What Was The TV Series Viper (Forgotten Television)
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- Опубліковано 3 жов 2024
- Created by the inventor Julian Wilkes. Viper was a special armored vehicle, that transforms between a regular Viper and the Defender. I look back at one of the action car series that created something new. That followed in the footsteps of the Original Knight Rider. It's pioneering CG effects for television. Surviving cancellation, and cast changes.
#viper #James McCaffrey #maxpayne
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"Poofy Reel, Broken Reality, & Mining by Moonlight" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
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Poke out my eyes this was a great show
"It's the principal of the thing!"
LOL
This show is THE reason I was obsessed with both the Dodge Viper and Intrepid as a kid. It was also one of the favorite shows my dad and I bonded over in the ‘90s.
God i loved watching this alongside Team Knight Rider, SeaQuest, Sliders, Mantis,..
I have the Defender r/c car, one of my treasures from childhood. One of my top 5 favorite shows in the 90's.
Lucky ☺️ I saw one in a store before I knew what is was. I so want to 3D print one.
Loved this show as a kid, and it's the sole reason the Viper has always been my favorite car! Me personally, I prefer the transformation scenes from seasons 2-4 better than season 1. The snakeskin morph is kool, but the more mechanical morphs in the other seasons made more sense. Like armor panels being deployed-retracted.
Season ONE was indeed a more typical cop style series with many scripts recycled from other shows.
Other notable guest stars on this show: Bryan Cranston (Season 1). Barry Pepper (Season 2). Carrie-Anne Moss ( Season 3).
2021- Due to covid- i ACCIDENTALLY found all 4 seasons of this show saved on my HOTMAIL storage. Thats right, VHS HISSSSS and all..lol
Great video. This show was the Knight Rider of the 1990s.
Loved this show! Agree with everything you said in the video. Wasn't all about the car. Nice balance between characters and the car. So glad I was able to get it on DVD.
Over the decades of hazy memory, I think I had completely forgotten that VIPER and MANTIS were two different TV shows. Both had a lead who was paralyzed right around the same time in 1994.
Yeah. They both came out the same time.
Literally grewing up with this TV serie. Would love to be brought back in a serie or a trilogy movie.
Thnx for this video, I watched this series when I was growing up in the '90s. I remember when motorcycle defender was introduced. I believed that the last Viper episode I've watched was when the Viper malfunctioned and had to be hidden in a warehouse and the crew had to MacGyver a repair solution.
I think what happened to Viper, aside from the money, is at the time people were not into technology too much & whatever looked like it was impossible, people pretty much dismissed it instead of being intrigued. In my opinion I thought it was destined for at least three more seasons as Dodge came out with a different design of the Viper.
Looks interesting. I highly recommend Street Hawk.
Watched this when I got home from work late Saturday nights. Viper would be good for Heros and Icons network.
At my age of 9years old here in the philippines i was wacthing that series every saturday aired here
Ok by 3:37 i'm convinced to watch the show.
I used to watch this!!!
Remember this when I was college
Thanks, you convinced me to buy the 4 season DVD set on eBay. I really enjoyed the concise summary for each season along with your well reasoned commentary on what made the show great, not just nostalgia. Thanks again!
Great summary of the series. I really need to rewatch it again. Plus I see some tasteful stuff in the background. 👀 Never knew the stargate kawoosh was so expensive.
I LOVED this show
Thus show was filmed (in part) in Calgary ab Canada, I found out about the show walking with my grandmother in down town and seeing a large semi crashed through the front of a bank. We came to find out it was a tv show and I was hooked ever since
I love my VIPER DVD 📀 set .. I'm at 1997-1998 Disc 3 "Double Trouble" episode.
I was 21 yrs old when it aired.
I'm glad the set exists too. I never got to see season 4 at all. When the show originally aired.
@@rangerreview1780 I saw many of them if not all of them when they aired.
Thank you for putting this on youtube! this show started my love for Dodge Vipers and I would never forget it
Loved this show was 90s kid
Really enjoyed this as a kid. Thanks for the video. I never saw the last season so gotta get the DVD set!
I still think to this day that both Dodge Vipers (the RT/10 Roadster and the GTS Coupe) are the best looking cars in mankind's history, so sexy. And the snakeskin transformation from the first series was the best ever looking one. Shame they had to drop it for the cheaper "panelling" one, but even that was watchable and kinda believable. The real life Viper was in fact dangerous, it had too powerful engine, adopted from a truck and it hadn't adequate brakes for it, so basically a death trap, a ticking time bomb on wheels, but damn did it look sexy. And the Defender model, oh don't get me started on that one. I don't consider myself a car enthusiast (or maybe a little), but I so love the Dodge Viper (especially the Roadster variant). And this tv show was the exact reason, why I love that time bomb on wheels.
