Jump to content

Highlander: The Series season 2

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Alex 21 (talk | contribs) at 11:03, 4 December 2016 (Update OriginalAirDate and/or AltDate to use correct formats per template documentation via script.). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Highlander: The Series Season 2
Season 2
Highlander: The Series Season 2 DVD boxset
No. of episodes22
Release
Original networkBroadcast syndication
Original releaseSeptember 27, 1993 –
May 23, 1994
Season chronology
← Previous
1
Next →
3
List of episodes

The second season of the international fantasy series Highlander: The Series, part of the Highlander franchise, consists of 22 episodes produced between 1993 and 1994.[1] The first episode of the season aired on September 27, 1993 in broadcast syndication[2] and the last aired on May 23, 1994. The series continues to follow the adventures of Duncan MacLeod, a 400-year-old Immortal who can only die if he is beheaded. MacLeod is involved in the Game, an ongoing battle during which all Immortals have to behead each other until only one is left.

A number of changes affected the cast as well as the co-production agreement that financed the previous season. Ratings increased, but Highlander received criticism for being too violent. The season was released on DVD in Region 1 on July 29, 2003 by Anchor Bay Entertainment.[3] The episodes are available on the online video on demand service Hulu, a joint venture between NBC and Fox Broadcasting Company.[4]

Production

The first season aired earlier in the United States than elsewhere, thus in early 1993, Rysher TPE, the distributor that had sold the series to the American market, had to make a decision about financing a new season. At this point, the European partners still had not aired the first season, so the decision fell to Rysher. Willing to take the risk, Rysher announced that it would produce a second season.[5][6] The France/Canada co-production agreement of the previous season was reconstituted, albeit with some different partners. Gaumont Television (France), Rysher TPE (United States) and Reteitalia (Italy)[7] agreed to renew their participation to a new season. French leading channel TF1 was forced to cancel its participation because it was no longer legally allowed to qualify a show filmed in English as French content, and was replaced by French smaller channel M6, which was still allowed to do so.[6] RTL Plus (Germany) and Amuse Video (Japan) were also no longer part of the co-production, but Gaumont Television president Christian Charret signed Filmline International (Canada) as a new partner.[6] As a result of this new co-production agreement, with less wealthy partners, the budget of the season decreased from US$26.1 million the previous year[8] to $22 million. Half of the funding came from French[9] and other European sources;[10] income per episode from international sales, which had reached $800,000 in the previous season, decreased as well.[11] According to The Hollywood Reporter, pre-production started in April 1993,[12] and filming in June the same year.[13] Like the first season, the second season was divided into two segments; the first segment was filmed in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada (as the fictional city of Seacouver, Washington, United States),[14] and the second in Paris, France, to secure an acceptable share of European content as part of the co-production agreement.[6][15][16] Creatively, the second season was intended to be more action-oriented than the first, but lead actor Adrian Paul refused to do "another kung fu series," insisting that more romance and history be brought in the scripts.[17]

The first segment of the season was filmed in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

The production staff underwent a number of changes following the reshaping of the co-production partnership. Bill Panzer, Peter S. Davis, Christian Charret and Gaumont co-production executive Marla Ginsburg were executive producers. Filmline president Nicolas Clermont[6] became the only co-executive producer. Ken Gord replaced Barry Rosen and Gary Goodman as the new producer. Former executives in charge of production, Marc du Pontavice and Denis Leroy, returned as associate producer and coordinating producer respectively. David Abramowitz served as head writer,[18] but he could not be credited as such because Highlander was a Canadian-based show, and only Canadian writers could author scripts;[19] Abramowitz was American, and thus was credited as creative consultant instead.[18] The executive script editor was David Tynan, who also contributed scripts along staff and freelance writers, Brad Wright among the latter. Brent Karl Clackson was the line producer in Vancouver, but was succeeded by Patrick Millet (with the title of production manager) on the Paris segment. Regular directors throughout the season were Clay Borris and Dennis Berry. Fencing coach Bob Anderson, who coined for himself the title of Master of Swords,[20] resumed his work from the third episode onwards, after David Boushey choreographed the fights of episode two. The opening theme was "Princes of the Universe" from the 1986 album A Kind of Magic by Queen;[6] incidental music was composed by Roger Bellon.[21]

