User Reviews

This was meant to be an action-adventure series about the grand-nephew of Texas Ranger John Reid (better known as The Lone Ranger) and a stacked luxury car named "Black Beauty", but ended up being a vehicle for the great Bruce Lee and his amazing exhibitions of the martial arts.

While it didn't have the hilarious campiness of William Dozier's other series "Batman", it did have some goofiness about it. I recall one show featuring Canadian actor Larry D. Mann as some kind of freaky space dude who landed at Britt Reid's home to negotiate their takeover of humanity through the Daily Sentinel. This episode also showed Reid interrupting his TV station's programming via some broadcast console in his living room (yeah, no home should be without one) to warn viewers to take shelter and stay calm.

The fact they had this false floor in Britt Reid's garage that clamps onto that bitchin' sports car, so that the floor can turn upside down and allow Black Beauty to roar out and save the day was kinda fun. Oddly, the Reid estate seems to be within a block of a seedy area of Central City, as Green Hornet, Kato and the rolling arsenal fly out from behind a billboarded wall, onto a conveniently abandoned street!!

Of course, we can forgive all the wacky inconsistencies of the show, when we see the great Bruce Lee in action. Well worth sitting through all the silliness just to see that. How sad sexy Wende Wagner watched her career nosedive after Green Hornet. I always liked the idea of a fighting reporter like Mike Axford. Britt Reid must have been a one-of-a-kind publisher, because I just couldn't imagine a maverick like Axford working for control-freaks like William Randolph Hearst.

Did I mention that I liked Bruce Lee?

It was remarkably tough, comparatively sophisticated and genuinely action-packed.

Comparisons will always be made between "The Green Hornet" and its TV stable mate "Batman". So, what were some of the similarities?

To start with, both were made by 20th Century Fox. In keeping with the time-honored superhero tradition, the "real-life" identities of the respective title characters were successful, well-connected and highly respected members of the community. When in character as their alter egos, both drove amazing custom-built cars that were veritable killing machines on wheels, armed with a vast array of deadly, concealed weapons. Both had capable, intelligent and gutsy sidekicks who could more than hold their own when the chips were down and the fists were flying.

But there were some major differences as well.

Where "Batman" was decidedly over the top and essentially in the business of extracting squeals of the delight from the younger set, "The Green Hornet" was deadly serious when it came to crime fighting. In the former show, the resident bad guys were exotic fantasy figures who wore crazy and colorful costumes and had cute names like the "Joker" and "Penguin". Indeed, the Art department at 20th really pulled out all the stops on "Batman" to cash in on the newly arrived novelty of color TV.

In "The Green Hornet", the villains of the piece were traditional bad guys and girls.

Star Van Williams handled the dual role of Britt Reid, Editor of "The Daily Sentinel" newspaper and the Green Hornet with panache. Creating a stern-faced 007 type of character, Williams proved to be no slouch when it came to manufacturing his own brand of ice-cube intensity in the style of James Bond.

Bruce Lee, as Kato, the Hornet's faithful Chinese partner in crime busting, was there primarily to handle the ultra-rough stuff. And, indeed, when he made with the high kicks and karate chops he created some good television.

Generally well written, sharply directed and competently acted by all those in the cast who really mattered, "The Green Hornet" flashed across our TV screens only fleetingly, but it made a lasting and favorable impression on a lot of us.

What it lacked was true fantasy and humor - the two key ingredients that made "Batman" a classic.

"The Green Hornet" was good - very good in fact. But it didn't have those special qualities that guarantee immortality.

After the success of BATMAN on ABC,William Dozier's Greenway Productions/20th Century-Fox crew looked around for something to develop into another hit. Instead of the pages of Batman & Detective Comics,they looked to Old Time Radio.

There were a lot of series in the early days of TV that were developed from Radio Programs. Some were successful, but for the most part, did not have staying power in the video medium. Ah, but this LONE RANGER guy went on for about a dozen years and remained strong in re-runs. What would there be that was sort of like The Masked Rider of the West and maybe had some characteristics of Batman?

