Captain Nice and Mr. Terrific - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

neuroslicer · 09-01-2004, 08:00 PM

I have recently looked at all 15 episodes of Captain Nice, created by none other than Buck Henry in 1967 on the coattails of the Adam West/Batman phenom. This show was hilarious, quite reminiscent of Get Smart, also a Buck Henry creation. Why it only lasted one season I haven't a clue! Mr. Terrific, another flying superhero that aired a half earlier on the same night, doesn't hold quite the charm with me as it did when I was 8 but it's still great to see it again! neuroslicer@yahoo.com

bencasey · 09-13-2004, 09:51 AM

Captain Nice was a pretty good show. I haven't seen Mr. Terrific, other than the pieced together movie made from a few episodes of the show.

sbeamish · 10-29-2004, 11:39 AM

I recently added the Mr. Terrific aired pilot "Matchless" and the Captain Nice episode "That Thing" to my collection. The CN episodes have, ofcourse, been around on the bootleg market for years. MT, on the other hand, is the proverbial needle in the hay stack.

I loved both shows as a kid but always preferred Mr. Terrific. I still do even though the gags on Captain Nice are stronger. (But still not up to the Get Smart level.)

The MT premise probably appealed to me. I knew I would never be smart enough to invent anything that would make me a super hero the way Carter Nash did on CN. Stanley Beamish was smaller, weaker and more naive than most adults. Just like me.

Besides I don't think William Daniels had much enthusiasm for the role of Captain Nice, and that comes through in his performance. I'm sure most of the cast members on Mr. Terrific would rather have been working elsewhere, but somehow the relationships between the four principles always entertained me.

neuroslicer · 10-29-2004, 11:55 AM

Yes I'm in search of Mr. Terrific too! I currently have on DVD the unaired pilot with Alan Young, the TV movie made of 4 episodes (The Pill Caper), and Stanley the Safecracker. I'd love to see Matchless (email me at neuroslicer@yahoo.com). I have a friend who has found a contact in Poland, of all places, who says he's got all 15 episodes (it aired in Poland???). I'll keep this board informed if I find all 15!

sbeamish · 10-29-2004, 05:06 PM

Have emailed you the information on this episode. Unless I screwed up the email procedure, which is possible. I'm a devout techno-phobe.
Leave a post if you didn't get my message, and I'll have my wife the expert take a whack at it.

tvfan0101 · 10-30-2004, 11:23 PM

Having only seen the unaired pilot for Mr. Terrific I really cannot judge the series. I have seen the first episode of Captain Nice, which I found entertaining.

I think both were a bit too campy, though, for their own good. There is campy and there is over-the-top campy. The latter is what caused the cancellation of these two shows before a full season had aired.

sbeamish · 10-31-2004, 10:47 AM

I don't know if I agree with that. I suppose you could say that Captain Nice was too campy for its own good. But, depending on how you define "campy", I think Mr. Terrific would fall into the category of just too goofy: more anchored in reality, but it's a goofy reality. Besides that, the alleged gags on MT generally don't have any real punch to them.

By the way, in an interview in Outre' magazine about two years back, Stephen Strimpell seems to infer that the network, or at least some people at the network, had it in for the show from the very beginning. They had pretty much decided the originally planned 17 episodes would be all that we would ever see of Mr. Terrific.

I understand that Mr. Terrific did get some pretty high ratings, thanks primarily to its cushy time slot between Gilligan's Island and The Lucy Show. Ofcourse you could probably say the same thing about Run, Buddy, Run: the show MT replaced. Captain Nice, on the other hand, ran opposite Lucy and did not fare nearly as well.

bencasey · 12-01-2004, 05:22 AM

Run Buddy Run actually had decent ratings. It had been decided to cancel the show early on and when the rating improved and they wanted to continue with it it was too late as they had already torn down the sets.

Now whats this about Mr. Terrific episodes taped in Poland?

sbeamish · 12-01-2004, 09:40 PM

I check this board nearly every day hoping that neuroslicer's friend comes through with these episodes. The question is: Are these eps in English with subtitles or dubbed into Polish?

