The Pop Ninja Blog: '80s TV Remakes Part Three

Howdy Ninjas! 

Continuing our look at current television remakes of ‘80s classics, this time we check out the new “Quantum Leap”. 

'80s TV Remakes: Part Three

The TV series "Quantum Leap" has captivated audiences with its unique time-travel concept and compelling storytelling. In this blog post, we will delve into the similarities and differences between the 1989 and 2022 versions. 

Scott Bakula and Dean Stockwell in the original series

The ’80s series featured actor Scott Bakula as Dr. Sam Beckett, a time travelling scientist who is jumping, or “leaping” rather, through different time periods. 

It is presumed that God himself overtakes the time travel experiment and sends Dr. Beckett to places he wants him to go.

 In each time period, Beckett must fix something that is wrong and set the timeline back on its correct course. Once the mission is complete, God “leaps” Dr. Becket into another time period and a new mission begins. 

Dr. Beckett hopes that one day he will finally make the leap home back to his own time period, family, and friends.

One aspect of the time travel element that was different than most genre outings is that when Dr. Beckett leaps into a time period, he inhabits the body of someone in that time. He completely takes over that person’s body like a possession. He must figure out who’s body he is in, where he is, and who the people are he must interact with in order to reset whatever has gone wrong in that point in history.

He’s not completely alone though… somehow a colleague from his experiment project, Al Calavicci (played by Dean Stockwell) is able to show up to him as a hologram and with the help of a handheld super

computer called “Ziggy”, they can help Dr. Beckett figure out his mission and speed things up so that he can make his next leap. 

Deborah Pratt with actor Alex Cord on Airwolf

I want to make mention of the beautiful Deborah Pratt. She narrated the classic series. She was married to the series creator, Donald P. Bellisario. She’s a writer, director, producer, actress, singer, dancer, and much more. You might remember her from her role on Airwolf as Archangel’s beautiful assistant dressed in all white. Bringing her up is a good segway to talk about new “Quantum Leap” since she is the producer on the new series. 

The all-new "Quantum Leap" (2022-Present)

One thing that really works for me in this new series is that they didn’t try to “remake” the series, instead it is a sequel series. They didn’t recast the characters; this series has all new characters following in the footsteps of the work Al, Ziggy, and Dr. Beckett did in the original series. This was a brilliant way to bring Q-Leap back, if you ask me. The new “Quantum Leap” began on NBC in 2022 and is already on its 2nd season. Like I mentioned earlier, instead of a remake, it is a sequel. 

In the new series, a new team of scientists pick up the experiment that Dr. Sam Beckett started decades ago. Dr. Beckett is missing and presumed dead. His buddy, Al, who would appear to him in hologram form has passed away.

Raymond Lee and Caitlin Bassett in the new "Quantum Leap"

The new scientist doing the leaps is Dr. Ben Song, played by Raymond Lee. His fiancée Addison, played by Caitlin Bassett, is his partner in crime appearing to him as a hologram much like Al did for Dr. Beckett. There’s also an updated Ziggy who helps them figure out what they must do to fix the timeline. One cool thing tying the two series together is Magic Williams, a character played by Ernie Hudson (Ghostbusters) who is supposed to be an aged version of a character from the original series, a Vietnam veteran that Beckett leaped into and possessed on one of the leap missions. This led the character in a search for answers as to what happened to him and eventually worked his way up the chain of command and is now the project director of the new Quantum Leap project. 

Ernie Hudson as Magic Williams

Another character tying the two series together is Janis, the daughter of Al Calavicci, played by actress Georgina Reilly, who for some reason is also leaping, trying to stop Dr. Ben Song. The new series tackles a lot of social issues we are faced with in modern times, such as racism, LGBT acceptance, gender equality, etc. This new series is very reminiscent of the old series and just as fun. Given the significant time gap between the two series, the 2022 version benefits from advancements in technology. The production quality, special effects, and overall visual experience are noticeably superior, enhancing the viewer's immersion in the story. Just check out the videos of both of the series opening credits that I've included on this blog and you will see the amazing quality difference I'm speaking of.

I hope you give the new series a look and tell us what you think about it. I would love to see a “Quantum Leap” feature film some day. Maybe the story could have Dr. Ben Song meet up with Dr. Sam Beckett somewhere in the time line and they have to work together to save the world from destruction. That would be cool. 

Thanks for checking out this blog post. Give the PopNinja podcast a listen for movie, tv, music and pop culture reviews from the '70s & '80s. You can find it and more on www.PopNinja.net

- Patrick Bennett

   Resident Ninja

www.PopNinja.net

‘80s TV Remakes part two

 The Pop Ninja Blog: '80s TV Remakes part two

Howdy Ninjas!