A little nostalgia for the Radio Days and research of the old series would have any potential revealed a like candidate. Sitting right there on the LONE RANGER Family Tree was a property that would have the potential to bring in another success.

THE GREEN HORNET was the product of the same Radio creative team as was The Lone Ranger.* In fact, he was said to be a relative. Inasmuch as his setting was the contemporary times and not the "Western United States" of "those thrilling days of yesteryear." **He was said to be a great-great-grand nephew to L.R., or something like that.

The Lone Ranger, John Reid, was the only surviving member of the group of Texas Rangers massacred by the notorious Butch Cavandish Gang. Left for dead along with the others, including his own brother. Tonto, his future Indian companion, recognized John Reid as having been boy hood friends. (John's ring was the object recognized) The young John Reid had done some heroic feat for the young Tonto, who dubbed him "Kimo Savee", translated into 'faithful friend'. Tonto stood by, helping Reid to recovery and burying the dead. (No need to go any further with this story, we all know it!)

The Green Hornet was in reality Britt Reid, the youthful, crusading Publisher of The Daily Sentinnel, a great metropolitan newspaper in a great, un-named big American City. The Hornet had as an assistant, his Valet/Chaueffer, Kato, who was Japanese *** and was both responsible for creating The Green Hornet,s arsenal of weaponry****, but also caring for his super fast auto, The Black Beauty.

The little extra twist in The Green Hornet legend is that he maintained a pose of being a wanted criminal.His real identity and role as a Costumened Crime Fighter known only to The District Attorney and to Britt Reid's Personal Secretary, Miss Lenore Case or usually called just "Casey".

The casting of the regulars for the series was very good and would have been deemed so, even in the old movie serial days.Youthful, good looking and athletic Van Williams, a former Warner Brothers contractee,was cast as Britt Reid/The Green Hornet. Stunning Beauty, Wendy Wagner was Lenore Case, with Lloyd Gough as retired Irish Cop turned 'reporter', Mike Axford. Walter Brooke portrayed District Attorney Frank P. Scanlon. But the true genius of casting (or just plain old luck) was having the young, martial arts exponent, Bruce Lee as Kato.

New to films and inexperienced in front of a camera, Bruce Lee, nonetheless, brought a lively, exciting interpretation to the role of the second banana hero. His action scenes were outstanding as he demonstrated his Karate as weapon against the baddies during at least one confrontation each episode. The fabulous looking physical maneuvers he executed so well were no big deal for a man of his training. He could have phoned in the role.

It was a little different for the spoken word as Mr. Lee was given few lines at first, though his speech became more eloquent as the series progressed. He had worked at it and he learned to modify the Chinese accent that he came by so honestly.****

Like THE LONE RANGER's co opting the finale of Rossinni's WILLIAM TELL OVERTURE, so THE GREEN HORNET Radio Show took Rimsky-Korsakov's FLIGHT OF THE BUMBLE BEE as its theme.***** Mr. Dozier left it to the talents of Famous New Orleans Trumpeter extraordinaries, Al Hirt to come up with and play an original theme which had a certain resemblance to the classical piece.

All the parts were in place and THE GREEN HORNET debuted on ABC on Friday evenings. It developed a certain loyal, though not a very large one. THE GREEN HORNET was not renewed, and faded away by the Fall Season of 1967.

It has since then taken on a legendary reputation and a large cult following, made up of many fans born long after the call by Mr. William Dosier (who doubled as show's announcer, quite handily,too!) This at least in part due to the career and premature death of Bruce Lee.

* It was Creative team of George W. Trendle and Fran Striker, the creator and the principal story writer for THE LONE RANGER at WXYZ Radio in Detroit who brought us THE GREEN HORNET.

** The relationship was made known on the Radio Shows, but not mentioned in the TV Era, probably because the rights to the characters have passed to different parties.

*** It has been said that Kato was said to be Japanese, but became Korean on December 7, 1941. In the Universal Pictures Serial The GREEN HORNET (1940); Kato said that he was Korean.

**** We wondered around our House just who got the least dialog: Bruce Lee as Kato, Peter Lupus as Willie (MISSION IMPOSSIBLE) or Steve London as Agent Jack Rossman (THE UNTOUCHABLES)?