FINALLY, a TV series that actually had not only a complete ending, but a good ending! I love that the writers managed to take elements from Knight Rider, and put their own spin on it to make it stand out! Sucks that some actors left, but at least the original trio got a real farewell. Also a shame that there were still productions issues here, and there to the point of cancellation, but I'm really glad that the show was able to re-air, and conclude its story (even if some characters didn't get focused all time much)! I'm the same way, I find it pretty baffling that Dawn Stern considers the car to be the "only focal point" of the show when that was far from the case, all the other casts were just as important (she should go check out the 2008 KR series for that if she hasn't already). It is pretty ironic that CBS ended up owning the rights to Viper (1994), when they originally rejected it for being "too violent", which is just dumb. If I can ever find the DVD set, I'll be sure to pick it up (assuming I have enough money, of course), and hopefully someday, the complete series will be released on Blu-Ray!
I really enjoyed this series and you are right in that the car was cool but it was characters that got you invested.
I loved this show. I’m a viper, dodge fan boy ever sense.
I liked how Sherman got humanized in several episodes. The one with the magician criminals and the drunk driving episode.
man i loved this show as a kid and its the reason why the dodge viper is my dream car.
Somebody who worked at Metrolight please respond if you have any nuggets of info on how the Viper transformation was done for the TV show. To this day it still blows my mind it was done 20 years ago
It was a very expensive effect for 94. That's why transformations were rare. And in S2-4. They re designed it. To remove the scale pattern, to make it easier to do. It's basically done like Transformers transformations. They cheat a lot of parts that move in and out. Scale up and down.
It was a great show I stayed for all 4 seasons had a Street Hawk episode .
I checked out Welcome to Paradox on IMDBtv a few weeks ago and seems like it would be right at home on Forgotten Television. It was made at seemingly the right time (between the Outer Limits revival and the second Twilight Zone revival, in the midst of Goosebumps and AYAOTD as well), but Sci-Fi channel apparently aired a lot of new shows in 1998 that got canceled after a single season and thus was left in the dust.
I actually watch this series religiously back in 90s and it become my dream beats knight rider car
I was really into this show in the first season, but never followed it around after that, mostly cause it was either syndicated or put on cable where I had no idea it existed. The main thing I loved was the premiere villain. I love what Jason Carter did with him, then IMMEDIATELY recognized him when he bacame my favorite character on Babylon 5 as Marcus Cole.
I saw the show on SciFi i think once, but I never realized it was an actual new season and continuation. I just assumed a reboot. I'll probably look it up now that I just finished rewatching seaQuest.
Yeah. It had vanished for a bit. So it easily could just get lost with all the other shows out at the time. I didn't realize it was still on. Till like in the middle of season 2. An ad of it popped up of it when DS9 was on. And I was like wait, this came back.
Cole was the last name of the second driver Thomas cole
I used to love "Viper!" Hope you do a piece on "Thunder in Paradise" one day. 🙃
Sad to hear Jeff Kakke was hard to work with.
I agree with wrapping up a show when its canceled or ended the two shows that had HORRIBLE wraps were Star Trek Enterprise and Star Trek Voyager. They ended Enterprise due to lack of viewership which in my opinion had nothing to do with the show. I binged it and from my understanding it was them tossing it around to different time slots all the time same with Voyager. It didn't wrap up the show to cleanly it was beat everything into the last few episodes and hope it fit method
.. And Voyager they kinda Killed any possibility of any trek show beyond the the Voyager timeline as the federation now had the most powerful ships in all the known universe thanks to the ablative armor. Kinda wrote themselves into a wall. So they had to go backwards hence Enterprise .. Just my 2 cents on 2 great shows (ok not all episodes were great but still overall they were great shows. )
Ah the days of 90s action syndication. I remember Viper airing on my local Fox station along with Stargate SG 1. Speaking of syndication, would you consider the Highlander TV series as forgotten, despite its success during its heyday, but hardly anyone talks about it these days? If not, what about Earth: Final Conflict or Sir Conan Doyle's The Lost World to name a few?
That's a hard called on highlander. Because it was big. Earth I do have on the list. Doyle, adding to the pile.
Ever notice Joe Nipote dropped the New Yawk goombah accent when the series went back into production for syndication?
I miss this series... I don't know why some people forgot about it. :/
Season 1's setting revolved around Jon Polito mindraping Max Payne so he'd be forced to drive a car to fight crime, and afterwards the villains blow up Max Payne's girlfriend as the final traumatic experience that convinces him to take the car rogue. The three main characters, while goofy and certainly buddy cop-esque, operate in a legal gray area where both the cops and actual villains are corrupt (The writers essentially kitbashed Total Recall with The Untouchables when they were making the first season, down to using actors from both movies in supporting roles). Later in the season, you find out the car's design was inspired by an earlier tragedy where a Howard Hughes-type guy built a 1960s Batmobile prototype and then accidentally blew up his own wife and unborn daughter while trying to prevent Bryan Cranston's dad from stealing the proto-car.
