van williams played the green hornet in the tv series.
who played the green hornet in the tv series?
van williams
despite character co-creator george w. trendle's failed efforts to generate interest in a green hornet tv series in 1951 and 1958, the success of abc's 1960s "batman" series prompted the network to adapt the venerable radio and movie-serial character. the series starred van williams as the green hornet and introduced martial artist bruce lee to american television audiences as his partner, kato. unlike the campy and humorous "batman" series, "the green hornet" was played straight. though it was canceled after one season, lee became a major star of martial arts movies. lee's popularity in hong kong, where he was raised, was such that the show was marketed there as "the kato show." the green hornet and kato also appeared in two episodes of "batman" titled "a piece of the action/batman's satisfaction," with reid mentioning that he and bruce wayne had been acquaintances and rivals since childhood. though other characters in the story were all led to believe wrongly that the green hornet and kato were villains, as on "the green hornet: the series," roger c. carmel acted out the show's real villain, who called himself colonel gumm.
the green hornet (tv series)
later that same season, the green hornet and kato appeared in the two-part second-season episodes "a piece of the action" and "batman's satisfaction", which aired on march 1–2, 1967. in the two episodes, the green hornet and kato are in gotham city to bust a counterfeit stamp ring run by colonel gumm (portrayed by roger c. carmel). the "batman's satisfaction" episode leads to a mixed fight, with both batman & robin and the green hornet & kato fighting colonel gumm and his gang. once gumm's crew was defeated, batman and robin squared off against the green hornet and kato, resulting in a stand-off that was interrupted by the police. in this episode, batman, robin and the police consider the green hornet and kato to be criminals, although batman and robin were cordial to the duo in the earlier window appearance. there is also a mention of "the green hornet" tv series on the "batman" tv series episode "the impractical joker" (episode 55, part 1, aired november 16, 1966): while watching tv together, alfred, dick grayson and bruce wayne (who says, "it's time to watch "the green hornet"", with the hornet buzzing sound audible in the background) are interrupted by the joker; then, after the interruption, "the green hornet" tv series theme music is heard.
batman (tv series)