According to The Hollywood Reporter, iconic TV producer Glen A. Larson has passed away from esophageal cancer. He was 77 years old.
Born on January. 3, 1937, Glen Albert Larson first found success as a singer in The Four Preps during the ‘50s. While he was a member of the band, Larson appeared on “The Ed Sullivan Show” and “American Bandstand” in addition to a world tour. But in 1966, Larson shifted his career ambitions to television and sold an episode of “The Fugitive.”
Larson followed that debut by a meteoric rise on “It Takes a Thief,” where he became a producer before creating his first TV series, “Alias Smith and Jones.” Larson went on to produce “Quincy, M.E.,” “B.J. and The Bear,” “The Fall Guy,” and “The Six Million Dollar Man.”
Among genre fans, Larson is best known for creating “Knight Rider” and “Battlestar Galactica” in addition the TV adaptation of “Buck Rogers in the 25th Century.” However, Larson’s biggest success came as the co-creator of “Magnum P.I.” with Donald P. Bellisario. That series featured Tom Selleck as Thomas Magnum and it ran for eight seasons on CBS.
During his decades long stint in television, Larson revisited his musical roots by contributing to the themes for “Knight Rider” and “The Fall Guy.”
CraveOnline extends its condolences to Larson’s family, friends and fans all over the world.
Glen A. Larson's Greatest TV Hits
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It Takes a Thief (1968)
Glen A. Larson made his writing debut on “It Takes a Thief,” which also served as the TV debut for actor Robert Wagner. In the series, Wagner played Alexander Mundy, an expert thief who was coerced into working for the government in exchange for his freedom.
During his time on the series, Larson rose to become an associate producer and a producer.
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Alias Smith and Jones (1971)
“Alias Smith and Jones” has the distinction of being the first TV series created by Larson. It was a western that starred Pete Duel and Ben Murphy as as Hannibal Heyes and Jedediah "Kid" Curry, respectively.
In the series, Hannibal and ”Kid” were outlaws who were attempting to go straight. “Alias Smith and Jones” seemed to clearly be aping aspects of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. And it wouldn’t be the only time that Larson used a popular movie to influence his TV shows.
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The Six Million Dollar Man (1973)
Larson was an executive producer on two of the TV movies that launched “The Six Million Dollar Man” on TV, but he departed the project before it became a weekly series.
Loosely inspired by Martin Caidin’s novel Cyborg, “The Six Million Dollar” featured Lee Majors as former astronaut Steve Austin, whose life was spared by cutting edge 1970s technology that essentially gave him super powers. It was a massive hit for five seasons and it also spawned “The Bionic Woman.”
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Quincy, M.E. (1976)
“Quincy, M.E.” is one of Larson’s biggest hits on TV, despite the fact that he apparently didn’t get along with series star, Jack Klugman.
“Quincy, M.E.” helped pave the way for modern TV procedurals over eight seasons as Klugman’s title character went above and beyond his job as a medical examiner to solve murders.
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The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries (1977)
For three seasons, Larson mashed together The Hardy Boys novels with the Nancy Drew stories (both created by Edward Stratemeyer) into a single anthology series that would alternate between the Hardys and Nancy (Pamela Sue Martin). But some episodes would feature all three characters together.
Parker Stevenson and Shaun Cassidy got the bulk of the attention as Frank and Joe Hardy. When Martin left the series during the second season, Janet Louise Johnson took over the role of Nancy Drew for a few episodes... before she was written out of the series for good.
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Battlestar Galactica (1978)
Perhaps the most famous Glen A. Larson TV series, “Battlestar Galactica” borrowed (or arguably, “stole”) aspects of the then recently released Star Wars. When humanity was nearly wiped out by the villainous Cylons, the survivors were protected by the last Battlestar as they attempted to find the 13th tribe of humanity... on Earth.
Richard Hatch, Dirk Benedict and Lorne Greene headlined the series for its single season on ABC. “Battlestar Galactica” found a following in syndication and on home video before the series was rebooted in 2004 on Syfy.
For several years, Larson attempted to get a “Battlestar Galactica” feature film made because he retained the rights to it. But that project never materialized.
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B. J. and the Bear (1979)
Seemingly inspired by Smokey and the Bandit, Larson’s “B.J. and The Bear” followed professional trucker Billie Joe McKay (Greg Evigan) and his best friend, a chimpanzee named Bear.
Sure, we laugh now. But “B.J. and the Bear” ran for three seasons and it even got a spinoff series for B.J.’s nemesis, Sheriff Lobo (Claude Akins).
