The Adventurer Theme – John Barry
The Adventurer
I have never seen the following show. Nor had I heard of it before receiving an email from John K. in appreciation of the tablature section and asking if I knew how to play this one. I received the email way back in March, so I hope John has been patient and is still around!
Em e|-------7-8--| B|-8-7--------| G|-----9------| D|------------| A|------------| E|------------|
The Adventurer was apparently a show starring Gene Barry. Network, who have put out the series on DVD, describe the show thusly:
The world is full of adventure!
Golden-Globe winner Gene Barry (Burke’s Law, War of the Worlds) stars as the debonair film star and jet-setting, multi-millionaire businessman Gene Bradley. With an eye for the ladies and a nose for trouble, his multiple interests plunge him into dynamic adventures with every new episode.
This fondly-remembered and much sought-after series was created by Monty Berman and Dennis Spooner (THE CHAMPIONS, RANDALL AND HOPKIRK (DECEASED)) and co-stars Barry Morse (SPACE:1999), Stuart Damon (THE CHAMPIONS) and Catherine Schell (SPACE: 1999) as well as featuring excellent performances from guest stars such as Freddie Jones, Stephanie Beacham, Andre Morell, Burt Kwouk, George Sewell, Ed Bishop, Patrick Mower and Sylvia Syms.
This set includes exclusively recorded contributions from Catherine Schell, Stuart Damon and Barry Morse, a gallery of title elements struck from the original 35mm negatives, as well as extensive image galleries and a commemorative booklet. Although The Adventurer was filmed and distributed on 16mm, the main titles originated on 35mm. These surviving 35mm materials are presented here for the first time.
“The world is full of adventure” – pshaw. I prefer the alleged original tagline: “Everybody’s pin-up. Nobody’s fool.” Burke was better known as Bat Masterson, and as Amos Burke on Burke’s Law / Amos Burke, Secret Agent. COBRAS agent Wes Britton suggests in his Spy Television
that the implausibility of an internationally known jet-setting movie star also being a secret agent damned the show. In any case, the theme by John Barry is fantastic, and I’m thankful to John K. for directing my attention to it!
Oh, you MUST see The Adventurer! It’s arguably the worst show ITC ever produced—yet STILL worth buying as an import! Yes, despite the great Barry theme and some really good writers and directors, the show is awful… but absolutely hilarious. My girlfriend and I love putting The Adventurer on late at night and just cracking up. It’s funnier than most legitimate comedies! Then we always rush to this amazing website to read the hilarious comments about the episode we’ve just watched:
http://www.thevervoid.com/media/adventurer/aventurer_menu.htm
It’s a fantastic site devoted to the show and its horribleness. You should poke around for a great introduction to the series. Read his intro and then explore some of the well-illustrated episode reviews. Really, you couldn’t hope for a better or more accurate overview of The Adventurer. Network’s DVD set also includes some wonderful cast interviews with everyone except Gene Barry, who refused to participate. I’d recommend watching the interviews FIRST if you ever get the DVDs. The behind-the-scenes turmoil (Barry having a succession of co-stars fired for being taller than him) is more interesting than any actual storylines, and it will make you appreciate the episodes more when you watch.
The Adventurer is astoundingly awful, but at the same time more entertaining than lots of quality programs! To be honest, I actually put on The Adventurer more often than I put on The Prisoner–and I think you know my (legitimate) love for that series.
Sounds like quite the experience! I’ll have to give these a shot next time I see my old friend Disposable Income!