31 replies to this topic

[Pikachu Racing]

Have there any TV shows in the past that put racing in the storyline?

I know McGyver did an episode. It was IMSA-like race at Watkins Glen and a driver and owner sabatoges a rival driver's car during a qualifying race causing' the car to crash and injured the driver. The driver and McGyver's boss wanted McGyver to drive the car but still have bad memories of a bad crash (used the clip of Chip Ganassi and Al, Jr. crash from Michigan from the 80's). He decide to drive the car. Meanwhile, the driver killed another rival driver, who was drunk, punching him out and the body landed in the fountain thinking the driver drowned. McGyver's boss manage to find a gem came from the driver's ring in the fountain. Cameras caught the owner sabatoging the car. What a case. In the race, McGyver came from last position and passed the driver in the last lap to win. The driver and owner are arrested. The original driver manage to recover from the injuries and sees for the first time since the crash.

There was Simpson's mockery on NASCAR racing including Maud Flander killed by T-shirt shooters.

[Enkei]

Most TV-shows didn't do a very good job at it. I can't remember one that came close to reality

[leegle]

'The Pretender' used the Stefan Johanson CART car I think with a similar plot. What was that show where the guy had only a limited time to live and was going all out to do it all? One episode of that had racing in it. Back in the seventies.

[Gerr]

Leegle,I think that was "Run For Your Life" with Ben Gazzara. IIRC there was an episode filmed on location at the Monaco GP(I think the GP was in the opening credits)and I remember one episode with Mel Torme as a Playboy racing driver humbled by Gazzara.
There was a show broadcast here in Canada on the French network called,I think "Formula 1". I only saw a couple of episodes(it was a serial),it was a soap about driver/team rivalries(Benneton was a Canadian owned team!). It had good car/race footage. It was a Quebec TV(CBC)French TV co-production.

[leegle]

Yes that's the one! Of course I missed that episode and was reminded every week by the opening scenes of this!

[Mila]

Pikachu Racing, didn't McGyver win the race with one arm in a cast?

"Miami Vice" did a episode with the IMSA race as a backdrop. Danny Sullivan guest starred.

given the proximity to Hollywood, someone must have used Long Beach at some point.

[CeCe]

I once happened upon an episode of “Charlie’s Angels” that guest starred Jackie Stewart. If I recal correctly, Farrah Fawcett had left the Angels and became a racecar driver and Jackie was involved somehow in her career. But the track they shot at was a small oval, so it was one of those CART/F1 generic merge fictional type of racing.

[SennasCat]

Even more arcane. There used to be a top-rating Australian TV series in the 60s and 70s called Homicide. Standard 3 act stuff - you see the murder before the first ad break, the cops spend 45 minutes after that finding the bad guy (it wasn't very PC then - I can't remember a female killing anyone in any episode)

It featured an F5000 (maybe a T330 or thereso) at Calder Park. The driver got out, unrealistically grabbed his chest and went "Oh the pain" and keeled over dead. (Yes this was serious drama, not a piss-take).

They all though he had a heart attack until in the last frame they worked out he was shot with a small caliber gun from the grandstand.

You just gotta love TV!

[Pikachu Racing]

I remember ABC had something called "Speedway" in the late 80's. A one-hour movie about teammates rivalry and racing at Indianapolis. It was shown once.

Mila: I can't recalled if McGyver had a cast in the episode. Hope I catch during reruns of the show.

[William Dale Jr]

That MacGyver episode was actually filmed at Westwood, in British Columbia. Les Danyluk (sp?) wanted to do this track for GP2, and I have the episode on tape, so I took screen captures of it for him.


The following is the plot of the episode. WARNING If you want to watch the episode without knowing what's about to happen, then you probably shouldn't read the rest of the message:



MacGyver persuaded the Phoenix Foundation to help his old racing friend Jeff Stone by investing in a 'plastic' engine that Jeff designed. Jeff refused to sell the design to his team boss Strickland (played by Gordon G. Liddy), who fired him and replaced him for the final round of the GT Cup Championship with F1 World Champion, Hans Visser.

Strickland has borrowed heavily from his sponsors to build a new fuel injection system, so he needs his car to win. He has a good driver in Visser, but he decides to take insurance by blackmailing a member of Jeff's new team (again, backed by the Phoenix Foundation) into damaging Jeff's car before qualifying. Jeff comes in after one lap complaining about a lack of brakes, but MacGyver fixes the problem. The blackmailed team member then cuts Jeff's right rear brakeline, causing Jeff to have an accident at the hairpin at the end of the back straight.

With Jeff sidelined, MacGyver finds out that the brakeline was cut and he and Pete begin investigating. Meanwhile, Strickland and Visser kill the team member they're blackmailing after he threatened to tell all to the 'racing commission'. MacGyver, Pete and Jeff's daughter hurry to prepare a new car in time for the race. MacGyver, however, is still afraid of driving as a result of the accident that was mentioned earlier - Visser ran into MacGyver, causing the accident in which a driver was killed.

MacGyver has to overcome this when there are no other options and he has to drive. He has to start from the back of the grid, and he has to win to ensure that Jeff wins the championship. As for the ending, well............

