ratings took a huge
nosedive. So terms were agreed upon and the newbies were dumped
almost as unceremoniously as their predecessors had been beforehand.
Schneider and Wopat were back for two more undistinguished seasons
(with irreparably damaged ratings and popularity) until the show
ended in 1985.
1983 put forth another light 'n dark
hued adventure series, this one set in and around water, called
Riptide. Slim, sandy-haired Perry King costarred with dark and hairy
Joe Penny as old army buddies who set up their own detective agency.
Their headquarters is based on King's boat, the Riptide, which is
also the name of the agency.
During the early episodes, Anne Francis
appeared as the female skipper of a nearby boat. (She's shown below
being straddled by our stars.)
I still like my version of this
publicity shot better!
Riptide ran for three seasons, ending
in 1986.
A far more slick, sophisticated and
stylish buddy show had already come along by that time, one that
really caught the attention of TV viewers and spawned imitators and
influenced the clothing choices of many American men. Miami Vice
(1984-1989) starred Philip Michael Thomas and Don Johnson.
The pair of detectives, always dressed
to the nines in (mostly) pastel ensembles, investigated all sorts of
seedy activity from prostitution to drug trafficking. As you can see
in this collection, Johnson's hair went through a variety of
permutations over the years.
After two seasons, this show nearly
underwent a contract upheaval when Johnson felt that renegotiations
were in order. Mark Harmon was in the dugout, ready to take over
Johnson's spot on the show, but things were resolved in time for
there to be no interruption in production.
So what have we learned from all of
these blond 'n brunette buddy shows? Well, one thing I've learned
is that on Jack Webb series, the darker-haired stars have trouble
keeping their eyes open for publicity photos...
But, seriously, this one is less about
learning and more about enjoying the view! I hope you did. The End!
14 comments:
MMM, Perry King.
Loved the behind-the-scenes tid-bits about who was slated to replace or who actually replaced whom.
Oh! Had only George Maharis and Ron Harper been partnered up together in a show!!!...I would have forever been indebted to the execs responsible for that!!!
And I love that final shot of Starsky and Hutch! Needless to say, visions of their sugar plums will be dancing in my head tonight!
Oh, what I would not give to be straddled by Perry King and Joe Penny at the same time.
I vaguely recall watching Planet of the Apes on TV and feeling urges and stirrings with Harper and Naughton.
I am on record regarding Wilcox already.
Finally, I l-o-v-e Barry Van Dyke!
Glad y'all enjoyed these photos and commentary. Scooter, if you like Perry King, I suggest the miniseries "Captains and the Kings" which is on DVD. He may have been at the peak of his beauty then, though he doesn't arrive till near the end.
Knuckles, that shot of them is PERFECT and I love the T-shirts, too. Simpler times and very sweet...
NotFelix, I can't recall if you ever got to see "It Happened at Lakewood Manor" (retitled "Ants" for DVD) with Barry. You would swoon! P.S. - I tried to gather up plenty of Larry Wilcox for you in this post. ;-)
Comprehensive classic TV bromance edition. Never saw the Hutch-kissing-Starsky pic before today. Adorable!!
What about the most homo-erotic blond/brunette pairing, Cagney and Lacey? :)
Thank you! Not too long ago I found a shirtless picture of Wilcox on Google during a stint on Battle of the Network Stars and can no longer find where I found it to begin with! There's a wish list for you!
Fun post as always. The blonde/brunette match up has been going on since movies began it seems but usually it's the women with the contrast, nice to see the men get their due.
I favor dark hair men personally but that doesn't diminish my appreciation of some of the lovely blondes included. Ben Murphy was the dreamiest thing when he was young. Some of my favorites made the match ups: Robert Fuller, James Naughton (someone who has aged extremely well), Tom Wopat, Joe Penny & Perry King-I still remember the opening of Riptide with them in their underwear racing in the boat after someone! Talk about drawing the viewer in!
I loved the Persuaders and watched it every week during its short run, probably aided by the fact that my parents did too and they had the best guest stars, I remember Gladys Cooper in one episode and the settings were always sumptuous.
Love the last picture of Glaser and Soul hands firmly on butts. Considering the time period, the freewheeling 70's, it's both in tune with the times and surprising to see. How many series in the following decades would have had their lead actors so casually sexual with each other?
Just had a chance to pop on this a.m. before work -- glad to see you've come to appreciate Fuller and Smith in Laramie. Smith complained about the slacks they had to wear because they were 'stretchy', but there were obviously no complaints from censors or those watching the episodes.
One more tidbit, Planet of the Apes was a favorite of mine as a kid ... always loved Naughton (and his brother, David, of the Dr. Pepper commercials). This show was expected to be a big hit but they put it on Friday night -- so their audience was at football games, on dates, or just doing was teens do. The next year, Starsky and Hutch premiered and became wildly popular. There were two dolls manufactured as Starsky and Hutch for sale; the funny thing is that these doll were actually meant to be Harper and Naughton. I have the 'Starsky' doll, and he's dressed exactly like Naughton. LOL!
Kirgisfair, I never watched the POA TV show as a kid because the apes terrified me! (I was afraid of everything as a kid... Indians, dinosaurs, vampires, those Sleestaks on "Land of the Lost!") I did however, have the Ron Harper Mego doll from the show and he was different from Hutch. Ron's hair was golden and his face narrow while Hutch's doll had canary yellow hair and a rounder head. The faces and hair on the Naughton/Glaser dolls were different, too. The dolls definitely looked similar (as did the actors, in general), but they were different. I was never fully satisfied with the handsomeness of my Star Trek Mego figures and so I took Dr. McCoy's uniform off of him and put it on the Ron Harper figure, then added the black boots from the Ape General Urko (who scared me too much to play with anyway! Someone had bought it for me as a gift!) and, Presto!, I had Lt. Alan Verdon!! LOL He was far more dashing looking than McCoy (who I later came to love) and didn't have blue underwear on... (I know... I'm insane.)
I'm probably going to do a Mego tribute one day because those were by far my favorite toys as a kid. I had the Starsky & Hutch car that went round and round in circles, crashing into plastic garbage cans and street lamps that cam with it, but since I didn't have S&H dolls, it was always Captain Kirk driving it!!!!!
Great post. I'm a huge Alias Smith and Jones/Pete Duel fan. Just one correction to your info on the show. They were outlaws who approached a lawman they knew and asked him to speak to the governor on their behalf about amnesty. The governor agrees to grant then amnesty if they can prove they can live a straight life for at least a year. But during that time they are still wanted and in danger of being capture for the rewards on their heads. Thanks for including my favorite outlaws in your post. I loved Emergency! too. Randy Mantooth once guest starred in an episode of Alias Smith and Jones.
I have both James Naughton and Tom Wopat on my ipod.
James became a big deal Broadway musical star and won two Tony Awards I think.
Tom did not become such a big star but he has been gainfully employed for years and has actually made more CDs.
James is probably more my "type," but Tom's musical output is more to my taste.
Rest in peace Ron Harper (1933-2024; 91 years old wow).
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