This week we will continue our dive into current television remakes of '80s classics. This is one that I was very skeptical of when it was announced, but I gave it a chance and surprisingly, I thought it was good!

'80s TV Remakes: part two

The Equalizer

The CBS series, "The Equalizer", starring Queen Latifah, is in its 3rd season on CBS. It's an action/crime drama, a remake of the series of the same name that ran from '85-'89. The original series also has a movie franchise which stars Denzel Washington as the Equalizer. A third movie in that franchise is in production right now.

The original '80s series starred Edward Woodward as a retired intelligence operative who now works as sort of a P.I. who helps clients who can't turn to the police "equalize" the odds that they are up against. CBS has done a gender swap with the title character and this time around, the character of "Robert McCall" who was an old white guy is now "Robyn McCall", a middle-aged black woman who is an ex operative and also helps "equalize" problems.

Edward Woodward as the original Equalizer

I'll be honest here... when I first heard that this remake series was being made, I thought it was joke. You know how on April Fool's day a lot of companies announce fake projects as an April Fool's gag? Well, I thought this was a joke when they announced that Queen Latifah was going to play this role. To me, Latifah does mostly comedies and there's no way I could picture her in an action role like this. I also thought to myself that if this show was in fact being made that it would tank in the first couple of episodes and that would be that. What a completely horrible idea I though.

Well, the show indeed came out in 2021 and I thought that I would watch the pilot episode just to see the train wreck that I just knew it was going to be.

Queen Latifah as the new Equalizer

Let me tell y'all something... I loved the show and I loved Queen Latifah in the role. I was pleasantly surprised by her strong performance and the direction the producers took this version of the series. After that first episode I was hooked and have watched every episode since.  The storylines are gripping and I will admit that somewhere in every episode at least once, this old white man tears up and gets emotional. lol. I love this series.

(L) Tory Kittles as detective Dante

The Cast

Besides Queen Latifah, there is a great supporting cast in this series. I would like to first mention Tory Kittles who plays police detective Marcus Dante. He is an amazing actor and when he is in a scene I am glued to the screen. This actor has such a commanding screen presence and is pure gold. I would love to check out his other work because he is that good. 

McCall visits with Harry and Mel

Latifah's character also has a duo that has her back on missions, a married couple consisting of Harry, one of the best computer hackers in the world, played by Adam Goldberg and Harry's wife, Mel, played by actress Liza Lapira. 

Aunt Vi and Delilah

Also, Latifah's character has a teenage daughter, Delilah,  played by Laya DeLeaon Hayes. Finally, rounding out the cast is Aunt Vi, played by Lorraine Toussaint. A lot of the emotional moments in the show for me come from the side storylines of Robyn, her daughter Delilah, and Aunt Vi. I can relate to Robyn raising her daughter as a single mom struggling to balance work and home life. I did the same thing as a single dad. This part of the show really tugs at my heart and I tear up in just about every episode watching Robyn try to keep her daughter safe, make it to her daughter's recital, give her daughter advice, get into arguments with her daughter, etc. Aunt Vi is the rock that everyone depends on and the voice of reason.

I must say that The Equalizer is a delightful blend of action and drama, so I think it will appeal to those who like both types of shows. It's in the third season and I hope it gets many more.

You can catch the series Sundays 8/7c on CBS

Alright Ninjas, that's it for this week! . Check out "The Equalizer" and leave us a comment about what you think of it.

Please check out our podcast and subscribe to it. You can also follow us on FB & Twitter. We welcome reviews, comments, suggestions, and your interactions on all of our platforms. Tell your friends about us and help us grow a great PopNinja community!

Denzel Washington as the Equalizer in the films

Also, I'm looking forward to the third installment of the Equalizer movie franchise which is set to hit theaters on September 1st, 2023. 

The Pop Ninja Blog: '80s TV Remakes part one

Hiya Ninjas!
I'm bringing back the Pop Ninja blog! The first few weeks, I want to talk about a few current TV shows that are remakes of classic '80s shows... shows that will take you back to those glory days that we at Pop Ninja just can't seem to get enough of.

'80s TV Remakes: part one

Magnum P.I.

This remake of the 1980-1988 classic series is in its 5th season and airs on NBC. The remake originally aired on CBS, but was cancelled after season 4 and NBC picked it up and kept it going. 

The new series stars Jay Hernandez as Thomas Magnum, the role which was originally played by Tom Selleck. The big changes for this role are that the originally white character is now Hispanic, he doesn't sport the trademark moustache that the character was known for, and they have updated the story a bit. In this update, they made the new character a former Navy Seal who served in the Gulf War, instead of a Navy Intelligence officer who served in Vietnam.