A few points of note; Ron Fellows was one of the drivers in the race, he now races the works Chevrolet Corvettes in the ALMS and at Le Mans; All the cars in the episode were Pontiac Trans-ams, all of the same model (88?) except for MacGyver's which was different; the episode was filmed in around 1987-88, probably making it one of the last racing events at Westwood Raceway; the Canadian Tire Indycar that Jacques Villeneuve drove at Elkhart Lake, the race he won to become the first Canadian to win a CART race, sits in the media tent.

[2F-001]

Mila said:
<< "Miami Vice" did a episode with the IMSA race as a backdrop >>
Wasn't that uncomfortably close to reality?!!

Does anyone in the UK remember a tv drama series some years back (more of a soap opera really) about a housewife who wanted to go racing. Don't remember the title for the moment... The story was pretty weak but better than it might have been. Racing footage was British special saloon racing (probably Wendy Wools Series or similar) and I think the heroine's racing stand-in was Peter Baldwin - a very long established club racing ''grandee'' in the UK - with a Cosworth BDA-engined Mini. If anyone remembers more accurately, I'm open to correction!

[Garagiste]

Oh, yes! "Driving Ambition" it was called IIRC.
She won her class, beaten to the flag by a Gerry Marshall-alike in a Firenza.
I shouldn't remember that - I feel old!;)

[Viss1]

Quote

Originally posted by Mila
"Miami Vice" did a episode with the IMSA race as a backdrop. Danny Sullivan guest starred.

The Miami Grand Prix.

Sullivan gives a passable performance as a driver in town for the race. he did a few guest appearances on shows of the era after his famous "spin & win" Indy 500 win.

SPOLIER

In this episode, Danny Sullivan's Dad used his beautiful Porsche 906 to pick up women and then assault them. Crockett & Tubbs find out. Chase ensues. Sullivan's Dad commits suicide by driving the Porsche into a building.

[FEV]

I remember the "Miami Vice" episode with the IMSA Miami Grand Prix. Stricking is that probably many guys from the IMSA scene of the time played their real role in the episode, for the presence of "gangsters" in the field was notorious (no names you know who I mean !) !!!

In France we had the "Michel Vaillant" series in he late 60s adapted from the famous comics. Henri Grandsire played the hero and numerous drivers appeared in the 20 or so episodes. I saw a few last year on a French cable channel. Horrible screenplay as you can imagine but great racing action in Rouen, Charade...

In the late 80s I remember seing a pathetic italian show around a WRC team. Can't remember the name.

Oh what about the "Hazards of Duke" (not sure of the english name). I remember one with Lee Roy Yarborough appearing.

[Paul Hartshorne]

re:Driving Ambition:

In an early episode the housewife/racing driver character is watching the 1981 Italian GP on TV with her partner when John Watson crashes his McLaren at Lesmo 2. In reality Wattie survived the huge shunt with just a little bruising; in Driving Ambition he was killed and the housewife/racing driver character seriously considers giving up racing.

I always wondered if the clip was used with Wattie's permission...

Cheers,
Paul

[No27]

There was a Brittish series in the '70's with Roger Moore and some other bloke, Michael Caine?. (Not the Saint)
I think it was called teh Persuaders. The other guy, not Roger Moore, had to replace someone at Monaco. He won. Strangely enough, no other cars and spectators were shown than Moore and friends.

[byrkus]

I believe it was Tony Curtis.

[jondoe955]

...and a driver and owner sabatoges a rival driver's car during a qualifying race causing' the car to crash and injured the driver... and the Bud Lite Chevy wins

TV show?? Sounds like WWFCAR racin' to me.

[Drinky]

Well, I seem to recall an episode of Knight Rider that had Michael Knight racing in an open-wheel car I believe on an oval (it's been a while back) It was a similar affair to the McGyver episode mentioned above, very unrealistic racing (though Knight at least had some experience with a high-performance car of course ;)).

Then there was the Dukes of Hazzard, I think they had some old NASCAR driver(s) once (don't know 'em though), with a visit to an oval. Also, the absence of Bo and Luke during certain seasons was explained as that the two were competing in NASCAR across country.

[jessy]

No27, there were some episodes of this serie in one german channel some time ago- yeah it's called "The Persuaders" and the two guys are Tony Curtis and Roger Moore... but I think, that racing scene took place at a circuit in GB... could have been Brands Hatch, maybe.....

[FEV]

In "The Persuaders" Roger Moore was supposed to be a aristocratic sportsman who succeded in everything in competed in. Although I only remember this particular episode with racing action, if you remember the generic you have some quick shots of 1970 F1 cars at speed and newspapers headlines saying "Roger Moore (or whatever was his name in the show) wins Grand Prix again !".

[No27]

Tony Curtis! And it probably wasn't Monaco but Brands Hatch, my memory might be influenced by all the aristocraticness of both men. Anyway, one of them drove a Ferrari Dino, which of course, is a good thing to do.

[Rob29]

That reminds me of an episode of 'The Saint' which was filmed at the 1965 'Race of Champions' at Brands Hatch.Story concerns 2 female F1 drivers( at a time when there were none in real life!)one was Kate O'Mara.

