Celebrated stunt craft while delivering truck-jumping prime-time thrills.
Why it matters
From the desk
Why The Fall Guy still plays
He hits the ground for a living, then moonlights in a truck. ABC's The Fall Guy (1981–1986), Glen A. Larson, reinvents Lee Majors post–Six Million Dollar Man as Colt Seavers: movie stunts by day, bounty hunting between takes. Douglas Barr and Heather Thomas along for the gags as Howie and Jody. The theme song advertised the job description better than any pitch meeting. *Denim, a GMC, a body as choreography, Hollywood as the fitting room.* Style is the plot. **This was not a soft launch of a second action brand; this was a hard launch in a stunt harness.**
The Fall Guy is Majors charm as the title job: bounty hunting between takes, truck jumps included, theme already a time machine. The Human Torch is early-run stunt title — action TV tipping its hat to the people who hit the ground, not only the star who walks away. Devil's Island is mid-run location as spectacle, still pure stunt poetry. Dead Ringer is a late-run double title, Seavers still moonlighting, the hat-tip to stunt craft still the point. The Bigger They Are is the closer's proverb: five seasons, 111 episodes of bail-bond action, the bigger they are, the harder the fall guy lands.
Look board for a Colt night: Majors' post-bionic silhouette as elevated casual; Thomas as the camera's other jewelry; Barr as the gag in motion; a truck jump as the week's couture; the theme as the walk-up song. Tessa's timeline will call the earworm extra. Let it. The theme became 1980s earworm canon — more look than many plots. One vulnerable note: being the man who falls for a living, then smiling for the bounty, is exhausting performance. Then back to the gown, which here is a harness.
The series put stunt work in the narrative spotlight and gave Majors a second major TV action brand. A much later feature film revived the title for new audiences. Watch it as action television that actually tips its hat to the people who hit the ground — Greatest American Hero-adjacent energy, Hollywood moonlighting as the whole joke. The timeline said truck-jumping was mid. I will defend the craft of the look against the reply-guy who only wants the capture spreadsheet.
Last image: the bigger they are. See you at the after-party, which in 1981 was a lot that paid the people who fall. Or at the airport: rumpled, the real story in who is not sharing the truck. The second look is the stunt. Majors still walks away. The theme still walks in first.
Episode guide
How this series is filed
TV Flash files The Fall Guy (1981–1986) on ABC as the episode guide: 111 listed hours across 5 seasons, 1981-11-04–1986-05-02 from “The Fall Guy” (S01E01) to “The Bigger They Are” (S05E22).
Open the episode guide · S01E01 The Fall Guy · S05E22 The Bigger They Are
Essential episodes
Colt Seavers from the stunt-world premiere to The Bigger They Are — truck jumps as a time machine. Filed by Lana Reyes (Red Carpet Reality).
- S01E01 The Fall Guy
The Fall Guy is Majors charm as the title job: bounty hunting between takes, Larson's truck jumps included, theme song already a time machine.
- S01E06 The Human Torch
The Human Torch is early-run stunt title: action TV tipping its hat to the people who hit the ground, not only the star who walks away.
- S03E01 Devil's Island
Devil's Island is mid-run location as spectacle: post–Six Million Dollar Man reinvention, still pure stunt poetry.
- S05E01 Dead Ringer
Dead Ringer is a late-run double title: Seavers still moonlighting, the hat-tip to stunt craft still the point.
- S05E22 The Bigger They Are
The Bigger They Are is the closer's proverb: five seasons of bail-bond action, the bigger they are, the harder the fall guy lands.
At a glance
Colt Seavers does movie stunts by day and bounty hunting between takes — meta Hollywood action with truck jumps included. ABC's The Fall Guy (1981–1986), from Glen A. Larson, reinvented Lee Majors post–Six Million Dollar Man with Douglas Barr and Heather Thomas along for the gags. The theme song advertised the job description better than any pitch meeting. It was a love letter to stunt people wrapped in case-of-the-week capture. Greatest American hero adjacent, pure stunt poetry.
Network & studio
- ABC — broadcast network
- 20th Century Studios — production studio
Why watch now
Majors charm plus stunt-world celebration — action TV that actually tips its hat to the people who hit the ground. Colt Seavers moonlights as a bounty hunter between takes; Larson's truck jumps included. Theme song alone is a time machine. Post–Six Million Dollar Man reinvention, pure stunt poetry.
Cultural impact
The Fall Guy put stunt work in the narrative spotlight and gave Lee Majors a second major TV action brand. Its theme became 1980s earworm canon. A much later feature film revived the title for new audiences.
Creators
Glen A. Larson
Key cast
- Lee Majors as Colt Seavers
- Douglas Barr as Howie Munson
- Heather Thomas as Jody Banks
Flash facts
- ABC action series created by Glen A. Larson; aired 1981–1986.
- Starred Lee Majors as Colt Seavers, a stuntman/bounty hunter.
- Douglas Barr and Heather Thomas co-starred as Howie and Jody.
- Theme song prominently framed the stuntman-as-hero concept.
- Mixed bounty-hunting plots with Hollywood stunt spectacle.
FAQ
What's the double life?
Hollywood stuntman and freelance bounty hunter. Cases exist to justify the jumps; the job description is in the theme song.
Is this the same as the later movie?
The film revived the title for new audiences. Majors's ABC series (1981–1986) is the stunt-world weekly — truck jumps, Howie and Jody, a second action brand after the bionics.
Where should I start?
Any season in which Colt is falling on purpose. Sample the bounty-hunting plots for the meta Hollywood cheese. The theme is a time machine; the stunts are the thesis.
Action cheese or stunt documentary?
Cheese that tips its hat. A love letter to the people who hit the ground, wrapped in capture-of-the-week. Post–Six Million Dollar Man reinvention, on purpose.
Official & further reading
External sites for further reading — TV Flash is not affiliated with these networks or studios.
Back to the decade
More from the 1980s — Glitz, Soaps & Nighttime Neon. All shows.
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