A cross between The A-Team and Baywatch, Thunder in Paradise revolved around ex-Navy SEAL Hurricane Spencer (wrestler Hulk Hogan) who had lost his wife, Megan, in a car accident and was left to raise her 9-year-old daughter, Jessica (Ashley Gorrell), and to manage the Paradise Beach Hotel which Megan had acquired in her father’s will.
Megan’s grasping Uncle Edward (Patrick Macnee) fought with Spence over control of the hotel and custody of Jessica but finally agreed to let Spence adopt the girl in exchange for control of the hotel until she would inherit it when she turned 21.
Spence loved action and adventure and, with the help of his buddy Bru (Chris Lemmon) – with whom he had served in Vietnam – he took on assorted jobs for the navy and others.
For $ 5,000 per day plus expenses, clients got the two adventurers and ‘Thunder’ – a super-high-tech speedboat which Spence had originally built as a prototype to sell to the military.
Thunder had loads of computer equipment, a missile launcher, a computer-controlled antitheft system that gave intruders severe electrical shocks, a fully functional remote-control system, and a stealth system that made it virtually undetectable on radar or sonar. Russ Wheeler provided the voice of the boat.
Also seen regularly were Kelly (Carol Alt), who wanted to be a sculptor but worked as a bartender at the Scuttlebutt Bar & Grill on the beach; Trelawni (Kiki Shepard), a native girl who helped out at the bar (it turned out she was actually in the witness-relocation program after testifying in a murder trial in Detroit); and lots of nubile bodies on the beach.
A number of Hulk Hogan’s friends from the wrestling world had minor supporting roles, including Sting (Steve Borden), who showed up in several episodes as Hammerhead – a former SEAL gone bad.
Filmed on location in Florida at EPCOT Center, the Paradise Beach resort location was provided by Disney’s Grand Floridian Beach Resort.
Randolph J. “Hurricane” Spencer
Terry “Hulk” Hogan Martin “Bru” Brubaker
Chris Lemmon Jessica Whitaker Spencer
Ashley Gorrell Edward Whitaker
Patrick Macnee Thunder Voice
Russ Wheeler Kelly LaRue
Carol Alt Trelawni (DJ Moran)
Kiki Shepard Jimmy
Jimmy Hart Allison Wilson
Heidi Mark Brutus
Ed “Brutus Beefcake” Leslie Kowalski
Jim “The Anvil” Neidhart Adam “Hammerhead” McCall
Steve “Sting” Borden Kristen/TC
Tai Collins
Spence loved action and adventure and, with the help of his buddy Bru (Chris Lemmon) – with whom he had served in Vietnam – he took on assorted jobs for the navy and others.