Cast

The main cast also underwent substantial changes during the season. Adrian Paul (Duncan MacLeod) and Stan Kirsch (playing Richie Ryan, the quick-talking street punk) returned to play their characters, but Alexandra Vandernoot who had portrayed Tessa Noël, the French artist, decided to leave the show.[22] Vandernoot only appeared in (and had star billing for) the first four episodes of the season, and her character was killed in the fourth episode "The Darkness". She did, however, return to make a guest appearance as the murderer Lisa Halle, in the two-part season finale "Counterfeit".

Jim Byrnes was introduced as MacLeod's Watcher, Joe Dawson, in the season's first episode "The Watchers". The Watchers are members of a secret society that observes Immortals without interfering in the Game. Another new actor Philip Akin had star billing in episodes three to fifteen playing Charlie DeSalvo, a martial arts teacher and ex-Navy SEAL. MacLeod buys and lives in DeSalvo's dojo after Tessa's death. Akin was replaced in the main cast when production moved to Paris for the second segment. Michel Modo took Akin's place, acting as Maurice Lalonde, an unemployed former chef living next to MacLeod's barge, and had star billing in episodes sixteen to twenty-two.[23][24][fn 1]

Actors returning to play recurring characters included: Elizabeth Gracen as Amanda, an international thief; Roland Gift as Xavier St. Cloud, a hedonistic killer; and Peter Hudson as James Horton, Dawson's brother-in-law and leader of the Hunters, a group of renegade Watchers who believe Immortals must be eliminated. New recurring characters introduced in the season were: Immortal baseball player Carl Robinson, portrayed by Bruce A. Young; CID Special Agent Renee Delaney, played by Stacey Travis; and Immortal mentor Rebecca Horne, played by Nadia Cameron.[23][24]

Reception

The twentieth episode, "Prodigal Son", was partially filmed at the Château de Chantilly, 38 km (23.6 mi) north of Paris, France[25]

During the 1993 November sweeps period, 4.1 percent of viewers aged 18 to 49 watched the episode, representing a 17 percent gain from the previous year's ratings, which scored 3.5.[26] The household average for all dayparts scored 2.7/9. This means that an average of 2.7 percent of viewers aged 18 to 49, as well as 9 percent of all viewers watching television at the time, watched each episode during the sweeps. This represented an increase of 40 to 50 percent of the series' share of key demographic rating groups.[27] Ratings reached 4.6 during the 1994 February sweeps.[28]

Rick Sanchez of IGN wrote that the pilot episode "The Watchers" demonstrated "a huge leap in quality and style for the show that just keeps getting better and better by episode" and that "Season Two pretty much surpasses Season One in every way imaginable." Sanchez gave the season an overall rating of 8 out of 10.[29] Two episodes were nominated for the 1994 Golden Reel Awards in the One Hour Series category: "The Darkness" for sound editing, and "The Zone" for ADR editing.[30]

A February 1994 study by Samuel Robert Lichter, president of the Center for Media and Public Affairs, found that the second season of Highlander was the most violent syndicated show of the 1993-1994 season. According to it, there were 31 scenes of violence in the premiere episode.[31] Charret also admitted the series received adverse criticism for being too violent.[32] Abramowitz disagreed that Highlander was violent and stressed that staff writers "work very hard at having MacLeod not take pleasure in causing death."[33] Gord pointed out the non-graphic nature of violence in the show and likened Immortals to vampire mythology, saying, "The vampire sucks some blood and you stick him through the heart with a stake and nobody takes that seriously."[34] Steven Maier, executive financial consultant on the second season, noted that the beheadings in Highlander might make the show look "extremely violent", but insisted that violence could be depicted in "non-graphic ways" and was "highly stylized" in Highlander.[35]

