Stingray (NBC TV series)
| Stingray | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Format | drama / crime |
| Created by | Stephen J. Cannell |
| Starring | Nick Mancuso |
| Country of origin | United States |
| No. of episodes | 24 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Stephen J. Cannell & Lawrence Hertzog |
| Running time | 1 hour (with commercials) |
| Production company(s) | Stephen J. Cannell Productions |
| Distributor | Universal Media Studios |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | NBC |
| Original run | July 14, 1985 – May 8, 1987 |
| External links | |
| Website | |
Stingray is an NBC television series produced by Stephen J. Cannell that ran from 1985 to 1987. It stars Nick Mancuso, who plays the mysterious character known only as Ray, whose trademark is a black 1965 Corvette Sting Ray.
Contents |
[edit] Plot
Ray, who lives in Southern California, devotes his time to helping those who are in trouble. His background is shadowy; all that is known about him is that he advertises surreptitiously in newspapers, ostensibly offering a "'65 black Stingray, for Barter Only To Right Party" and including a telephone number (555-7687). Those wishing to enlist his services, presumably having learned the ad’s real meaning by word of mouth, can call him for help. It is not clear if "Ray" is even his real name, or if simply a nickname he has taken on based on the car he drives, the same one described in the advertisement. In the pilot, he does say it's short for Raymond, but it's unclear if he's being honest or it's a cover.
Ray does not charge money for his help; instead, he extracts a promise from his client in advance that the client will repay Ray in the future by performing a favor, perhaps easy, perhaps difficult, upon Ray’s request. As the series begins, Ray has apparently extracted this promise from many previous clients; this allows him to call in a variety of favors during the series to help his current clients. In one episode, for instance, when he poses as a doctor and is called upon, as part of his cover, to perform surgery, he calls in a favor from a former client who is a physician; the former client secretly takes Ray’s place in the operating room and performs the surgery.
Ray is a skilled driver and accomplished martial artist, and is excellent at covering his tracks and hiding his real identity. On several occasions, clients and government authorities believe that they have discovered who he really is, but in the end they find that they are mistaken. Often it seems that Ray either is or was affiliated with a secret government agency, perhaps the CIA, but this is never conclusively proven. In "Abnormal Psych" an unnamed opponent with ties to the U.S. intelligence community claims to have "created" Ray, and in "Anytime, Anywhere" it's clear he served in Vietnam in some capacity. When the license plate for his Stingray is run through a computer it lists many different addresses and owners. Two of the most notable were “1600 Pennsylvania Ave., Washington, DC” (the address of the White House) and the motor pool for the Governor of California.
Ray's other talents include a photographic memory, speed reading, the ability to slow down his heart to barely perceptible levels, and a knack for adopting personas including an arrogant surgeon, a tent-revival preacher, a crippled Vietnam veteran, and a grieving husband. He is a skilled computer hacker, capable of accessing and altering data systems and coordinating information retrieval.
[edit] Music
Music (by veteran TV composers Mike Post and Pete Carpenter, long-time collaborators with Cannell) played a large part in the series. In addition to frequent quick-cutting of visuals in time with the incidental music, the show also inserted music video style interludes, complete with original, script-specific “pop songs” written by Stephen Geyer (co-writer "Theme for The Greatest American Hero", "Theme for Hardcastle & McCormick", "Theme for Blossom", etc.) and Post, and sung by (usually) semi-obscure pop and rock vocalists (for example, David Pack singing “Signs of Human Error” in the episode “Playback”).
Uniquely, the end credits featured still photos of the production crew working on the episode.
[edit] Guest Stars
Notable guest stars included Rachel Ticotin, Ray Wise, Mark-Paul Gosselaar, Patricia Wettig, Tom Atkins, Kurtwood Smith, Robert Vaughn, Stuart Pankin, Steven Williams, Marcia Strassman, Eugene Roche, Gregg Henry, Lori Petty, Samantha Eggar, Jeff Altman, Shannon Tweed, Dennis Christopher, Doug Savant, Jeff Conaway, Joseph Ruskin, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, John Amos, and Clyde Kusatsu.
[edit] Awards
The series (Betty Green, graphic design) won the Primetime Emmy Award in 1986 in category “Outstanding Graphic and Title Design” and was nominated in 1987 in the category “Outstanding Sound Editing for a Series” for the episode “Gemini”.
[edit] Episode list
![[icon]](/wiki/File:Wiki_letter_w_cropped.svg){kind=small} |
This section requires expansion with: episode summaries. |
| # | Title | Original air date |
|---|---|---|
| pilot | "Stingray" | July 14, 1985 |
| (2-hour pilot) | ||
| 1-01 | "Ancient Eyes" | March 11, 1986 |
| 1-02 | "Ether" | March 25, 1986 |
| 1-03 | "Below the Line" | April 1, 1986 |
| 1-04 | "Sometimes You Gotta Sing the Blues" | April 8, 1986 |
| 1-05 | "Abnormal Psych" | April 15, 1986 |
| 1-06 | "Orange Blossom" | April 29, 1986 |
| 1-07 | "Less than the Eye Can See" | May 6, 1986 |
| 1-08 | "That Terrible Swift Sword" | May 13, 1986 |
| 2-01 | "The Greeter" | January 9, 1987 |
| 2-02 | "Gemini" | January 16, 1987 |
| 2-03 | "Playback" | January 23, 1987 |
| 2-04 | "Bring Me the Hand That Hit Me" | January 30, 1987 |
| 2-05 | "Echoes" | February 6, 1987 |
| 2-06 | "The First Time Is Forever" | February 20, 1987 |
| 2-07 | "Autumn" | February 27, 1987 |
| 2-08 | "The Neniwa" | March 6, 1987 |
| 2-09 | "The Second Finest Man Who Ever Lived" | March 20, 1987 |
| 2-10 | "Night Maneuvers" | March 27, 1987 |
| 2-11 | "Cry Wolf" | April 3, 1987 |
| 2-12 | "Blood Money" | April 10, 1987 |
| 2-13 | "Anytime, Anywhere" | April 17, 1987 |
| 2-14 | "Caper" | May 1, 1987 |
| 2-15 | "One Way Ticket to the End of the Line" | May 8, 1987 |
[edit] DVD releases
On April 1, 2008, Visual Entertainment released the complete series of Stingray on DVD in Canada.[1]
On January 18, 2011, Mill Creek Entertainment released the Complete Series on DVD in region 1 in a 5-disc set.[2]
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Stingray (pilot) at the Internet Movie Database
- Stingray (series) at the Internet Movie Database
- Stingray at TV.com