I guess it really doesn't matter. I'd be willing to buy a set of them anyway I can get 'em.

sbeamish · 01-28-2005, 06:59 PM

Another member responded to my Trading Post search for Mr. Terrific and informed me that the dealer in Poland is a scammer. A friend of a dealer she knows sent money but never received his episodes. That stinks.

neuroslicer · 01-28-2005, 09:18 PM

Yes, my friend in California was scammed! Mr. Terrific flew the coop!
Neuroslicer
www.geocities.com/neuroslicer

sbeamish · 02-10-2005, 04:31 PM

As a long time member of the Sons of the Desert (the Laurel and Hardy organization) I have many "lodge brothers" who've been into film collecting for decades. One of them is also a well respected employee of CBS, and he's helped me with my collection several times in the past.
I haven't seen this guy for years, but I finally got around to e-mailing him about Mr. Terrific. He replied that CBS has retained no rights or materials from Mr. Terrific and that, "Universal will NOT provide copies to individuals and I'm 100% sure they will see no financial interest in manufacturing a home video release."
He believes that the only chance we have of ever seeing Mr. Terrific again is if some cable station like TVLand licenses the series.
So how about it?
What say we organize an e-mail campaign to get TVLand to run Mr. Terrific and Captain Nice while the station still has some interest in airing shows from the 60s?
Anybody got the address?

09-01-2004, 08:00 PM	#1
neuroslicer Member Occasional Poster Join Date: Sep 01, 2004 Posts: 85	Captain Nice and Mr. Terrific I have recently looked at all 15 episodes of Captain Nice, created by none other than Buck Henry in 1967 on the coattails of the Adam West/Batman phenom. This show was hilarious, quite reminiscent of Get Smart, also a Buck Henry creation. Why it only lasted one season I haven't a clue! Mr. Terrific, another flying superhero that aired a half earlier on the same night, doesn't hold quite the charm with me as it did when I was 8 but it's still great to see it again! neuroslicer@yahoo.com

01-28-2005, 09:18 PM	#11
neuroslicer Member Occasional Poster Join Date: Sep 01, 2004 Posts: 85	Mr. Terrific is not in Poland Yes, my friend in California was scammed! Mr. Terrific flew the coop! Neuroslicer www.geocities.com/neuroslicer

02-10-2005, 04:31 PM	#12
sbeamish Member Frequent Poster Join Date: Oct 28, 2004 Location: Staten Island, NY Posts: 296	CBS comes up empty As a long time member of the Sons of the Desert (the Laurel and Hardy organization) I have many "lodge brothers" who've been into film collecting for decades. One of them is also a well respected employee of CBS, and he's helped me with my collection several times in the past. I haven't seen this guy for years, but I finally got around to e-mailing him about Mr. Terrific. He replied that CBS has retained no rights or materials from Mr. Terrific and that, "Universal will NOT provide copies to individuals and I'm 100% sure they will see no financial interest in manufacturing a home video release." He believes that the only chance we have of ever seeing Mr. Terrific again is if some cable station like TVLand licenses the series. So how about it? What say we organize an e-mail campaign to get TVLand to run Mr. Terrific and Captain Nice while the station still has some interest in airing shows from the 60s? Anybody got the address?

09-13-2004, 09:51 AM	#2
bencasey Member Senior Member Join Date: Dec 29, 2001 Location: Long Beach Posts: 1,692	Captain Nice was a pretty good show. I haven't seen Mr. Terrific, other than the pieced together movie made from a few episodes of the show.

