Make sure you read this excellent interview with Duncan Regehr.
Duncan Regehr talks about his role as Zorro
Showing posts with label New World Zorro. Show all posts
Showing posts with label New World Zorro. Show all posts
Saturday, December 1, 2012
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
The Original Pilot for the New World Zorro Series
This is a message that I wrote earlier and published to the New World Zorro group. Here are my thoughts on the original pilot starring Patrick James that is a bonus feature on the New World Zorro DVD set.
Since I can finally see the pilot for myself, I have to start with the Sandra Curtis Zorro book.
She stated, "The plot involved numerous killings and generally lacked humor... Gertz felt that the music was terrible and that the original casting was by and large a disgrace."
While the killing of Felipe's mother was shocking, I would say that it is important to the plot as far as getting Felipe with Antonio. The soldier was then killed by Antonio, which in a way was necessary since Antonio didn't need witnesses as to how he had behaved. However, Antonio was not thinking ahead in that moment and was killing just to be killing. With that said, I hardly feel that the episode had "numerous killings." To me, it seems typical of what I have seen in the average Zorro film and less than some. The first Banderas film was quite violent, much more so than this pilot.
I agree with Gertz that the music is not good and that the cast seems uninteresting with no personality whatsoever.
Sandra Curtis also wrote, "Antonio played a clumsy scholar with glasses who heroes were da Vinci and Cervantes."
What glasses? This sounds like another inconsistency in that book which was full of mistakes in the New World Zorro section. Perhaps Antonio was going to whip out those glasses in a future episode.
My primary interest in this pilot is in seeing how it is indeed an early version of our show. It is like a rough draft of an essay. Some of the important key aspects of our show are in the pilot. We have the Z that cuts in between the names of the cast. I'd have to watch a few shows again, but I'm pretty sure that a few quotes were used in some of the shows almost word-for-word.
For instance:
"So the pupil outplays the master."
"If this is a dream, I pray God not to let me wake."
"I am not your dear. I am not your anything."
The hair styles seem much more old-fashioned in this pilot. By making the hair styles modern, the series had a much wider appeal to viewers. It also made the series less historically accurate, but a series needs to appeal to modern viewers in order to be successful.
Sandra Curtis calls Maria "spoiled," but I can't tell in this pilot. We'd have to see more of the original concept. She is obviously wealthy and dislikes Antonio, especially since Antonio insults her and she overhears. This could have been interesting with the love interest hating Antonio yet loving Zorro at the same time.
I didn't like the way Antonio spoke to Felipe in the secret cave. While the device is explosive, he seemed a bit harsh. Regehr did a better job with Felipe in that regard.
The lighting inside the hacienda when Antonio greets his father is awful.
Antonio wears the Zorro disguise which has bullet holes so that people can see the bullet holes. I have watched the pilot twice and not seen them. I admit, though, that I did not try very hard to spot them. Has anyone seen them?
The personalities are very undeveloped in this pilot, but this was also true for the first part of the series. It took Regehr and the rest of the cast time to develop their roles fully.
It was not a disaster, but it would not have made for a very memorable version of Zorro. I think the series would have been at least a little better than what we saw in the pilot, but it probably would not have lasted past one season.
One last important point is that in this pilot, Diego dies and Antonio takes on the role of Zorro. All versions of Zorro fit into two categories. They either have the original Zorro, Diego, or they have another person as Zorro.
I have observed that the better versions of Zorro always have Diego in the role and that the versions which change up the plot and make Zorro someone else are never quite as good. That one change from the pilot having Diego die to the series having Diego as Zorro saved it from possible ruination.
Since I can finally see the pilot for myself, I have to start with the Sandra Curtis Zorro book.
She stated, "The plot involved numerous killings and generally lacked humor... Gertz felt that the music was terrible and that the original casting was by and large a disgrace."
While the killing of Felipe's mother was shocking, I would say that it is important to the plot as far as getting Felipe with Antonio. The soldier was then killed by Antonio, which in a way was necessary since Antonio didn't need witnesses as to how he had behaved. However, Antonio was not thinking ahead in that moment and was killing just to be killing. With that said, I hardly feel that the episode had "numerous killings." To me, it seems typical of what I have seen in the average Zorro film and less than some. The first Banderas film was quite violent, much more so than this pilot.
I agree with Gertz that the music is not good and that the cast seems uninteresting with no personality whatsoever.
Sandra Curtis also wrote, "Antonio played a clumsy scholar with glasses who heroes were da Vinci and Cervantes."
What glasses? This sounds like another inconsistency in that book which was full of mistakes in the New World Zorro section. Perhaps Antonio was going to whip out those glasses in a future episode.
My primary interest in this pilot is in seeing how it is indeed an early version of our show. It is like a rough draft of an essay. Some of the important key aspects of our show are in the pilot. We have the Z that cuts in between the names of the cast. I'd have to watch a few shows again, but I'm pretty sure that a few quotes were used in some of the shows almost word-for-word.
For instance:
"So the pupil outplays the master."