***** The use of Classical Music as both Theme and Incidental Music was a wide spread practice in Old Time Radio. It's been said that the definition of an intellectual is one who can listen to The William Tell Overture without thinking of the Lone Ranger!

Just because the main characters (Notice the plural) are wearing masks doesn't mean that the program is camp. This is the show that introduced the martial arts legend Bruce Lee to the world, and he probably was the first actor that made people think "Gee I didn't know human beings can move like that". I mean seeing Lee for the first time had that much shock value to the audience, and the attraction of the show had much to do with what's Lee going to do this week ? But I'd like to point out the superb acting that was done by Van Williams too. He looked so good as the main character, and he had a chameleon like method acting capability that made his acting fit the scene's mood perfectly every time. If he was British, I wouldn't be surprised if he was recruited to play James Bond after Sean Connery. Keeping in mind that this was a 30 minute show made in the '60s, this series still scores high in its production value. I would say that it's right up there with other '60s popular action show such as Mission Impossible. The only regret is that this show didn't last longer than a season. Audiences wanted more but for some odd reason, it was canned. They should have made at least two more seasons followed by a movie. I would say that it was a monumental blunder on the network's part to not see what a dynamite show they had in hand. Bruce Lee and Van Williams' talent should have been exploited to its max with this show and who knows what other shows they might have stared in.

I just watched the Green Hornet for the first time since MeTv just ran a marathon of all episodes. It was great. I thought it would be as campy and cheesy as Batman (although I grew up on that and still like it), but it wasn't. Yeah, some of the effects were low grade, and the scenes of the Black Beauty driving around town were always the exact same clips, but I still liked it a lot. Bruce Lee is awesome, and Van Williams had to be one of the most handsome guys on TV at the time (or even now). I really can't understand why this show didn't make it. I know that Batman is much more popular, but as far as "cool" ratings go, this show has it beat. Cooler lead character, cooler sidekick (no comparison), cooler car, and cooler music. I got them all on DVR and will probably go through them again this weekend.

Being an avid comic book fan, watching the BATMAN tv series as a kid made me ill; it lent credibility, I thought, to the wonky "seduction of the innocent" scenario espoused by one gonzo nutso. Along came THE GREEN HORNET, and suddenly there was a good reason to watch superheroes on tv again. These guys were serious about stopping crime: they went after drug dealers (unheard of at that time on television- at least the television I watched) and murderers (something superheroes very, very rarely did in the comics of the day). To top it all off, The Hornet's sidekick, Kato, hit below the belt. For a kid who'd grown up on comics, this was a tv show with real grit. I was fascinated by Bruce Lee's Gung Fu. Kato stole the show, to be sure, but that's not to suggest that The Hornet was just another masked man: Van Williams was a solid performer in his own right, and was totally believable in the lead. I've since listened to the old radio plays (which I love; they rank right up there with the best of THE SHADOW), and have recently acquired the entire tv series on video tape. Guess what: the show still holds up, after all these years. The two features that were cobbled together from various episodes were watchable, but nothing beats the series in its original format. If anyone's listening (anyone with clout, with a good eye for a potential goldmine just waiting to be mined), I'd suggest putting four thirty minute episodes per tape in a six-tape boxed set and selling it for whatever the market will bear. Think of it this way: bootleggers have been selling washed-out third generation copies (for far more than they're worth) at comic conventions for decades. Let it slide, and those aforementioned bootleggers will continue to rip off people dying to see the series and the network that financed the series in the first place will continue to lose millions of dollars.

This show had much going AGAINST it: A network that would not allow the show to go one hour (for artistic reasons); an Asian star (racism was prevalent in 1967); and resentment in ABC against the producer, William Dozier (for his success on Batman).

Which is ridiculous!