Episodes

See also: List of Highlander: The Series episodes

The total running time of the 22 episodes of the second season was 1,060 minutes.[3]

Ser# Sea# Title[23][24] Director[23][24] Writer[23][24] Original airdate[4] Production code[1]
2301"The Watchers"Clay BorrisMarie-Chantal DroneySeptember 27, 1993 (1993-09-27)93201-23
2402"Studies in Light"Peter EllisNaomi JanzenOctober 4, 1993 (1993-10-04)93202-24
2503"Turnabout"Clay BorrisDavid TynanOctober 11, 1993 (1993-10-11)93203-25
2604"The Darkness"Paolo BarzmanChristian Bouveron & Lawrence ShoreOctober 18, 1993 (1993-10-18)93204-26
2705"Eye For An Eye"Dennis BerryElizabeth Baxter and Martin BrousselletOctober 25, 1993 (1993-10-25)93205-27
2806"The Zone"Clay BorrisPeter MohanNovember 1, 1993 (1993-11-01)93206-28
2907"The Return of Amanda"Dennis BerryStory by Guy Mullaly; teleplay by David TynanNovember 8, 1993 (1993-11-08)93207-29
3008"Revenge of the Sword"Clay BorrisAubrey SolomonNovember 15, 1993 (1993-11-15)93208-30
3109"Run For Your Life"Dennis BerryNaomi JanzenNovember 22, 1993 (1993-11-22)93209-31
3210"Epitaph for Tommy"Clay BorrisPhilip John TaylorNovember 29, 1993 (1993-11-29)93210-32
3311"The Fighter"Peter EllisMorrie RuvinskyJanuary 31, 1994 (1994-01-31)93211-33
3412"Under Color of Authority"Clay BorrisPeter MohanFebruary 7, 1994 (1994-02-07)93212-34
3513"Bless the Child"Clay BorrisElizabeth Baxter and Martin BrousselletFebruary 14, 1994 (1994-02-14)93213-35
3614"Unholy Alliance[fn 2]"Peter EllisDavid TynanFebruary 21, 1994 (1994-02-21)93214-36
3715"Unholy Alliance Part Two"Peter EllisDavid TynanFebruary 28, 1994 (1994-02-28)93215-37
3816"The Vampire"Dennis BerryJ.P. CoutureMarch 7, 1994 (1994-03-07)93216-38
3917"Warmonger"Bruno GantillonChristian Bouveron and Lawrence ShoreMarch 14, 1994 (1994-03-14)93217-39
4018"Legacy"Dennis BerryElizabeth BaxterApril 25, 1994 (1994-04-25)93218-40
4119"Prodigal Son"Paolo BarzmanDavid TynanMay 2, 1994 (1994-05-02)93219-41
4220"Pharaoh's Daughter"Dennis BerryChristian Bouveron and Lawrence ShoreMay 9, 1994 (1994-05-09)93220-42
4321"Counterfeit[fn 3]"Paolo BarzmanStory by David Tynan; teleplay by Brad WrightMay 16, 1994 (1994-05-16)93221-43
4422"Counterfeit Part Two"Dennis BerryDavid TynanMay 23, 1994 (1994-05-23)93222-44


Home media release

Highlander: The Series Season Two
Set details[3][38] Special features[3][38]
  • Adrian Paul audio and video commentary on "The Return of Amanda" and "Revenge of the Sword"
  • Bill Panzer and/or David Abramowitz commentary on all episodes
  • Lost scenes
  • "Watcher Chronicles" : character profiles
  • Scripts of all episodes
  • Director and actor biographies
  • Shooting schedules of "Studies in Light", "Turnabout" and "Unholy Alliance"
  • Trivia game
  • Photo gallery
Release dates
Region 1
July 29, 2003