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Buck Rogers in the 25th Century (1979)
The quick end of “Battlestar Galactica” didn’t deter Larson from trying his luck with sci-fi again. This time, Larson adapted Philip Francis Nowlan’s comic strip “Buck Rogers in the 25th Century” as a TV series, with Gil Gerard as Buck and Erin Gray as Wilma Deering, a very Leia-like heroine.
“Buck Rogers” actually got two seasons out of NBC. But declining ratings ended Buck’s life in the future.
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The Misadventures of Sheriff Lobo (1979)
At the height of “B.J. and the Bear’s” popularity, Sheriff Elroy P. Lobo (Claude Akins) got his own show and he was essentially reborn as a more heroic and reformed character. Lobo’s new sidekicks were Deputies Perkins (Mills Watson) and Birdwell "Birdie" Hawkins (Brian Kerwin).
“The Misadventures of Sheriff Lobo” was actually fairly successful in its first season. However, the second season was greatly retooled by NBC and the show was doomed shortly thereafter.
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Magnum, P.I. (1980)
“Magnum, P.I.” was one of the biggest hits in Larson’s career. But while he co-created the series, he left after the pilot episode and his collaborator, Donald P. Bellisario took over.
For a generation of TV fans, “Magnum, P.I.” was one of the defining shows of the ‘80s. Tom Selleck became a star for his turn as private investigator Thomas Magnum. Although the series’ Hawaiian backdrop and iconic Ferrari also enticed viewers for eight seasons.
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The Fall Guy (1981)
Larson’s next series, “The Fall Guy” reunited him with “The Six Million Dollar Man” star Lee Majors. On this show, Majors portrayed Hollywood stuntman Colt Seavers, who moonlighted as a bounty hunter to make ends meet.
Attempts to reboot “The Fall Guy” as a film have yet to come to fruition. Personally, I don’t think that anyone can do a Lee Majors role better than Lee Majors. But that won’t stop someone from trying.
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Knight Rider (1982)
Long before he patrolled the beaches, judged America’s talent or failed to eat a cheeseburger off of the floor, David Hasselhoff starred as Michael Knight in “Knight Rider.”
Arguably, the talking Pontiac Firebird Trans Am dubbed the Knight Industries Two Thousand (or K.I.T.T.) was the real star of the show. There have been a few attempts to reboot “Knight Rider,” but nothing has quite matched the charm of the original series.
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Manimal (1983)
They can’t all be hits. Exhibit A: is “Manimal,” Larson’s short lived series about Jonathan Chase (Simon MacCorkindale), a doctor who could change into any animal that he desired.
And what did Chase do with these abilities? He solved crimes, of course. Because in the ‘80s, even the genre shows had to have some procedural elements.
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Automan (1983)
If you’ve ever wondered what Tron would be like if it was an ‘80s crime procedural, Larson had the answer with “Automan.”
The premise is so hilariously bad that I kind of love it. Police Officer and expert programmer Walter Nebicher (Desi Arnaz, Jr.) created a program called Automan (Chuck Wagner) that could enter the real world and help him fight crime. Automan even had a secret identity as “Otto J. Man,” which still makes me laugh.
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The Highwayman (1988)
In the nadir of Larson’s career, he created “The Highwayman,” a bizarre cross between “Knight Rider” and Mad Max that featured former Flash Gordon star, Sam J. Jones as a lawman in a semi-apocalyptic future.
Oh yes... and in the future, these lawmen drove high tech big rig trucks.
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Night Man (1997)
One of Larson’s last modest hits was “Night Man,” an adaptation of Steve Englehart’s comic book superhero from the Ultraverse. The premise was that musician Johnny Domino (Matt McColm) lost the ability to sleep after being struck by lightning. Now armed with telepathic powers that could sense evil, Johnny built a high tech superhero suit and became the Night Man.
This show ran for two seasons in syndication and it even brought back Simon MacCorkindale as Jonathan Chase from “Manimal” for a crossover episode.
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Team Knight Rider (1997)
During the first attempt to reboot Knight Rider (not counting the Knight Rider 2000 TV movie), Larson collaborated with Rick Copp and David A. Goodman to create “Team Knight Rider,” a series that had a five member team, each of whom had a talking vehicle.
Michael Knight was occasionally referred to on the series, and he even made an appearance in the series... from behind, as the actor was obviously not David Hasselhoff. This show was over after one season and it was the last weekly TV series that Larson actively worked on.