All differences aside, Jay Hernandez is wonderful as the new Thomas Magnum. He's funny, charming, and a great actor. 

Tom Selleck              Jay Hernandez

The series has kept a lot of the same charm as the original series. It has the same theme music, the same red Ferrari, Magnum still wears the trademark Hawaiian shirts, sometimes has on the Detroit Tigers ball cap, and he's still a private investigator in Hawaii. Hernandez narrates the story like Selleck used to do. There's also the return of classic characters Higgins, T.C. & Rick. Oh, and don't forget the lads... the two Dobermans that always have it out for Magnum and make his life hell at Robin's Nest.

T.C. still owns "Island Hopper Tours" and flies around in the same helicopter. Rick still works at a bar and can still track down any information on anybody. Magnum still calls in tons of favors from them both and has a pretty hefty bar tab at Rick's club.

Perdita Weeks

John Hillerman

One major change to the new series is the choice to do a gender swap on the character of Higgins. The original actor was John Hillerman, who's character was a former British military officer who had the job of running the estate and grounds of Robin's Nest, a mansion in Hawaii owned by famous author & Philanthropist Robin Masters. The new character of  Higgins is played by actress Perdita Weeks and her version of the character is that she was an ex MI6 British secret agent, now running the estate. 

She does an excellent job and the new dynamic totally works for the new version of the show. Now there's sexual tension and flirtation between the characters of Magnum and Higgins and also the fact that she is an ex British spy brings in some dynamic new storylines for some of the episodes.

Current Magnum P.I. cast

'80s Magnum P.I. cast

The producers and minds behind this new show have definitely captured the spirit of the original series. It greatly resembles the Magnum P.I. that lots of us grew up watching in the '80s. 

A big salute to NBC for resurrecting the show last year after CBS gave it the boot in season 4. I hope it gets a few more seasons.

You can catch it Sunday nights at 9pm ET or the next day on NBC's steaming service. Take a look at it and let us know what you think. We welcome your comments.

Alright, Ninjas.... that's it for this week. If you already watch the new Magnum P.I. or if you get a chance to catch an episode, leave us a message and let us know what you think about it. 

I'll catch you next week. Make sure to listen to our podcast and visit our website and FB/Twitter pages regularly. Tell your friends about us too.

- Patrick Shawn Bennett

RIP Johnny Duncan, the Boy Wonder...

Johnny Duncan (1923 - 2016)

Most likely you've never heard of Johnny Duncan. He passed away last week at the age of 92.


Johnny grew up near Kansas City during the great depression. He was a great dancer and would dance as an entertainer every chance he got. He even opened a tap dance school for kids and raised enough money to save the family farm from foreclosure.


Not long after that Hollywood came calling and Johnny was in the movies on a $50 a month contract. He appeared in films like 'the East Side Kids & Bowery Boys' and in 'Action in the North Atlantic' with Bogie.


He was in other movies including Ed Wood's 'Plan 9 From Outer Space' but what I would like to touch on is a role of his that makes him so memorable to me... that of "Robin, the boy wonder" in the 15 chapter cliffhanger serial 'Batman and Robin' (1949).

click on the box above to view the opening credits of the serial.

He was 26 when he got the role of Batman's kid sidekick.
The 'Batman and Robin' serial was about a villain called The Wizard who steals a scientist's remote control device that can control any type of vehicle within 50 miles. He's using the device to rob armored cars and shipments of jewels. Batman and Robin must thwart this evil-doer and also rescue Vicki Vale who has been kidnapped by the Wizard's henchmen.
Actor Robert Lowery played Batman in the serial, Lyle Talbot played Commissioner Gordon and Jane Adams was Vicki Vale.

To me, playing Robin in a Batman serial would have been a dream job.
I had the chance to email Johnny a few times and talk to him about his work on this serial. He told me about how the costumes for both Robin and Batman, even though it was black & white film, were some very weird colors... like brown and green and some very bright colors. He said that in black and white those colors contrasted the best to make certain parts of the costume stand out.
I could tell he really enjoyed those years. He spend a lot of his senior adult life attending comicons and conventions signing autographs and merchandise for fans. He even had his own website where he would sell autographed Batman and Robin merchandise.


Johnny is gone, but will never be forgotten. His name and work will live on in DVDs, books, documentaries and other media as one of the pop culture greats of the 20th century.

Check out this serial which is available on DVD and become a Johnny Duncan fan!


