Human Target (1992 TV series)
Encyclopedia
Human Target is an American action drama
television series broadcast by ABC
in the United States. It is based on the comic book character of the same title
created by Len Wein
and Carmine Infantino
, and developed for television by Danny Bilson
and Paul DeMeo. The seven-episode series premiered on July 20, 1992, and last aired on August 29, 1992. This series is unrelated to the 2010 Fox television series of the same name, also based on the Human Target character.
), a Vietnam War vet turned bodyguard and private investigator who uses advanced technology and sophisticated makeup to assume the identity of his client, becoming a human target. In a departure from the original comic book stories, Chance flies from job to job in a large, gizmo-laden stealth aircraft known as the Blackwing. Additionally, he is assisted by computer expert Philo Marsden (Kirk Baltz
), Blackwing pilot Jeff Carlyle (Sami Chester), and former CIA operative Libby Page (Signy Coleman
). Page coordinated Chance's missions, Carlyle also served as cook and chauffeur, while Marsden created new gadgets and developed the masks Chance used to impersonate his clients. Chance took an unusual approach to compensation for his services: ten percent of his client's annual income ("whether you're a busboy or the king of England"). One reviewer described the show as "50 percent Mission: Impossible
(Martin Landau's master of disguise character) and 50 percent Quantum Leap (jumping into other people's lives at moments of crisis)."
and The Sentinel
. The original pilot for the series was in filmed in 1990
but ABC
declined to pick up the series for the 1990-91 television season and this pilot never aired. In the original unaired pilot, musician Clarence Clemons
who was trying to establish himself as an actor, played Chance's pilot.
Harvey Shephard, then the president of Warner Bros. Television
, told The New York Times
in December 1991 that Human Target was intended for both American audiences and the international television market, saying "Hopefully, it's a formula for all tastes that could have a strong foreign market."
The show was finally picked up in October 1991 by ABC as a seven-episode midseason replacement
series, eventually airing in July and August 1992 to low ratings and poor critical reception. The debut episode aired on Monday, July 20, 1992, before moving to its regular Saturday night timeslot for the following six episodes. The seventh and final episode aired on Saturday, August 29, 1992.
produced a 48-page one-shot titled The Human Target Special #1, marketed as a tie-in
to the then-upcoming television show. (The comic's cover advertised that it was "Coming soon to ABC-TV!") The comic has Chance and his team protecting a DEA
agent from assassination. It was written by Mark Verheiden
, with pencils by Rick Burchett
and inks by Dick Giordano
.
of Entertainment Weekly
graded the series a "C-", describing the plot of the aired pilot episode as "paper-thin" and that the series as a whole "seems campy in a dumb way, with stilted dialogue and stiff action scenes". Writing in the Chicago Tribune
, Rick Kogan
called the series "one of the goofiest action-adventure shows you'll ever see". Terry Kelleher's review in Newsday
complained that "the strangest aspect is that the actor playing [Chance]'s client [...] winds up grabbing more screen time than [series star Rick] Springfield". Syndicated columnist Jon Burlingame of United Features credited the show with "some interesting effects" but called the drama itself "pretty tired", lamenting that "the outrageously appropriate comic-book style of The Flash" was "completely absent". Lon Grahnke of the Chicago Sun-Times
found "part-time pop singer and [...] matinee idol" Springfield "hard to believe in the title role" as a retired Special Forces commando. (In real life, Springfield did spend time in Vietnam during the war, but as part of an Australian band entertaining American troops in 1969.)
Drama
Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action" , which is derived from "to do","to act" . The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of production and a...
television series broadcast by ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
in the United States. It is based on the comic book character of the same title
Human Target
The Human Target is the name of two fictional comic book characters that have appeared in books published by DC Comics. The first is Fred Venable, who appears in Detective Comics #201 , by Edmond Hamilton and Sheldon Moldoff....
created by Len Wein
Len Wein
Len Wein is an American comic book writer and editor best known for co-creating DC Comics' Swamp Thing and Marvel Comics' Wolverine, and for helping revive the Marvel superhero team the X-Men...
and Carmine Infantino
Carmine Infantino
Carmine Infantino Carmine Infantino Carmine Infantino (born May 24, 1925, in Brooklyn, New York is an American comic book artist and editor who was a major force in the Silver Age of Comic Books...