Viper Season 1 really does have some violent and bloody history behind it. The later seasons basically turn the show into "Haha cop car goes CHIKKACHIKKACHIKKA."
Now I'm picturing "The final gunshot" line, in Max Payne, in Viper.
It's always been my dream car since I was 3
Interesting fact: James McCaffrey was NOT the original pick as Joe Astor. The Actor Jack Wagner was cast because they didn't get a response from McCaffrey. Eventually McCaffrey ended up in the role.
I would love to see you do something like this about Doctor Detroit with Dan Aykroyd.
5:11 TRUE REASON FOR BRINGING BACK THE VIPER - Series.
As other Critics stated VIPER had been done first and for most to be a PRODUCT PLACEMENT Show for the DODGE VIPER to lift sales for this typ of car.
Similar to what DISNEY had done years ago with the VW - Bug ( K'ÄFER ) as in THE LOVE BUG. There were done several cinema movies done about THE LOVE BUG named Herbie.
Same with James Bond´s ASTON MARTIN, still you find in the USA still several Vintage Cars of that model not forget the Toy lines.:)
And yes, I am still a VIPER Fan also own of course the complete series on DVD
Space above and beyond, mortal kombat: konquest (for laughs), and fastlane. Those are my suggestions.
Shuffle up the Wild Cards and deal em!
Excellent video, thank you for doing this (and the several other videos from you that I have seen). For suggestions, I see someone else in the comments mentioned Fastlane (I second this), so I will suggest (non-automotive) First Monday (Joe Montegna as a Supreme Court Justice), The Agency (CIA with Paige Turco), and Mantis (paralyzed scientist creates a exosuit to fight crime). Apologies if you have already reviewed any of these.
Too bad NBC dump them it was getting good 🤗 plus Dodge used it to push out viper cars
Look up the 92-94 viper specs very very simple dangerous cars was just engine
Cobra the series
Ah yes. The series that they sued. Because they where gonna use the Viper name.
Honestly though....I kind of liked the Super Pursuit Mode on Knight Eider
7 days, the 1990s time cop or earth final conflict
Came here for the Viper video... Left wanting to know where the heck you got The Orville on blu ray. -_-;
Viper was a cool and great show. Just sad that it only had 4 or 5 seasons if you count the original season from NBC.
Can it be streamed anywhere i loved this show
I really don't know. I would check paramount +. Whenever they launch that.
Thus far, it hasn't been made available via streaming services at all. It is surprising that Paramount (who owns CBS, the rights holders for Viper) doesn't put it on Paramount+ but it might have something to do with licensing with Chrysler or simply not wanting to pay out residuals or the like. It is a shame. Viper is one of those shows that would do pretty well on a streaming service.
nice, another show i loved as a child. Especially the first season. Season 2 kind of felt like a little watered down. After the retooled Seasquest Season 2 i thought this show would be doomed as well. More action and felt a littler cheaper. Unfortunately i really didn't see Season 3 and 4 but plan to pick it up when i have the occasion.
I remember a specific scene from the show where the car had trouble transforming. Must've been one of the later seasons.
It was. The car was infected with a virus that screwed up the car.
So I generally liked the first season. It had its share of "dusty desert town in need of a hero" episodes that made it feel a bit too much like Knight Rider but there were episodes that (while never quite hitting the same highs as the pilot) managed to really work well. If the first season had one major issue, it was balancing the comedy relief with the darker elements of the show. The Joe Astor/Julian Wilkes dynamic worked great and the idea of Astor being something of a reclusive, distant person added a level of depth that really did the show a lot of favors.
Then we come to the second season. The new cast in itself wasn't really the main problem (though losing James McCaffrey and Dorian Harewood was a big loss that the show never fully recovered from). The problem was the tone shift. It was clear that Paramount wanted a lighter, more comedic show but they went too far. It started to become more slapstick with overtly goofy, wacky plot lines, characters, and scenes. It was also at this point that the focus shifted from the car to the rather thinly written characters and their cop adventures. This might have been fine in a more conventional police show but the car only tended to actually do anything once per episode with the rest of its appearances being just driving from point A to point B in its Dodge Viper mode. Obviously you can't do a whole show with just the car but from season two onward, there just wasn't enough of it.