"If this is a dream, I pray God not to let me wake."
"I am not your dear. I am not your anything."
The hair styles seem much more old-fashioned in this pilot. By making the hair styles modern, the series had a much wider appeal to viewers. It also made the series less historically accurate, but a series needs to appeal to modern viewers in order to be successful.
Sandra Curtis calls Maria "spoiled," but I can't tell in this pilot. We'd have to see more of the original concept. She is obviously wealthy and dislikes Antonio, especially since Antonio insults her and she overhears. This could have been interesting with the love interest hating Antonio yet loving Zorro at the same time.
I didn't like the way Antonio spoke to Felipe in the secret cave. While the device is explosive, he seemed a bit harsh. Regehr did a better job with Felipe in that regard.
The lighting inside the hacienda when Antonio greets his father is awful.
Antonio wears the Zorro disguise which has bullet holes so that people can see the bullet holes. I have watched the pilot twice and not seen them. I admit, though, that I did not try very hard to spot them. Has anyone seen them?
The personalities are very undeveloped in this pilot, but this was also true for the first part of the series. It took Regehr and the rest of the cast time to develop their roles fully.
It was not a disaster, but it would not have made for a very memorable version of Zorro. I think the series would have been at least a little better than what we saw in the pilot, but it probably would not have lasted past one season.
One last important point is that in this pilot, Diego dies and Antonio takes on the role of Zorro. All versions of Zorro fit into two categories. They either have the original Zorro, Diego, or they have another person as Zorro.
I have observed that the better versions of Zorro always have Diego in the role and that the versions which change up the plot and make Zorro someone else are never quite as good. That one change from the pilot having Diego die to the series having Diego as Zorro saved it from possible ruination.
Thursday, July 29, 2010
For Information on the New World Zorro...
Visit my website:
New World Zorro
I no longer am interested in adding new information to the site, except for some recent necessary changes about the official release on DVD. However, during the years that I built the site, I was very meticulous and thorough about my information. It is the place to go for correct information about the series. I am not being arrogant, and I am aware that I could have something wrong somewhere. But I know how much work I put into the site, and I know how carefully I cross-checked information.
I mention this because a point came up recently in this blog. Someone commented that it is wrong to state that the series aired from 1990 to 1993, and I assume this comment was directed at the DVD title suggestion that included those years. I made that title suggestion.
It was stated that the correct years are 1990 to 1992, and that we can look up those dates on various sites. I have no idea who has the years as 1990 to 1992, but that information is wrong.
First off, the fourth season was the only season I saw as the shows aired, and I wrote down the dates. The series ended in January 1993. Pam Poland, another fan, wrote down the dates for all four seasons as they aired. She and I agreed on the dates for the fourth season when we compared notes years ago.
As to Pam's dates, I knew she had them right, but I also cross-checked them. At one point, I bought most back issues of TV Guide for 1990 to 1993 and cross-checked dates. I do have the correct dates listed on my site on the episode lists. The Family Channel aired new episodes from January 5, 1990 until January 30, 1993. The run of the series was three years and three weeks.
When the point was brought up that the dates of 1990 to 1993 were wrong, I knew I was the one who stated them and figured that my website must contradict those dates. I have thought very little about the New World Zorro series during the last five years. I thought that I was remembering wrong. Pam pointed out the correct end date, and I checked my site. Sure enough, my site has the correct end date.
When I first built my site, I mentioned that one of the writers for the series, Philip John Taylor, guest starred in the episode "Whereabouts." Someone informed me that I was wrong and pointed out the two different pages on IMDB for a writer, Philip John Taylor, and an actor, Philip Taylor. I was chagrined and removed the information from my site.
A few years later, Robert L. McCullough, producer for the series, answered some fan questions. He mentioned that Philip John Taylor was in the episode "Whereabouts" as a writer as an inside joke. I then added my original information back to my site. What this proves is that IMDB does have incorrect information. I just checked, and writer Philip John Taylor is still not credited as being in that one episode, yet he was.
I also took a lot of criticism for years about the alcalde's name Luis Ramone. I was probably the only person who thought the name was Ramone, and everyone else thought it was Ramon. I used the sign in "It's a Wonderful Zorro" as proof. I was told that the name was misspelled in that sign and that production did not bother to correct it. While this show was slipshod at times (see the electric light bulbs in the hacienda in "Death and Taxes" and remember the show is set in 1820), I thought that it was going a bit too far to suggest they would misspell a primary character's name.
When I finally obtained many of the scripts, I found that the name is Ramone all through the scripts. I shared that information and was told that the name must have been spelled phonetically so that the actors would know how to pronounce it. Who on earth does not know how to pronounce Ramon? It is not an uncommon name. People were grasping at anything in order to prove me wrong about the spelling of the name.
By the way, I do not care how people spell the name in their fan fiction stories. Of course Ramon is correct for Spanish, and I believe that most of the stories use that spelling. It is my duty to bring forth information about the actual television production, so for me, the name is Ramone.
