Tales of the Gold Monkey (1982–1983)

The adventures of a 1930's Pacific Islands bush pilot and his companions.

Creator:

Donald P. Bellisario

Stars:

Stephen Collins, Jeff MacKay, Marta DuBois

Won 1 Primetime Emmy. Another 3 nominations.

Cast

Complete series cast summary:
Stephen Collins	...	Jake Cutter (22 episodes, 1982-1983)
Jeff MacKay	...	Corky (22 episodes, 1982-1983)
Marta DuBois	...	Princess Koji (22 episodes, 1982-1983)
John Calvin	...	Reverend Willie Tenboom (22 episodes, 1982-1983)
John Fujioka	...	Todo (22 episodes, 1982-1983)
Caitlin O'Heaney	...	Sarah Stickney White (21 episodes, 1982-1983)
Roddy McDowall	...	Bon Chance Louie (20 episodes, 1982-1983)
Les Jankey	...	Gushie the Waiter (20 episodes, 1982-1983)
Ahmed Kalane	...	Bartender (11 episodes, 1982-1983)

Storyline

Jake Cutter is a pilot and adventurer in Boragora, the port in the Marivella Islands in 1938. He flies his Grumman Goose amphibian on inter-island flights and finds adventure every week.

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Plot Keywords:

pacific | bush pilot | 1930s | aviation

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Genres:

Adventure

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

22 September 1982 (USA)

Also Known As:

Tales of the Brass Monkey

Filming Locations:

Park Lake, Backlot, Universal Studios - 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Belisarius Productions, Universal TV

Technical Specs

Runtime:

60 min 60 min (22 episodes)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

4:3

Did You Know?

Trivia

Roddy McDowall took over the part of saloonkeeper Bon Chance Louis from Ron Moody, who played the role in the TV movie, Tales of the Gold Monkey: Tales of the Gold Monkey: Part 1.

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Goofs

The series takes place in 1938 with some flashbacks to 1937 and 1936, and repeated references are made to the fact that Jake flew with the American Volunteer Group or "Flying Tigers" prior to his adventures in the show. The only problem is that the AVG did not see its first combat action until December 20th 1941 (that's three years after the events in the series are supposed to have taken place). We also see at least one flashback of Jake as a Tiger, fighting Japanese "Zeros". The Mitsubishi A6M. or "Zero" never fought against the AVG. Japan sent 15 Zeros to China in 1939, before the Tigers existed, two were shot down and the remaining 13 were recalled prior to that attack on Pearl Harbour, two weeks before the AVG saw its first combat action. The AVG only fought Ki-27 "Nates" and Ki-43 "Oscars". They shot down 290 of them.

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Connections

Referenced in Mystery Science Theatre 3000: The Beast of Yucca Flats (1995)

User Reviews

Excellent Adventure Tale

A great programme that I remember watching in the early 80's on British TV. It was shown in England in about 1982 (I was 12, my brother 16). We both loved it, but it was only on for one series and then vanished into thin air. I would love to see this again!

Reminiscent of "Raiders of the Lost Ark", but with a classier, darker feel to the stories. The characters were less one dimensional, but still appealed to the kid in me. I always loved the flying "boat plane"!