Season three was pretty much more of the same but with even more focus on sloppy slapstick level comedy. In a way, the show started to feel like a Saturday morning cartoon but live action and that isn't a compliment. The characters never really seemed to have any depth and the chemistry between them never seemed to go anywhere. It felt like the show wasn't confident in its own dramatic potential and instead leaned heavily on bad comedy.
With season four, one might think that bringing back McCaffrey and (occasionally) Harewood would help but by that point, the basic formula of the show had been so damaged that most of the season is as borderline unwatchable as the second and third. It has some shining moments where it really tries to explore Astor a bit but as a whole, it has the same tedious comedy and plot lines that just have no real dramatic weight.
Viper was a show that was always going to have a tough time due to its concept but Paramount really did that show a disservice with the change in overall tone.
I agree to a degree. I had wish they kept Wilks on the show. He would have kept the show in the more serious direction.
I dont know how. I dont know when. But one day i will ha Viper Defender.
I have one of the props from Viper, it was a large metal dumbell that was used by the body bilders at the gas station seane.
Wonder if it is worth anything.
I would say no. I'd just keep it for the history.
@@rangerreview1780 not asking a broke guy for scrap metal exchange...
Was this shown on UK television?.
Make sure you talk about man and machine series
The show Viper was really cheesy but it was awesome and amazing to watch when I was a kid back in the early 90s. If anyone knows where I can find it so I can re-watch the four years aired.
Do one on “team knight rider”
BLEAAAH.
Might want to check out Street Hawk and Automan
Nice job, loved viper myself and they did a lot of things better Knight Rider didnt, only thing i kinda disagree with is hovercraft mode being better than super prusuit kitt.
I loved that version of kitt, kinda wish it would have been added in from the beginning, as for the effects viper was way better. I think knight rider went over board to speed the film up in super prusuit mode, they could have made it look cooler just not doing that speed film thing, looked kinda goofy to me, but the car morphing into super prusuit looked cool, as did the the EBS panels helping kitt brake.
0:20 In fact four, if you count the movies for television that served as pilots.
It would be much better if just show the serie’s video, firts plane, fullscream.
First I had thought that this show had Pamela Anderson in it, I guess that was a different show. Knight Rider worked, and was awesome because they simply took the imagery from Battlestar Galactica and put it onto an awesome 1982 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am. Then they added a nice looking fit actor who wore cool clothes, had a cool name and back story, and then he could do some gee wiz gizmo or karate fighting skills of his own to make the show work. You add in the California imagry, the driving stunts, ect there you go you had a decent show. This one to me only sort of worked, it had great effects with a fine car, but I did not like the human characters very much, it just did not move me the same way Knight Rider had, and it needed more than just the car and special effects alone. However they were certainly on the right track, and onto to something good.
Never used to kill? Didn't they blow up a 70s chevy van in one episode? In another they blew up the Viper with the probe. Iirc both times there were people in the cars that got blown up.
The first season was pretty strict about not having the car kill people. Things got looser in the following seasons.
Viper is the great great grand son of chitty chitty bang bang
Please do Knight Rider and The Sentinel! Viper was another great show of my early teens (came to Cyprus later). Also, I still don't understand why Frankie changed his accent into a more stereotypical Italian-American-Brooklyn one.
That's a good question.
The writers and Nipote felt it necessary. Nipote enjoyed the character but the writers found NBC Frankie was over the top and wanted to change it. Nipote also wasn't a fan of his look. Nipote was also playing with weights alot so it would have been difficult to continue with the same character being 40+ pounds of muscle.
👍
Do the Sliders with Quinn Mallory, if you still haven't. :) Also, Early Edition (Gary Hobson)... :)
Hm... I saw all 3 shows while growing up, and I still prefer KR2008. Too bad it ended so quickly.
Scott pilgrims vs the world pls review
The tv show super force
I remember the 2008 Knight Rider series because Jack Guzman aka Danny the Black Wild Force Ranger was in the Karr episode. Suggestions: Space Cases, Malibu Shores starring Walter E. Jones aka Zack the Black Ranger and Safe Harbor Starring Christopher Khayman Lee aka Andros the Red Space Ranger.
They were testing the waters haha with a Female Detective in Season 1
i listed tv viper videos on my channel
Do Team Knight Rider lol
I really don't want to review that one. I hated that damn show.
@@rangerreview1780 lol damn
James Mccaffrey was also in the FX series Rescue Me. Jeff Kaake is actually pronounced as "cake"
Saw this show. Thought it was shit. Of course at the time I was hooked with The Renegade.
Regrettably you are not the only one. The German station TELE 5 had brought one of the episodes as an example for a bad done show.
Me I always liked the concept since the second season. For an early eavenig show it was rather well done. Cearly worth repeating or good for rebooting in my eyes.
what about colony?