The Magician 

The cases of a stage magician/escape artist who moonlights as an amateur crimefighter.

Creator:

Bruce Lansbury

Stars:

Bill Bixby, Julian Christopher, Keene Curtis

Cast

Complete series cast summary:
Bill Bixby	...	Anthony Blake / ... 22 episodes, 1973-1974
Julian Christopher	...	Jerry Anderson / ... 22 episodes, 1973-1974
Keene Curtis	...	Max Pomeroy 12 episodes, 1973-1974
Joseph Sirola	...	Dominick 11 episodes, 1974

Storyline

Anthony Blake is a very compassionate and wealthy magician, who uses his talents as an illusionist and escape artist to help people in trouble. Max Pomeroy, a friend who is a syndicated columnist, describes him as "One of the few individuals in this age of numbness, who can still regard the suffering of a fellow human being as his own." He is motivated to help because he had been falsely imprisoned in South America for espionage.

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Plot Keywords:

stage magician | escape artist | crime fighter | 1970s | magician | 

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Genres:

Adventure | Crime | Drama

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Did You Know?

Trivia

In the Quantum Leap Episode "The Great Spontini: " Sam Beckett (Scott Backula) jumps into a magician in 1974 who plans on auditioning for Bill Bixby's The Magician. Sam mistakenly thinks he's going to try out for The Incredible Hulk, to which his young companion says "Harry, I don't think a great actor like Bill Bixby, a magician, is going to play a green comic book character."

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Connections

Referenced in The X-Files: Little Green Men (1994)

User Reviews

Lots of fun

Despite some plots that didn't quite measure up, the show had cool factor, and charm as only the great Bill Bixby could deliver. Additionally, the series is unique in its premise, if not in its mysteries.

Bixby did a great job of performing Mark Wilson's magic. Wilson was a popular professional magician who had his own TV show in the 60s. While I don't see it listed on this site, I distinctly remember what I believe to have been a 30 minute Saturday morning series where he rescued his beautiful assistant from bad guys each show - of course using his magic each week.

If you like magic, or Bill Bixby, or especially both (like me), keep an eye out for this. Since it only ran one season, once in a rare while a cable channel will run a marathon of the entire series.

ETA: The series is now available on DVD, as of sometime in 2017, I believe.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

17 March 1973 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Magician

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

B&B Productions, Paramount Television

Technical Specs

Runtime:

60 min (24 episodes)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1