, and developed for television by Danny Bilson
Danny Bilson
Daniel "Danny" Bilson is an American writer, director, and producer of movies, television, videogames, and comic books. With his writing partner Paul DeMeo, Danny Bilson wrote the movie The Rocketeer , the video game James Bond 007: Everything or Nothing , the television series The Sentinel ,...
and Paul DeMeo. The seven-episode series premiered on July 20, 1992, and last aired on August 29, 1992. This series is unrelated to the 2010 Fox television series of the same name, also based on the Human Target character.
Synopsis
The series follows the adventures of Christopher Chance (Rick SpringfieldRick Springfield
Rick Springfield is an Australian-born singer-songwriter, musician, and actor. He was a member of pop rock group Zoot from 1969 to 1971 and then started his solo career with his début single "Speak to the Sky" reaching the top 10 in Australia. In mid-1972, he relocated to the United States...
), a Vietnam War vet turned bodyguard and private investigator who uses advanced technology and sophisticated makeup to assume the identity of his client, becoming a human target. In a departure from the original comic book stories, Chance flies from job to job in a large, gizmo-laden stealth aircraft known as the Blackwing. Additionally, he is assisted by computer expert Philo Marsden (Kirk Baltz
Kirk Baltz
Kirk Baltz is an American actor who has starred in film and on television.-Career:Baltz is best known for his role as Marvin Nash, an LAPD police officer in the famous torture scene of the 1992 Quentin Tarantino film Reservoir Dogs. Kirk also starred in another film written by Tarantino, 1994's...
), Blackwing pilot Jeff Carlyle (Sami Chester), and former CIA operative Libby Page (Signy Coleman
Signy Coleman
Signy Coleman , sometimes credited asSigney Coleman, is an American actress.-Background:Coleman grew up in Bolinas, California and attended Tamalpais High School in Mill Valley...
). Page coordinated Chance's missions, Carlyle also served as cook and chauffeur, while Marsden created new gadgets and developed the masks Chance used to impersonate his clients. Chance took an unusual approach to compensation for his services: ten percent of his client's annual income ("whether you're a busboy or the king of England"). One reviewer described the show as "50 percent Mission: Impossible
Mission: Impossible
Mission: Impossible is an American television series which was created and initially produced by Bruce Geller. It chronicled the missions of a team of secret American government agents known as the Impossible Missions Force . The leader of the team was Jim Phelps, played by Peter Graves, except in...
(Martin Landau's master of disguise character) and 50 percent Quantum Leap (jumping into other people's lives at moments of crisis)."
Cast
- Rick SpringfieldRick SpringfieldRick Springfield is an Australian-born singer-songwriter, musician, and actor. He was a member of pop rock group Zoot from 1969 to 1971 and then started his solo career with his début single "Speak to the Sky" reaching the top 10 in Australia. In mid-1972, he relocated to the United States...
as Christopher Chance - Kirk BaltzKirk BaltzKirk Baltz is an American actor who has starred in film and on television.-Career:Baltz is best known for his role as Marvin Nash, an LAPD police officer in the famous torture scene of the 1992 Quentin Tarantino film Reservoir Dogs. Kirk also starred in another film written by Tarantino, 1994's...
as Philo Marsden - Sami Chester as Jeff Carlyle
- Signy ColemanSigny ColemanSigny Coleman , sometimes credited asSigney Coleman, is an American actress.-Background:Coleman grew up in Bolinas, California and attended Tamalpais High School in Mill Valley...
as Libby Page
Episodes
| # | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | Production code |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Production
The show was created by Warner Brothers and Pet Fly Productions, producers of The FlashThe Flash (TV series)
The Flash is a 1990 American television series that starred John Wesley Shipp as the superhero, the Flash , and co-starred Amanda Pays. The series was developed from the DC Comics characters by the writing team of Danny Bilson and Paul De Meo, and produced by their company, Pet Fly Productions, in...
and The Sentinel
The Sentinel (TV series)
The Sentinel is a Canadian-produced television series that aired on UPN in the United States from 1996 to 1999. It premiered on March 20, 1996, and ran for 65 episodes . The series later reaired on Syfy.-Plot and characters:...
. The original pilot for the series was in filmed in 1990
1990 in television
For the American TV schedule, see: 1990-91 United States network television schedule.The year 1990 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1990.-Events:-Debuts:-1950s:...
but ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
declined to pick up the series for the 1990-91 television season and this pilot never aired. In the original unaired pilot, musician Clarence Clemons
Clarence Clemons
Clarence Anicholas Clemons, Jr. , also known as The Big Man, was an American musician and actor. From 1972 until his death, he was a prominent member of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band, playing the tenor saxophone. He released several solo albums and in 1985, had a hit single with "You're a...
who was trying to establish himself as an actor, played Chance's pilot.