Notes

  1. ^ Modo had already appeared as Maurice in "Unholy Alliance Part Two", credited as a guest actor.
  2. ^ Also referred to as "Unholy Alliance Part One".[36]
  3. ^ Also referred to as "Counterfeit Part One".[37]

References

  1. ^ a b Highlander: The Series (season 2) (DVD). Anchor Bay Entertainment. 2003. Retrieved 27 January 2009.http://wayback.archive.org/web/20111002035944/http://www.legendaryheroes.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=H1312-PA
  2. ^ "Highlander Cast and Details". TVGuide.com. Retrieved 27 September 2007.
  3. ^ a b c d "Highlander: The Series - Season 2 (Anchor Bay)". TVShowsOnDVD.com. Retrieved 25 September 2008.
  4. ^ a b "Hulu - Highlander". Hulu. Hulu LLC. Retrieved 26 April 2008. (USA only)
  5. ^ Benson, Jim (18 January 1993). "Rysher bringing full plate to NATPE". Variety. Reed Business Information. ISSN 0042-2738. Retrieved 11 August 2008.
  6. ^ a b c d e f Sherwood, Rick (3 December 1996). "Historic Agreements". Hollywood Reporter. BPI Communications L.P. p. S6. ISSN 0018-3660.
  7. ^ Guider, Elizabeth (12 August 1993). "Rysher to handle Highlander distrib'n". Variety. Reed Business Information. ISSN 0042-2738. Retrieved 23 March 2008.
  8. ^ Farrell, Pia (22 December 1992). "'Highlander' series flys [sic] to TV". Hollywood Reporter. BPI Communications L.P. p. 16. ISSN 0018-3660.
  9. ^ Covington, Richard (28 April 1994). "Changing EU Rules Have Spawned New Alliances : European TV Lures U.S. Studios". International Herald Tribune. The New York Times. Retrieved 18 November 2014.
  10. ^ Foisie, Geoffrey (15 November 1993). "Hollywood heads for Europe, hat in hand: Foreign investment in U.S. TV productions grows". Broadcasting & Cable. Reed Publishing. ISSN 1068-6827.
  11. ^ Marich, Robert (12 April 1994). "In on the Action". Hollywood Reporter. BPI Communications L.P. p. S-3. ISSN 0018-3660.
  12. ^ Riddell, Edwin (16 April 1993). "At MIP, a study in Euro realism". Hollywood Reporter. BPI Communications L.P. p. 1. ISSN 0018-3660.
  13. ^ Farrell, Pia (19 April 1993). "'La Femme Nikita' series to TV via Gaumont, WB Gaumont: Signs co-production agreement w/ Warner Bros". Hollywood Reporter. BPI Communications L.P. p. 7. ISSN 0018-3660.
  14. ^ Name from "The Gathering". Highlander: The Series. Season 1. Episode 1. Syndication. {{cite episode}}: Unknown parameter |episodelink= ignored (|episode-link= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |serieslink= ignored (|series-link= suggested) (help), Bonus Material, Article: "Richie Ryan", in Highlander: The Series (season 1) (DVD, Anchor Bay Entertainment, 2001), disk 1.
  15. ^ Russell, Maureen (1998). Highlander: The Complete Watcher's Guide. New York: Warner Books. p. 1. ISBN 0-446-67435-4. OCLC 38898097.
  16. ^ Thomas, Scott (November 1997). "There can be only one - The Making of "Highlander: The Series" Season One". Retrovision. Retrovision. OCLC 40987681. Archived from the original on 11 November 1999. Retrieved 26 April 2008.
  17. ^ Variety staff (22 September 1997). "Paul, Dimension ink 'Highlander' deal". Variety. Reed Business Information. ISSN 0042-2738. Retrieved 20 October 2008.
  18. ^ a b David Abramowitz, in Russell, Maureen (1998). Highlander: The Complete Watcher's Guide. New York: Warner Books. p. 5. ISBN 0-446-67435-4. OCLC 38898097.
