The Man From Hammer [Part Two]
Created | Updated Jul 29, 2004
'A trip down Memory Lane would have been a better title, really.
What a great journey that was though.
And, nope, they don't make TV series like that anymore...'
Extract from Loup d'Argent's (unpublished) Memoirs.
The American Years...
Just after his productive 'Hammer Years', Jimmy Sangster left for the USA and soon had a quite productive time as well writing for popular American TV series such as:
'McCloud'[starring Dennis Weaver]
'A Deputy Marshal is sent to the 21st Precinct of the NYPD to study local police methods...'
- A Cowboy In Paradise (1974):
Chief Clifford goes to Hawaii for a police conference but finds himself set up on a murder charge... - The Concrete Jungle Caper (1974):
A look-alike drug dealer plus an international chase get McCloud in prison...
'The Six Million Dollar Man' [starring Lee Majors]
'Steve Austin, astronaut. A man barely alive... Gentlemen, we can rebuild him... We have the technology. We have the capability to make the world's first bionic man. Steve Austin will be that man. Better than he was before. Better, stronger, faster.'
- Doomsday, And Counting (1974):
Steve Austin helps a Russian cosmonaut friend rescuing his fiancée from a doomsday device...
'Ironside' [starring Raymond Burr]
'A single bullet was all that was needed to confine Robert T Ironside to a wheelchair for life and end his career as Chief of Detectives.
He went back to work though, as a consultant to the police department...'
- Raise The Devil - part one and two (1974):
A woman is killed in a locked room and her daughter who confesses to the murder is apparently possessed by the spirit of her long-dead younger brother...
A psychiatrist turns out to be a psychopath with a passion for brainwashing and the Chief is programmed to kill Ironside... - The Visiting Fireman (1974):
A British police inspector assists Ironside with an awkward investigation...
'Kolchak: The Night Stalker' [starring Darren McGavin]
'A Chicago reporter investigates the paranormal...
The TV series that influenced the X-Files big time...'
- Horror In The Heights1 (1974):
Elderly citizens are found dead: stripped to the bone, apparently by rats.
Kolchak discovers that a rakshasa (a Hindu demon) is behind those deaths...
'Wonder Woman' [starring Linda Carter]
'American war hero Steve Trevor is downed over the Bermuda Triangle and lands on "Paradise Island", home of the Amazons. Wonder Woman leaves the island to go with him to America and fight the Nazi threat...'
- The Feminine Mystique - part one and two (1976):
A two-part espionage tale in which the Nazis kidnap Wonder Woman's sister and capture Paradise Island... - Wonder Woman In Hollywood (1977):
Wonder Woman goes to Hollywood...
He also worked as a script editor for two other series including 'Moving On', a TV show for which he penned 18 of its 22 episodes.
Though writing for these shows meant that he had to follow the approved formulas and could not be too creative in his work, it was financially worth it: he was getting a regular wage on top of being paid for every script he wrote.
Read All About It...
'Who better to write about Jimmy Sangster's life and career than Jimmy Sangster himself?'
We could write pages after pages about him and his work as a scriptwriter, assistant director, production manager, producer and director as well as a writer2 but still never really manage to do the 'Man From Hammer' and his talents justice...
Fortunately for us, he did eventually write his autobiography...
It is titled 'Do You Want It Good Or Tuesday?', published by Midnight Marquee Press in 1997, and is an amusing and witty account of his life's journey from Hammer to Hollywood...
That being said, an entry on him and his work for the Edited Guide would not be a bad idea though... or, even better, a full blast project with various entries dealing with the many aspects of his career.
Feeling collaborative? You know where to find me then...
I'm only a click away from you after all...