I also have a conviction about a certain extra who appeared in many shows, but I have been unable to prove it. Of course I am the only one who believes what I do, and I hope someday I can prove myself either right or wrong, because it bothers me.
Just know that I am someone who is very thorough, so my site is a good source of information. I have far from all of the information that is available, but what I do have from years ago should be correct.
New World Zorro
I no longer am interested in adding new information to the site, except for some recent necessary changes about the official release on DVD. However, during the years that I built the site, I was very meticulous and thorough about my information. It is the place to go for correct information about the series. I am not being arrogant, and I am aware that I could have something wrong somewhere. But I know how much work I put into the site, and I know how carefully I cross-checked information.
I mention this because a point came up recently in this blog. Someone commented that it is wrong to state that the series aired from 1990 to 1993, and I assume this comment was directed at the DVD title suggestion that included those years. I made that title suggestion.
It was stated that the correct years are 1990 to 1992, and that we can look up those dates on various sites. I have no idea who has the years as 1990 to 1992, but that information is wrong.
First off, the fourth season was the only season I saw as the shows aired, and I wrote down the dates. The series ended in January 1993. Pam Poland, another fan, wrote down the dates for all four seasons as they aired. She and I agreed on the dates for the fourth season when we compared notes years ago.
As to Pam's dates, I knew she had them right, but I also cross-checked them. At one point, I bought most back issues of TV Guide for 1990 to 1993 and cross-checked dates. I do have the correct dates listed on my site on the episode lists. The Family Channel aired new episodes from January 5, 1990 until January 30, 1993. The run of the series was three years and three weeks.
When the point was brought up that the dates of 1990 to 1993 were wrong, I knew I was the one who stated them and figured that my website must contradict those dates. I have thought very little about the New World Zorro series during the last five years. I thought that I was remembering wrong. Pam pointed out the correct end date, and I checked my site. Sure enough, my site has the correct end date.
When I first built my site, I mentioned that one of the writers for the series, Philip John Taylor, guest starred in the episode "Whereabouts." Someone informed me that I was wrong and pointed out the two different pages on IMDB for a writer, Philip John Taylor, and an actor, Philip Taylor. I was chagrined and removed the information from my site.
A few years later, Robert L. McCullough, producer for the series, answered some fan questions. He mentioned that Philip John Taylor was in the episode "Whereabouts" as a writer as an inside joke. I then added my original information back to my site. What this proves is that IMDB does have incorrect information. I just checked, and writer Philip John Taylor is still not credited as being in that one episode, yet he was.
I also took a lot of criticism for years about the alcalde's name Luis Ramone. I was probably the only person who thought the name was Ramone, and everyone else thought it was Ramon. I used the sign in "It's a Wonderful Zorro" as proof. I was told that the name was misspelled in that sign and that production did not bother to correct it. While this show was slipshod at times (see the electric light bulbs in the hacienda in "Death and Taxes" and remember the show is set in 1820), I thought that it was going a bit too far to suggest they would misspell a primary character's name.
When I finally obtained many of the scripts, I found that the name is Ramone all through the scripts. I shared that information and was told that the name must have been spelled phonetically so that the actors would know how to pronounce it. Who on earth does not know how to pronounce Ramon? It is not an uncommon name. People were grasping at anything in order to prove me wrong about the spelling of the name.
By the way, I do not care how people spell the name in their fan fiction stories. Of course Ramon is correct for Spanish, and I believe that most of the stories use that spelling. It is my duty to bring forth information about the actual television production, so for me, the name is Ramone.
I also have a conviction about a certain extra who appeared in many shows, but I have been unable to prove it. Of course I am the only one who believes what I do, and I hope someday I can prove myself either right or wrong, because it bothers me.
Just know that I am someone who is very thorough, so my site is a good source of information. I have far from all of the information that is available, but what I do have from years ago should be correct.
Monday, June 7, 2010
Important: New World Zorro Survey
There is a possibility of having some type of New World Zorro finale, probably a radio drama, created. I do not know the specific details, but there is an issue which could be resolved depending upon the results of a survey. Please answer the survey by responding to this post. Below, I quote Daryl with his request.
In what feels like the never ending quest to bring about a NWZ finale I need to put together one more piece of information for the powers that be. To keep this short and to the point I NEED everyone to list the characters/actors in the order of favorite to least favorite. I'm asking everyone to please participate.
And please don't just say I love them all or list just one or two. Please list everyone starting with your absolute favorite then your next favorite, then your next favorite, etc. To make things quicker I'll post an example with each person numbered. You could just list the numbers of each corresponding person if you like.
Thanks for your help.
Daryl
Example:
1. Diego-Zorro/Duncan Regehr
2. Victoria/Patrice Martinez
3. Alejandro/Henry Darrow
4. Sgt. Mendoza/James Victor
5. Alcalde Ramon/Michael Tylo
6. Alcalde de Soto/John Hertzler
7. Felipe/Juan Diego Botto
8. Alejando/Efram Zimbalist Jr.
9. Toronado
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