  19. ^ Donna Lettow, in Russell, Maureen (1998). Highlander: The Complete Watcher's Guide. New York: Warner Books. p. 25. ISBN 0-446-67435-4. OCLC 38898097.
  20. ^ Sword Master F. Braun McAsh, in Russell, Maureen (1998). Highlander: The Complete Watcher's Guide. New York: Warner Books. p. 82. ISBN 0-446-67435-4. OCLC 38898097.
  21. ^ Russell, Maureen (1998). Highlander: The Complete Watcher's Guide. New York: Warner Books. p. 150. ISBN 0-446-67435-4. OCLC 38898097.
  22. ^ Thomas, Scott (March 1998). "The Making of Highlander: The Series Season Two". Retrovision. Retrovision. OCLC 40987681. Archived from the original on 14 February 2005. Retrieved 25 September 2008.
  23. ^ a b c d e "Season 2". Rysher.com. Archived from the original on 20 May 1998. Retrieved 25 September 2008.
  24. ^ a b c d e Russell, Maureen (1998). Highlander: The Complete Watcher's Guide. New York: Warner Books. pp. 178–190. ISBN 0-446-67435-4. OCLC 38898097.
  25. ^ Ken Gord, in Russell, Maureen (1998). Highlander: The Complete Watcher's Guide. New York: Warner Books. p. 46. ISBN 0-446-67435-4. OCLC 38898097.
  26. ^ Benson, Jim (6 December 1993). "'Hard Copy,' 'Cops,' 'Vicki!' post gains". Variety. Reed Business Information. ISSN 0042-2738. Retrieved 11 October 2008.
  27. ^ Freeman, Mike (17 January 1994). "Lots of action in action-adventure genre. (TV syndication)". Broadcasting & Cable. Reed Publishing. p. 75. ISSN 1068-6827.
  28. ^ Benson, Jim (17 February 1994). "'Oprah,' 'Maury' up in syndie sweeps". Variety. Reed Business Information. ISSN 0042-2738. Retrieved 11 October 2008.
  29. ^ Sanchez, Rick (10 August 2003). "Highlander: Season Two - Duncan is back and badder than ever in the second season". IGN.com. IGN Entertainment, Inc. Retrieved 18 October 2008.
  30. ^ Variety staff (16 March 1994). "Golden Reel TV honors set for Sat". Variety. Reed Business Information. ISSN 0042-2738. Retrieved 15 December 2008.
  31. ^ Edwards, Ellen (8 February 1994). "Study Says Syndicated Shows Are the Real TV Bad Guys". The Washington Post. The Washington Post. p. c01. ISSN 0190-8286.
  32. ^ Farrell, Pia (19 April 1994). "'Nikita' killed, a casualty of violence debate". Hollywood Reporter. BPI Communications L.P. p. 11. ISSN 0018-3660.
  33. ^ David Abramowitz, in Russell, Maureen (1998). Highlander: The Complete Watcher's Guide. New York: Warner Books. p. 8. ISBN 0-446-67435-4. OCLC 38898097.
  34. ^ Ken Gord, in Russell, Maureen (1998). Highlander: The Complete Watcher's Guide. New York: Warner Books. p. 40. ISBN 0-446-67435-4. OCLC 38898097.
  35. ^ Gelman, Morrie (12 April 1994). "Blood Relative". Hollywood Reporter. BPI Communications L.P. p. S-18. ISSN 0018-3660.
  36. ^ Russell, Maureen (1998). Highlander: The Complete Watcher's Guide. New York: Warner Books. p. 185. ISBN 0-446-67435-4. OCLC 38898097.
  37. ^ Russell, Maureen (1998). Highlander: The Complete Watcher's Guide. New York: Warner Books. p. 189. ISBN 0-446-67435-4. OCLC 38898097.
  38. ^ a b "Highlander Season 2 on DVD". Legendary Heroes. Davis Merchandising Corp. Archived from the original on December 18, 2008. Retrieved 6 October 2008. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Highlander:_The_Series_season_2&oldid=752961608"