Danger Theatre (Tropical Punch/The Searcher)

1 9 9 3 (USA)
7 x 30 minute episodes

This short-lived comedy series was hosted by Robert Vaughn and contained two 15-minute segments: The Searcher, a parody of wandering TV heroes such as Knight Rider starring Diedrich Bader in the title role, and Tropical Punch – a parody of Hawaii Five-O starring Adam West as Captain Mike Morgan.

The Searcher travelled around the US helping people who were being harassed or threatened: “They call me . . . The Searcher”.

Dressed all in black and riding a powerful motorcycle, he looked cool but was unbelievably accident-prone, constantly running into things on his motorcycle or getting blown up and miraculously always staggering away unhurt.

The Searcher got distracted by every beautiful woman he saw, and absurdly extreme close-ups were used to show his emotional reactions to everything. He narrated each episode in an incredibly deep voice.

When he collected his fee at the end of each episode his phone number 1-800-SRCH-ME flashed on the screen.

Captain Mike Morgan headed the Tropical Punch unit of the Honolulu Police Department. He was prone to falling asleep on the job and liked to go undercover but always looked ridiculous and stood out like a sore thumb.

Teamed with Morgan were Hamoki, his burly muscleman (Peter Navy Tuiasosopo), and Tommy, a pretentious shrimp (Billy Morrissette). When they caught the perpetrator, Morgan’s stock line was “Tom, cuff ’em, book ’em” (shades of “Book ’em, Danno” from Hawaii Five-O.

The last segment of Tropical Punch aired on 15 August 1993 and was replaced on the final telecast of Danger Theatre by a single episode of 357 Marina del Rey, a private-eye spoof in the 77 Sunset Strip tradition starring Todd Field and Ricky Harris.

Host
Robert Vaughn
The Searcher
Diedrich Bader
Capt. Mike Morgan
Adam West
Det. Tom McCormick
Billy Morrissette
Det. Al Hamoki
Peter Navy Tuiasosopo

Video