[Jonathan]

I recall an action adventure 'detective' series called "SWITCH" from the mid - late 1970ies starring Robert Wagner, Sharon Gless (of Gag me & Lace me fame) and some old white-haired fuddy-duddy (Al somebody ?), which featured an episode in which Robert Wagner acted as a potential race car driver for the Monaco Grand Prix. They actually used some footage of the 1973 Monnaco GP, mixed in with footage of Formula Fords tearing around a parking lot surronded by hay bales.

Did anyone else see this ?

[Rob29]

Quote

Originally posted by FEV
In "The Persuaders" Roger Moore was supposed to be a aristocratic sportsman who succeded in everything in competed in. Although I only remember this particular episode with racing action, if you remember the generic you have some quick shots of 1970 F1 cars at speed and newspapers headlines saying "Roger Moore (or whatever was his name in the show) wins Grand Prix again !".

By some coincidence that episode of the 'Persuaders' turned up on Granada Plus channel this afternoon! love the scene when cars go straight from Woodcote(Silverstone) to paddock bend at Brands Hatch!

[josh.lintz]

Quote

Originally posted by Drinky
...Then there was the Dukes of Hazzard, I think they had some old NASCAR driver(s) once (don't know 'em though), with a visit to an oval. Also, the absence of Bo and Luke during certain seasons was explained as that the two were competing in NASCAR across country...

I saw that episode a LONG time ago (one of my favorites as a kid). It was Bobby Allison's car, and some theives had stole the ...(get this)....TURBOCHARGER out of his Grand National car. Bo and Luke save the day and the "turbocharger". I think 'ol Bobby won the race (but how did he ever pass inspection)?

Gotta love TV's interpretation of motorsports.

[Gary C]

Roger Moore's character was Lord Brett Sinclair, who used to drive an Aston Martin DBS (I think).
Tony Curtis character was called Danny something, who used to drive a Ferrari Dino, it's called style!

[Option1]

I used to love "The Persuaders" particularly because of the Aston and the Ferrari!!

It still always intrigues me how in 99.9% of TV shows or movies the hero is driving the hottest, fastest car around, but can never ever catch the bad guys in a car chase. The classic example was the car-chase per episode in the old Husky and Crotch (aka Starsky and Hutch) series where their hotrodded Gran Torino never ever managed to catch 5 fat guys driving a fat sloppy old caddy or whatever as they wailed around the streets.

Of course when it's the bad guys chasing the heroes, they invariably catch up and then get alongside for the trying-to-bump-each-other-off-the-road bit. Again it's always intrigued me as to how the semi manages to get alongside the Mustang, Camaro, Jag, whatever.

I think The Persuaders actually used to manage to catch up with some of the baddies in their chases - now that's style

Neil

[Jonathan]

Quote

Originally posted by Option1
...It still always intrigues me how in 99.9% of TV shows or movies the hero is driving the hottest, fastest car around, but can never ever catch the bad guys in a car chase. The classic example was the car-chase per episode in the old Husky and Crotch (aka Starsky and Hutch) series where their hotrodded Gran Torino never ever managed to catch 5 fat guys driving a fat sloppy old caddy or whatever as they wailed around the streets.

Neil

Actually I think I recall that the Torino in that series was powered by a 240 CID straight-six, a somewhat gutless motor producing some 140 bhp on a good day, with a three-speed automatic transmission, and they clearly used bias-belted (Non-Radial ply) tyres. Had they been using radials you wouldn't have seen so much rubber beeing left on the road.

Cadallacs are typically powered by rather large V8 engines with 4-barrel carburation, often times these bemoths also made good use of radial tyre contruction (not that these cars handle well, but they could do much better then one would normally think).

[bpratt]

Two Fox TV network comedies featured NASCAR: the animated King of the Hill even had Dale Earnhardt Sr. involved (his voice as I remember) and Malcolm in the Middle had Hal and the boys playing hookey to go to the track (racing on a work/school day? not likely). Obviously done to hype the fact that Fox would be soon covering NASCAR.

And of course there was Fred Flinstone driving in the Indiarockolous (spelling?) 500.

Brian (I have no life) Pratt

[josh.lintz]

Driving the Maser-rocky, I believe. They did a spoof on Firestone after Fred got disqualified for pushing his race car. That wasn't allowed even in the cartoon. Goggles Paisano won, I think.

That has to be one of the few times TV got racing rules correct.

[bpratt]

I'm going to have to pay attention the the kids' networks and see if the show gets rerun. I do remember the commentator saying Fred was driving in the race like he was coming home from work.

There was a one-hour drama, Fast Track (I think), that was shown in rerun on a specialty cable channel up here in Canada last year. Featured Keith Carradine as a track doctor. Stock cars. I think a lot of the filming was done at Loudon, NH with CASCAR stock cars. The commentator for the races was Pat Gonzalves who does the real CASCAR tv races. The show was some sort of night time soap ala Dallas (I suppose). Pretty awful. But I taped it and watched it. Lasted maybe two seasons.