The Green Hornet not only won its time slot, but it actually proved itself better than its contemporary, Batman, in that it had more serious plot lines, and a truly awesome cast chemistry. Yes, Bruce Lee did a great job. However, the other cast members-Van Williams, Wende Wagner, Lloyd Gough and Walter Brooke-were truly fantastic! The plots were excellent, given the limitations of the series. Watching it for the first time since 1967, I find the show holds up quite well. An added bonus is the Billy May music, as well as the Al Hirt theme, which gives the show some real spirit.

The end result? A series that had tremendous potential to be a great series, but which did not make it beyond its premiere season due to petty problems. Still, it makes for great viewing!

With the BATMAN TV show a runaway success in the 1960s, it was bound to spawn imitators. The only superhero show to follow, however, was "The Green Hornet," based on an old radio show and movie. Hollywood pretty boy Van Williams, who strongly resembled '60s heartthrob Fabian, played the masked supersleuth who chases down baddies in a souped-up Chrysler and with his sidekick, Kato, played by a very young Bruce Lee. The show was pretty awful, except for Kato's fight scenes, which is understandable for anyone who remembers Bruce Lee. In fact, as kids, we watched the show just to see Lee. Now the character is being made into a feature-length movie for 2010 release. Let's hope it improves on this short-lived TV series. If you catch any episodes of the old show, be patient and watch for Lee as he springs into King-fu mode.

Perhaps the best super hero series ever made. The criminals were realistic and not over the top. Sometimes there was a true mystery involved that kept the viewer guessing until the end. The music was classy, the guest stars could be quite good, and the writing was solid. I'm guessing the ratings were poor because adults thought it was more of a kids show, and kids found the shows plots too adult. Then you add Bruce Lee to the mix. On the verge of becoming the number one star in the world in just a few years, he did an excellent job of being the first to bring martial arts to American viewers. The show should have really been one hour to flesh out the plots more, but thankfully 3 stories in the series were 2 parters. One really has a hard time finding any fault at all with this series, and perhaps because it didn't fit into the camp craze of the time, it lasted only 1 season. However the number of episodes made would equal 2 seasons of any of todays shows. It's a pity the new movie didn't follow the guidelines set by this series, if it had, it could have been dynamite. Black Mask is a more appropriate homage to this series then the GH movie was. Here is hoping for a DVD release of the series with unseen footage and all the goodies.

Made by the same production team as the successful "Batman" TV series and at around the same time, "The Green Hornet" is similar but different. Okay, so after getting past a similarly child-simple theme tune (though someone must have confused their insects as here we get "The Flight Of The Bumble Bee") we have another masked law-man, with his younger, also masked sidekick, driving around in a customised automobile fighting organised crime, employing gadgets and gizmos along the way, who by daytime is a respected pillar of society. But where "Batman" went for comedy through campness, the Hornet, while definitely still identifiable as a comic-book creation, plays it noticeably straighter, no pun intended.

So there are no costumed villains, no "Biff-Bang-Pow" fight scenes or kooky comedy ("Holy Fortune Cookie!") and instead we get twenty five minutes of entertaining, escapist adventure. The big latter-day selling point of interest to film fans of the 70's is the young Bruce Lee appearing as Kato (although I think a change of name from Clouseau's Oriental valet might have been a good idea), the Hornet's martial-arts-expert chauffeur and junior partner. Lee doesn't get to say, or even do much but his kung-fu kicks, flicks and tricks are great fun. Van Williams makes for a good jaw-jutting lead, a campaigning newspaper editor by day and a frock-coated crime-fighter by night.

The production values are excellent, although no doubt the superior scene locations, interior sets and even choice of cars were swapped around from time to time with "Batman", so similar do they look at times. Unfortunately the Green Hornet's sting somewhat surprisingly didn't connect with its audience, instead it was his rival in the ill-fitting costume over in Gotham City who cleaned up and got the big viewer numbers and a second series. Even a cross-over episode involving both heroes couldn't save old Greenie. That said, due, I think because they were so well made and also avoided infantile audience-pandering, I think this series holds up very well, some nearly fifty years on.