- Patrick Shawn Bennett

Reb Brown: 70s TV's Captain America

Marvel Comics' Captain America is now more popular than ever thanks to Marvel's shared cinematic universe of the 21st century. Chris Evans has nailed his portrayal of Cap for a new generation and the comics, toys, clothing and other tie-ins are proof in the pudding of this character's popularity. We're now celebrating the 75th anniversary of Cap's creation, first appearing in Captain America Comics #1 (cover dated March 1941) created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby.

I want to take you back to a simpler time...  the 1970s. 1979 to be exact.


As a kid growing up in the 70s, you wouldn't believe how excited I was when I found out a Captain America TV movie was made.
I could not wait!
Cap was always one of my favorite comic heroes and throughout my childhood I would throw a garbage can lid at my brother every chance I got, pretending to be the star spangled man with the plan.

I remember watching this TV movie with my dad and my brother on a small console TV in our living room.


The guy playing Cap was an actor named Reb Brown.
He had a very muscular physique and some curly blonde 70s hair.
I bought into his portrayal of Cap right away.

click the box above to see the "Captain America" TV movie trailer.

As far as the costume, it didn't look like the Captain America I grew up idolizing in comic books. The design was all wrong. He didn't wear a full head mask like in the comics... he wore a big honkin' motorcycle helmet. Yea, it was bad, but still... it was Captain America and as a kid in the 70s, I was diggin' it!




The shield was huge and clear (they didn't get that right either) and when he threw it, it moved very slow.
Looking back now, this had to be the worst Captain America ever. But, it was the only Captain America on TV, so I took what I got... and loved it.

His motorcycle was pretty cool and I liked the way the big shield would lock into place in front of the handlebars giving Cap a bulletproof windshield.

Another cool aspect of the show was the funky 70s muscle van Steve Rogers drove around in.
Hidden inside behind a wall was his Cap cycle.
With the flip of a switch it would swing out of the wall, the back door of the van


would open and WHOOOoooosh...

the cycle would launch out of the back of the van with Cap on it. This was soooo awesome.

Now the budget must have been really low for this TV movie, because instead of fighting the Red Skull and Nazi soldiers like in the comics, he was helping little old ladies stop purse snatchers and stuff like that until later in the movie when he fought a few guys shooting at him from a helicopter.
Not as thrilling as one would have hoped for in a Cap movie, but again, beggars couldn't be choosers back then because this was the only Cap on TV we were getting.

The origin story of Captain America was drastically changed for the TV version. Instead of Steve Rogers being a runty soldier that was given a serum to become the Army's ultimate super soldier... this version of Steve Rogers was a surfer and an artist. He would sit on the beach drawing sunsets and stuff like that. He wasn't a soldier at all. His dad was a scientist who worked for a government agency. He had developed a serum, FLAG ( Full Latent Ability Gain,) to enhance strength and stamina. Some criminals kill his dad and break into his house to find this serum when they stumble across Steve Rogers and shoot him. He is almost dead by the time government agents get to him. He is still slipping away in surgery when the government guys his dad worked with decide to use the serum on him to save his life. It's his only hope. So they do and it does.


Now Steve with his new abilities is talked into helping the government get the guys who did this to him and also killed his dad. Steve agrees, but under one condition... he calls himself Captain America and wears a costume that he designs.
Didn't seem to make sense, but I went with it. Steve sketches a design for the costume and the agency makes it for him. They also modify his surfer van to conceal the super motorcycle they also make for him.
So, for the rest of the movie, Captain America is now on the trail of the badguys dressed in the most hideous Captain America costume you have ever laid eyes on.

With all of its' flaws it must have been somewhat successful because before you knew it there was a second movie, "Captain America: Death Too Soon," coming on TV.

click on the box above to watch the "Captain America II: Death Too Soon" TV movie trailer.

I'm not sure, but I think maybe this was meant to be a TV series and they pulled the plug on it and combined the episodes to make a couple of TV movies. Maybe I'm wrong but that's what it seemed like.

The second movie was better in the single fact that they improved on the costume. He still had that honkin' motorcycle helmet, but the costume looked much better.
The plot of the second film was more like the plot of a comic... a villain trying to poison the world's water supply with a poison that makes people age very quickly and die.
The villain wants a huge payoff for the antidote. What was even cooler is that Christopher Lee (Dracula, Saruman and Count Dooku) played the villain and the beautiful Connie Sellecca (Hotel, Greatest American Hero) played a FLAG doctor that was helping Steve on his mission.

Reb Brown did a good job with the character and the script he was given. I would have liked to have seen this become a full blown TV series and last a few seasons but it just wasn't in the cards.


Reflecting on this show I come to realize that I actually liked it and thought it was a fun and entertaining set of TV movies. I can even remember riding my bike around the neighborhood with a trash can lid on my handlebars pretending I was Cap. Fun times.

