Desperately need name of late 70's Early 80's TV show!
August 22, 2010 1:30 PM   Subscribe

Ok! What was the name of the show. It involved two guys, one in his late 20's, incredibly handsome, looked like the blond guy from Dukes of Hazzard only with brown hair, and he wore like a Gulliver's Travel get up, (he may have been from another time in the past) with a wine colored velvet laced up vest, billowing white shirt, and his sidekick was this super dorky teenager 14-18? and they would go on time travels together, and narrowly avoid tricky situations. It was usually shown on weekend afternoons, but it could have had a regular time slot in prime time. Racking my brain! Thanks for your help!
posted by donaldjans to Media & Arts (15 answers total) 7 users marked this as a favorite
 
Voyagers!?
posted by blueberry at 1:32 PM on August 22, 2010 [2 favorites]


From your description it has to be Voyagers!. I can't believe this show only ran for 20 episodes, it seems epic in my memory.
posted by bluejayk at 1:37 PM on August 22, 2010


I think Voyagers! was also the originator of the "...if you'd like to learn more about The French Revolution, take a voyage down to your local library!" tagline that would run at the end, (much like the "Don't try this at home!" warning that was spawned by That’s Incredible!).
posted by blueberry at 1:51 PM on August 22, 2010


Needs the "schnibbitz!" tag!

Voyagers! was associated in some way with one of the big literacy groups, possibly Scholastic, hence the suggested trip to the library at the end of each episode.

You can get the whole series for less than $20. My kids watch the shit out of this show, just like I did when I was a kid.

Fun fact: The kid who played Jeffrey, Meeno Peluce, was the brother of the little girl who played Punky Brewster, Soleil Moon Frye!
posted by padraigin at 2:05 PM on August 22, 2010 [2 favorites]


By the way, I think it was scheduled up against 60 Minutes, hence the abbreviated lifespan.
posted by padraigin at 2:05 PM on August 22, 2010


The older one was Jon-Erik Hexum, who later died in a on-set gun-related accident. Handsome man and a good actor; a tragic waste.
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 3:00 PM on August 22, 2010 [4 favorites]


at one point in the show, did the kid get busted for counterfeiting because he travelled back to, say, 1920 and had currency dated 1940? if so, i remember that show. please, please, please let me know if that's the one, because i've been thinking about that episode for 20-something years.
posted by spikeleemajortomdickandharryconnickjrmints at 3:08 PM on August 22, 2010


Here's a list of episodes with short synopses, none of them mention counterfeiting and I don't recall that particular event but they did get into lots of scrapes like that, and maybe some of the other details will trip your memory.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Voyagers!_episodes
posted by padraigin at 3:19 PM on August 22, 2010


oh my--you have totally just read my mind as I too have been thinking of this show for the past 20-odd years. And now, having seen a picture of Jon-Erik Hexum, remember why I thought he was so hot.
posted by Ham_On_Rye at 4:18 PM on August 22, 2010


Hexum's death was the reason Hollywood began to routinely keep a gun-wrangler on the set of action series. Brandon Lee's death was when they really became serious about it, and these days guns used in action series are very closely managed in order to avoid any chance of the kind of thing that happened to those two men.
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 4:23 PM on August 22, 2010


JON-ERIK HEXUM!

There is another actor that was popular in the 80's (whose name escapes me at the moment), and he was similarly blonde and handsome, and he is similarly hyphenated. (It's not Jean-Claude Van Damme.)

But every single time I hear the other guy's name, I go, "Oh, that's the one who shot himself in the head on set with a prop gun."

And everyone in the room says, "Uh, no, that guy is still alive."

And I reply, "Then, who is the hyphenated young hunky guy who shot himself in the head in the 80's?"

And everyone thinks I'm making it up.

I love MetaFilter. So hard.
posted by pineapple at 5:20 PM on August 22, 2010


pineapple - was it Jan-Michael Vincent?
posted by Sassyfras at 5:24 PM on August 22, 2010


My God. It's like a parallel universe Jack Harkness complete with nubile young boytoy...
posted by The otter lady at 7:43 PM on August 22, 2010 [1 favorite]


Sassyfras: it is indeed. I will now write down the following on a piece of paper and carry it in my wallet:


Jon-Erik Hexum: Played on Voyagers. Shot self in head with prop gun.

Jan-Michael Vincent: Played on Airwolf. Not dead.

posted by pineapple at 10:52 AM on August 23, 2010


Response by poster: Wow you guys!.. that is it!.. and the trivia about Jon-Erik.. I didn't know.. So sad.. and he was hot as nails.. and guess will always be. Thanks so much, I would have never figured it out! and good to know you can buy the whole season for $20.
posted by donaldjans at 10:26 PM on August 30, 2010


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