Harvey Shephard, then the president of Warner Bros. Television
Warner Bros. Television
Warner Bros. Television is the television production arm of Warner Bros. Entertainment, itself part of Time Warner. Alongside CBS Television Studios, it serves as a television production arm of The CW Television Network , though it also produces shows for other networks, such as Shameless on...
, told The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
in December 1991 that Human Target was intended for both American audiences and the international television market, saying "Hopefully, it's a formula for all tastes that could have a strong foreign market."
The show was finally picked up in October 1991 by ABC as a seven-episode midseason replacement
Midseason replacement
In American and Canadian television, a midseason replacement is a television series that premieres in the second half of the traditional television season, usually between January and May...
series, eventually airing in July and August 1992 to low ratings and poor critical reception. The debut episode aired on Monday, July 20, 1992, before moving to its regular Saturday night timeslot for the following six episodes. The seventh and final episode aired on Saturday, August 29, 1992.
Tie-ins
In November 1991, DC ComicsDC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
produced a 48-page one-shot titled The Human Target Special #1, marketed as a tie-in
Tie-in
A tie-in is an authorized product based on a media property a company is releasing, such as a movie or video/DVD, computer game, video game, television program/television series, board game, web site, role-playing game or literary property...
to the then-upcoming television show. (The comic's cover advertised that it was "Coming soon to ABC-TV!") The comic has Chance and his team protecting a DEA
Drug Enforcement Administration
The Drug Enforcement Administration is a federal law enforcement agency under the United States Department of Justice, tasked with combating drug smuggling and use within the United States...
agent from assassination. It was written by Mark Verheiden
Mark Verheiden
Mark Verheiden is an American television, movie, and comic book writer. He is a co-executive producer for the television series Falling Skies for DreamWorks Television and the TNT Network.-Career:...
, with pencils by Rick Burchett
Rick Burchett
Rick Burchett is an American comic book artist known for his work on such characters as Batman and Superman.Burchett began his artistic career in St...
and inks by Dick Giordano
Dick Giordano
Richard Joseph "Dick" Giordano was an American comic book artist and editor best known for introducing Charlton Comics' "Action Heroes" stable of superheroes, and serving as executive editor of then–industry leader DC Comics...
.
Reception
Ken TuckerKen Tucker
Ken Tucker was an English footballer who played as a left winger....
of Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
graded the series a "C-", describing the plot of the aired pilot episode as "paper-thin" and that the series as a whole "seems campy in a dumb way, with stilted dialogue and stiff action scenes". Writing in the Chicago Tribune
Chicago Tribune
The Chicago Tribune is a major daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, and the flagship publication of the Tribune Company. Formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" , it remains the most read daily newspaper of the Chicago metropolitan area and the Great Lakes region and is...
, Rick Kogan
Rick Kogan
Rick Kogan is a Chicago newspaperman, a Chicago radio personality and a noted author.- Early life and education :A native of Chicago's Old Town neighborhood, Kogan was born the son of longtime Chicago newspaperman Herman Kogan and longtime Chicago literary and journalism fixture Marilew Kogan...
called the series "one of the goofiest action-adventure shows you'll ever see". Terry Kelleher's review in Newsday
Newsday
Newsday is a daily American newspaper that primarily serves Nassau and Suffolk counties and the New York City borough of Queens on Long Island, although it is sold throughout the New York metropolitan area...
complained that "the strangest aspect is that the actor playing [Chance]'s client [...] winds up grabbing more screen time than [series star Rick] Springfield". Syndicated columnist Jon Burlingame of United Features credited the show with "some interesting effects" but called the drama itself "pretty tired", lamenting that "the outrageously appropriate comic-book style of The Flash" was "completely absent". Lon Grahnke of the Chicago Sun-Times
Chicago Sun-Times
The Chicago Sun-Times is an American daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois. It is the flagship paper of the Sun-Times Media Group.-History:The Chicago Sun-Times is the oldest continuously published daily newspaper in the city...
found "part-time pop singer and [...] matinee idol" Springfield "hard to believe in the title role" as a retired Special Forces commando. (In real life, Springfield did spend time in Vietnam during the war, but as part of an Australian band entertaining American troops in 1969.)