10-29-2004, 11:39 AM	#3
sbeamish Member Frequent Poster Join Date: Oct 28, 2004 Location: Staten Island, NY Posts: 296	I recently added the Mr. Terrific aired pilot "Matchless" and the Captain Nice episode "That Thing" to my collection. The CN episodes have, ofcourse, been around on the bootleg market for years. MT, on the other hand, is the proverbial needle in the hay stack. I loved both shows as a kid but always preferred Mr. Terrific. I still do even though the gags on Captain Nice are stronger. (But still not up to the Get Smart level.) The MT premise probably appealed to me. I knew I would never be smart enough to invent anything that would make me a super hero the way Carter Nash did on CN. Stanley Beamish was smaller, weaker and more naive than most adults. Just like me. Besides I don't think William Daniels had much enthusiasm for the role of Captain Nice, and that comes through in his performance. I'm sure most of the cast members on Mr. Terrific would rather have been working elsewhere, but somehow the relationships between the four principles always entertained me.

10-29-2004, 11:55 AM	#4
neuroslicer Member Occasional Poster Join Date: Sep 01, 2004 Posts: 85	Yes I'm in search of Mr. Terrific too! I currently have on DVD the unaired pilot with Alan Young, the TV movie made of 4 episodes (The Pill Caper), and Stanley the Safecracker. I'd love to see Matchless (email me at neuroslicer@yahoo.com). I have a friend who has found a contact in Poland, of all places, who says he's got all 15 episodes (it aired in Poland???). I'll keep this board informed if I find all 15!

10-29-2004, 05:06 PM	#5
sbeamish Member Frequent Poster Join Date: Oct 28, 2004 Location: Staten Island, NY Posts: 296	Have emailed you the information on this episode. Unless I screwed up the email procedure, which is possible. I'm a devout techno-phobe. Leave a post if you didn't get my message, and I'll have my wife the expert take a whack at it.

10-30-2004, 11:23 PM	#6
tvfan0101 Member Forum Regular Join Date: Sep 29, 2003 Posts: 961	Having only seen the unaired pilot for Mr. Terrific I really cannot judge the series. I have seen the first episode of Captain Nice, which I found entertaining. I think both were a bit too campy, though, for their own good. There is campy and there is over-the-top campy. The latter is what caused the cancellation of these two shows before a full season had aired.

10-31-2004, 10:47 AM	#7
sbeamish Member Frequent Poster Join Date: Oct 28, 2004 Location: Staten Island, NY Posts: 296	I don't know if I agree with that. I suppose you could say that Captain Nice was too campy for its own good. But, depending on how you define "campy", I think Mr. Terrific would fall into the category of just too goofy: more anchored in reality, but it's a goofy reality. Besides that, the alleged gags on MT generally don't have any real punch to them. By the way, in an interview in Outre' magazine about two years back, Stephen Strimpell seems to infer that the network, or at least some people at the network, had it in for the show from the very beginning. They had pretty much decided the originally planned 17 episodes would be all that we would ever see of Mr. Terrific. I understand that Mr. Terrific did get some pretty high ratings, thanks primarily to its cushy time slot between Gilligan's Island and The Lucy Show. Ofcourse you could probably say the same thing about Run, Buddy, Run: the show MT replaced. Captain Nice, on the other hand, ran opposite Lucy and did not fare nearly as well.

12-01-2004, 05:22 AM	#8
bencasey Member Senior Member Join Date: Dec 29, 2001 Location: Long Beach Posts: 1,692	Run Buddy Run actually had decent ratings. It had been decided to cancel the show early on and when the rating improved and they wanted to continue with it it was too late as they had already torn down the sets. Now whats this about Mr. Terrific episodes taped in Poland?

12-01-2004, 09:40 PM	#9
sbeamish Member Frequent Poster Join Date: Oct 28, 2004 Location: Staten Island, NY Posts: 296	I check this board nearly every day hoping that neuroslicer's friend comes through with these episodes. The question is: Are these eps in English with subtitles or dubbed into Polish? I guess it really doesn't matter. I'd be willing to buy a set of them anyway I can get 'em.

01-28-2005, 06:59 PM	#10
sbeamish Member Frequent Poster Join Date: Oct 28, 2004 Location: Staten Island, NY Posts: 296	Another member responded to my Trading Post search for Mr. Terrific and informed me that the dealer in Poland is a scammer. A friend of a dealer she knows sent money but never received his episodes. That stinks.