"Tarzan: The Epic Adventures" (1996) TV series

User Rating:

6.3/10   

Directors:

John Carl Buechler
Mark Roper
(more)

Writers:

Edgar Rice Burroughs (characters)
Christopher A. Roosen (writer) (one episode)

Seasons:

1 | unknown

Release Date:

16 February 1997 (Portugal)

Plot Keywords:

Tarzan

Cast

Don McLeod

...

Bolgani / ... (8 episodes, 1996-1997)

(more)

Series Directed by
John Carl Buechler		(unknown episodes)
Mark Roper		(unknown episodes)
Gino Tanasescu		(unknown episodes)
William Tannen		(unknown episodes)
Brian Yuzna		(unknown episodes)

Series Writing credits
Rhonda Smiley		(3 episodes, 1996-1997)
Edgar Rice Burroughs		(unknown episodes)
Christopher A. Roosen		(unknown episodes)

Series Produced by
Micheline H. Keller	....	executive producer (19 episodes, 1996-1997)
Peter Clausing	....	line producer (unknown episodes)
Peter Cohen	....	post producer (unknown episodes)
Neil Dunn	....	producer (unknown episodes)
Joe Lara	....	producer (unknown episodes)
Michael McGreevey	....	supervising producer (unknown episodes)
Henry Siegel	....	executive producer (unknown episodes)
Paul Siegel	....	executive producer (unknown episodes)

Series Original Music by
Michael Benghiat		(unknown episodes)

Series Cinematography by
Johan Scheepers		(unknown episodes)

Series Film Editing by
Peter Cohen		(unknown episodes)
Johan Lategan		(unknown episodes)
Carl Morgan		(unknown episodes)

Series Art Direction by
Emilia Roux		(unknown episodes)

Series Costume Design by
Jo Katsaras		(unknown episodes)

Series Makeup Department
Brad Hardin	....	makeup effects artist (22 episodes, 1996-1997)
John Carl Buechler	....	special makeup effects artist (unknown episodes)

Series Production Management
Carol Hickson	....	production manager (unknown episodes)

Series Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Gavin Joubert	....	first assistant director (unknown episodes)
Mark Roper	....	second unit director (unknown episodes)
Lance Samuels	....	second assistant director (unknown episodes)
Jemma Spring	....	third assistant director (unknown episodes)
Andre Weavind	....	first assistant director (unknown episodes)

Series Art Department
David Glasscoe	....	property master (20 episodes, 1996-1997)

Series Sound Department
Alan Gerhardt	....	sound mixer (unknown episodes)
Jurgen Human	....	boom operator (unknown episodes)
Henry Prentice	....	sound mixer (unknown episodes)

Series Special Effects by
John Carl Buechler	....	special effects (unknown episodes)
Gian Palermo	....	special effects (unknown episodes)

Series Stunts
Tyrone C. Wiggins	....	stunt double: Mugambi (2 episodes, 1996)
Martin Dlamini	....	stunt double (unknown episodes)
Vadim Dobrin	....	stunts (unknown episodes)
John Evanko	....	stunts (unknown episodes)
Cordell McQueen	....	stunts (unknown episodes)
Greg Poustie	....	stunt double (unknown episodes)
Neville Strydom	....	stunts (unknown episodes)

Series Camera and Electrical Department
Carlos De Carvalho	....	camera operator: "a" camera / first assistant camera (unknown episodes)
Mark Foster	....	best boy grip (unknown episodes)
Gijs Ten Haaft	....	key grip (unknown episodes)
Bree Hogg	....	assistant camera (unknown episodes)
Daron Keet	....	assistant camera (unknown episodes)

Series Casting Department
Roe Baker	....	casting: USA (unknown episodes)
Christa Shamberger	....	casting: South Africa (unknown episodes)

Series Transportation Department
Rodney Ballenden	....	driver (unknown episodes)
Gareth Gardner	....	driver (unknown episodes)
Tim Philipsen	....	driver (unknown episodes)
Henry van den Berg	....	driver (unknown episodes)

Series Other crew
Johan Kruger	....	production auditor (unknown episodes)
Shannon-Lee Nicholls	....	production secretary (unknown episodes)
Rhonda Smiley	....	story editor (unknown episodes)

Production Companies

• Keller Siegel Entertainment

Distributors

• Keller Entertainment Group (1997) (worldwide) (all media)
• Paradiso Home Entertainment (2007) (Netherlands) (DVD) (complete series)

Special Effects

• House Next Door

Other Companies

• Chris Fellows Sound Studios  sound facilities
• Movie Meals Inc.  catering
• Video Lab Group, The  post-production facilities

Runtime:

60 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

Australia:PG | Netherlands:6

Company:

Keller Siegel Entertainment

Movie Connections:

Follows Tarzan: The Epic Adventures (1996) (TV)

Someone got paid for this?

The good thing about this series is that it didn't last. Considering how bad it was, I'm surprised it got made at all. I saw about 2 maybe 3 episodes (To give it a fair chance) and the trauma hasn't fully left me yet, even some 3 years later.

The one episode I remember the best is the one that convinced me that the writers weren't even really trying. The scene I recall involved some Roman soldiers that had a woman under arrest. Tarzan (As tragically slandered by Joe Lara) spots them and proceeds to make it his business to see to her safety. A fight ensues in which Tarzan kills the soldiers, tosses off a lame platitude that I can't remember (Fortunately), and frees the woman who promptly states that now she can get back to slaughtering Nuns and Orphans again.

OK, she didn't actually say that, she was the daughter of a political prisoner and thus was being taken herself. But Tarzan DID NOT know that until after he minced and diced the soldiers. It would have served his careless ass right if she DID go back to stuffing puppies into blenders and the like. It surely doesn't match up with Johnny Weissmuller's far superior portrayal. IE he stated something like "Other men live to fight, but Tarzan only fights to live" when he refused to fight Germans during "Tarzan Triumphs!", a film made during WWII no less!

The one thing that made me decide to attempt to suffer through more than one episode was the way Tarzan's home was made to look like it was within easy walking distance of some 50 or so 'Lost Civilisations' (Romans, Greeks, Antlantians, maybe Martians would have showed up if the series continued long enough) like the earlier Johnny Weissmuller Tarzan was (Why Tarzan didn't build a tourist trap around this has always eluded me, he coulda made a fortune). I was hoping for a more 'fantastic' (Giant spiders, Lizard Men, ETC) portrayal than most low budget TV series could afford to have, like the 30 minute Tarzan show that lasted in syndication from 1991 to 1993 (Merely boring), or the series about Tarzan with Ron Ely that was produced in the 1960's (The best TV series about Tarzan so far).

There was no Jane in this version, but I recall a contest being offered where the winner would get the role. What can be said about a leading role being given away as a contest prize? I guess no reputable actors wanted to put their names on this thing (At least not after seeing what was being perpetrated) so an act of desperation was called for.

I recommend that you stick to Johnny Weissmuller or Ron Ely if you just plain need a good Tarzan fix.