Considering the cultural milieu in which this show was produced and the budgetary and technological limitations involved, this is probably the 2nd greatest not-for-laughs super-hero TV program ever produced, second only to George Reeves' Superman program.(It is superior to Reeves in terms of production values.) Although mostly formulaic, the stories were tightly plotted and disciplined, delivering good super-hero type action with a little drama, and with every episode having at least some kind of hook or gimmick to add to the fun.

There are occasional quips or smart remarks, but the show was played completely straight and the Hornet and Kato were never made to look silly or ridiculous. In fact, Our Heroes actually looked cooler than most traditional superheroes in their masks and business clothes, since tights do not translate well onto the screen.

Every episode had at least 1 fight scene, many having 2 or more fights, and many of the fight scenes were truly excellent when compared with other shows of this period. Often the fights involve multiple foes and transpire in warehouses, with the Hornet's hat miraculously staying on throughout the fight...these things played out like the wonderful fight scenes in old Republic movie serials, where the stunt-men kept their hats on by means of spirit gum.

Speaking of the fights, every episode features Bruce Lee doing some great martial arts moves, and usually you can hear him yelling as he delivers the blow, to great effect, I might add.

Generally, the cast was competent to excellent, with Van Williams being an acceptable Britt Ried but a most excellent and badass Green Hornet...he definitely seems to get into his role of intimidating criminals, which is great fun to watch.

Bruce Lee's acting skills were probably not fully developed at this time, nonetheless, his Kato is good enough and he had a good screen presence.

Those who like their heroes to display a lot of angst and conflicted emotions, who like extended shots of characters staring off into nothingness with vague expressions upon their faces, perhaps with cloying music rising in the background, such as can be seen on more modern television shows, will not like the GH. Emotions are underplayed on this show.

It is a matter of some debate as to why a show this well-produced was a ratings failure and only lasted 1 season. I blame it on 3 things:

1. This show was broadcast opposite 'The Wild, Wild, West' which had premiered 2 years earlier and was a fantastically HUGE hit with young males, the exact demographic GH's producers sought. Opposite WWW, GH never had a chance for good ratings.

2. For some reason, this show has a cheap-looking opening credits sequence, with a kind of slide show presentation and the corny voice of Batman announcer (and GH executive producer Bill Dozier) narrating the whole thing. I think viewers might have seen the credits and thought they were in for another Batman...and Batman was already losing viewers when GH premiered in 1967.

3. At 1/2 hour per show, there was not enough time to develop villains into really baroque pulp-fiction type characters, such as on Wild, Wild West, nor was there time to develop the Hornet's relationship with his buddy Kato or his sexy secretary Miss Case, nor was there time to have more complex plots. Improvement along any of these lines would have made the show more successful.

But taken as it is, as a half hour of straightforward, honest, non-camp superhero fun, satisfying our need for tough yet fair heroes, the Green Hornet stands alone as a gleaming artifact, sufficient in itself, tantalizing for what it could have been.

You often wonder why this show only was on for one season and how Batman outlived it. This has to be one of the best superhero shows to ever be shown on television and the thing that made it work was that it didn't rely on camp or the crazy quilt of villains that Batman did. Instead, it pretty much was, more or less, a straight crime drama with very little frills unlike other similarly themed shows that were on the air at the same time. Also, Van Williams and Bruce Lee showed that you can have good acting in a superhero show. Too bad that this show never really was given a chance to catch on. If given the time it deserved, it probably would have outlived Batman.

I mostly watch once in a while this show in a Canadian cable network (Space) and the allure of the show makes me remember the original "Batman" series by the same producer...

Though some noticeable flaws (like those "evening" shots which suddenly become "day" shots in the next frame...), this show is rather entertaining and ahead of his time. This series only lasted one year, but in some way has reached cult status due to the appearance of one Bruce Lee, which Kung Fu moves impressed more than one fan. Have to mention here that the actors are okay here, as Van Williams should have had more better roles at the time with such an exposure.

Even the car, Black Beauty, was a masterpiece of a rolling arsenal at the time. Funny these days of computer advancements, that such a car can have that many gadgets.

Though shadowed by his counterpart "Batman", "The Green Hornet" stills surprises these days, especially with those who want to discover why Bruce Lee became a Martial Arts legend, even after his death in 1973.