These two telefilms are available on DVD as a double feature. It's worth checking out for the nostalgia alone.


Thanks for reading. Your comments are welcomed.


- Patrick Shawn Bennett

Bionic '70s

POP Ninja Blog #1: Bionic '70s

Welcome to the Blog! Hope you enjoy reading it. Here we go...

Evel Knievel

The 1970s were a fun time to be a kid! Disco was in the air, Evel Knievel was the "King of the Daredevils," the Space Shuttle program was born, 

Space Shuttle Enterprise

the Krofft Brothers & Filmation dominated Saturday morning television with shows like "H.R. Pufnstuf,""Shazam!,"
"Wonderbug," "Ark II," "Land of the Lost," and "The Krofft Supershow."

"H.R. Pufnstuf"

Jackson Bostwick as Shazam!

Also, kids everywhere were running around in slow motion making "bionic" sounds as they ran because of one hit television show... 

    ..."The Six Million Dollar Man." 

The series was based on a novel called 'Cyborg' by Martin Caidin. It starred Lee Majors as a test pilot (Colonel Steve Austin) that crashed and was put back together with bionic parts making him a super cyborg secret agent. (The cost of this operation was six million dollars.)

He could outrun cars, jump fences, lift car engines, and see miles away thanks to all his bionic parts.

Two of the most memorable episodes were: 1.) when he fought a robot that could change faces to look like anyone, even Steve Austin himself. In the episode, Steve knocks the robot's face of revealing nothing but circuitry. 

The Robot

Later, Kenner released a line of action 
figures and the robot was named "Masketron" and came with 3 interchangeable faces.



Maskatron action figure with interchangeable faces

The toy line featured a figure of Colonel Steve Austin himself which had a hole in the back of his head that you could look through like a telescope and would simulate his bionic vision. There was also a rocket and spacesuit you could get for him and tons of accessories. This was one of my favorite toys of all time. I still have one on a bookshelf in my office!

Colonel Steve Austin action figure with bionic eye

2.) The second fan favorite episode was when Steve Austin fought "Bionic Bigfoot." Yes! A robot sasquatch tangles with the Six Million Dollar Man! But, you didn't know it was a robot until Steve rips its' arm off revealing the wires. Bigfoot was played by actor Ted Cassidy (Adams Family) and later played by legendary wrestler Andre' the Giant. They made a cool figure of Bionic Bigfoot too!



Lindsay Wagner as Jamie Summers, The Bionic Woman

The series was so popular that it had a spinoff series "The Bionic Woman" which followed the adventure of Steve Austin's girlfriend, Jamie Summers, who was also a bionic secret agent. The two shows would often have crossover episodes or the two actors would cameo on each other's show often. There were also 3 telefilms made featuring both characters and in one they finally get married. 

The reason I'm going on about "The Six Million Dollar Man" is not only because it was a huge part of my childhood (the TV show ran for 5 years) but also because presently there has been a new interest in the franchise. A couple of years ago, Kevin Smith launched a brand new ongoing comic book series of the Six Million Dollar Man called simply "The Bionic Man." 

Issue #1 of the new Bionic Man comic book by Kevin Smith

In issue #12  Kevin Smith brought back Bionic Bigfoot because fans of the series begged him to. Maskatron shows up in some of the later issues too.

Bionic Bigfoot returns in the Bionic Man #12

Also,  for the 35th anniversary of the show, all 5 seasons were released on DVD in one incredible box set. (which I scored for Christmas!)

Complete series DVD box set

Last year a toy company released a whole line of new action figures based on the franchise including Masketron and Bionic Bigfoot. There are also some new T-shirts, water bottles and other swag hitting the market featuring the Bionic Man character.

A wonderful part of my childhood memories is returning and that makes me happy! 2014 marked the 40-year anniversary of the TV show and I can't wait for the theatrical film starring Mark Wahlberg which is in development (as long as they don't try to make it into a comedy like they did with other TV shows like "Charlie's Angels" and "Starsky & Hutch.")



Here's a few pics of me and some of my bionic memories:

 Here I am with actor John Saxon who played the robot Maskatron in the series.

You might also recognize him from 'Enter the Dragon' and 'A Nightmare on Elm Street.'

Here are a couple of pics from one of my birthday parties in the '70s where I got several toys from the series. 

Anyways, that's it for the first blog. Just a little trip down bionic memory lane. Next time I hope to discuss one of my favorite super heroes of all time...  The Incredible Hulk!

- Patrick Shawn Bennett

Thanks for reading. Your comments are welcomed!