Take an action/adventure show like Mission Impossible and merge it with a police procedural like Adam-12 and you have the formula for The Green Hornet which combined the best of both genres

The program was ahead of its time with solid writing, intelligent scripts, and great acting from Van Williams who somehow took on a striking resemblance to Burt Lancaster when in the guise of the Hornet.

The focus was on the story, guest stars played their parts without chewing the scenery, and the tech was believable and non-intrusive to the stories. The Green Hornet was an action-adventure show written for adults and though limited to a 30-minute time frame, delivered tight, well-rounded adventures. More elaborate adventures were sprinkled through the series with several two-part episodes.

Fifty-five years later, the series still takes viewers on a fun ride. The 60's are alive in the cars, fashion, and ever-present jazz soundtrack with none of the eye-rolling overt sexism of Star Trek.

The Green Hornet deserved more seasons and a revival movie that was faithful to the character, instead of the campy 2016 movie.

I love this show and I'm a big fan of Bruce Lee the storyline in this show are very good. This leads to good production values but the most annoying thing about this show is the constant inappropriate music. It's relentless in a lot of the episodes and In my view very unnecessary in some scenes I found this very distracting . With regards to Bruce Lee, you can tell from the onset his charisma and presence was Very influencing I feel the show being axed did him a favour because he was just way too big for it. And as we all know in the history, he went on to do better things. It would be interesting to see if they remade the show today what would the audience reaction be? One thing is sure you could not replace Bruce Lee.

A series that was perhaps ahead of its time, and certainly unappreciated by the network executives that cancelled it after only one season. Unlike other superhero TV series of the era, the Green Hornet was written for adults, and tried to avoid the campy style.

The scripts were fashioned as traditional crime dramas, and the gadgetry was limited. Moreover, the first season ratings were above average, and so the reason for early cancellation seems fuzzy.

Regardless, the fans were left with a significant sense of unfulfilled expectations, and the concept of a superhero drama series that tried to play it straight would have to wait another generation to become realized.

After the tremendous success of Batman (1966) it seemed that the producers would focus on continuing to make hero series for TV, they focused on The Green Hornet and the intention was to make an adventure series with a more serious tone than Batman. The result was quite uneven, the duration of chapters of 30 minutes per week did not contribute to finish exploiting to the maximum the stories that were often quite simple in their development. Van Williams was very good in his role but a hero in a suit and a heavy overcoat made him look somewhat stiff and stiff, Bruce Lee was able to show off his skills as Kato and ended up having almost more prominence than Williams himself. The series met with moderate reception and only lasted one season, despite this it became a cult classic largely due to its soundtrack. The sensational opening theme went a long way in helping audiences identify with the series and the character over the years.

I like this show went a different path than being corny like Batman. Bruce Lee made this show and was the main reason I watch it.

what a show the green hornet was i loved watching him work.the show was a milestone in its time,i just wish it had run more than one season.it just so happens that i have the entire shows run on VHS tape.i have a bit of trivia for hornet fans in the episode called the praying mantis the actor called Mako fought Bruce lee,Kato to a standstill plus he was a mentor/manipulator of Brandon lee,Bruce lees son in the TV movie called Kung Fu the movie.in which he hypnotized Brandon lee in to believing that Kwai Chang Cain was his enemy.And to top it all off Bruce lee wanted to portray Kwai Chang Cain in the TV show Kung Fu.PS i also have the movie called Kung Fu the movie in which Brandon Lee made his film debut.

So, what do ya say? It's about time for a new Green Hornet re-make? I watched this show as a kid, and liked when The Green Hornet & Kato Met Batman and Robin (the only time they were seen together). Kayto kicked the crap out of Robin..remember that? How about a blockbuster star like Kiefer Southerland as Brit Reid? Don't know who I would pick to be Kato...

How about Jaylo as the office girl? The New Black Beauty?? Ah! a Black 2006 Chrysler 300-C How cool would that be eh? Can't even think of all the gadgets & weapons you could have in this super car! Laser guided missiles, GPS, etc..

Let's talk this one up in Hollywood OK??