The Checklist: Vanishing Son (S1 Ep11) “Jersey Girl”
Universal’s Action Pack was a programming block that launched in January of 1994. The concept was a rotating lineup of made for TV action movies, from six different franchises, that would air in first run syndication each week.
Three of the Action Pack movie franchises would be spun off into their own weekly series… the surprise hit of the bunch was Hercules: The Legendary Journeys starring Kevin Sorbo, the USA Network picked up TekWar starring Greg Evigan and William Shatner and then there was Vanishing Son.
I vividly remember watching some of the Vanishing Son TV movies, but I have zero recollection of there being a short lived Vanishing Son series. Thanks to the fine folks at Tubi, I was able to randomly select one of the 13 episodes that aired and put it to The Checklist test and hopefully figure out why the show didn’t last…
- Synopsis: Jian-Wa Chang (Russell Wong) finds himself helping an up and coming singing sensation, who has become a victim of her own success.
#1. Does the show have a quality opening?
The opening of Vanishing Son features some narration providing a brief backstory of Jian-Wa Chang. This is great because even if you were coming in completely fresh having seen none of the four Vanishing Son movies, you would be able to jump right in with a basic understanding of the show. The opening also establishes that Jian-Wa Chang is a martial artist and the whole thing is accompanied by the music of Jan Hammer of Miami Vice fame. 1/1
#2. Does the show’s premise have legs?
As the narrator told us at the start, Jian-Wa Chang fled his native in China for a better life in the United States… but things don’t go exactly as planned and Jian-Wa Chang ends up being accused of a murder he did not commit… now he’s on the run from the FBI and hoping to bring the true killer to justice as he helps others along the way. This is a winning formula for sure with elements of The Fugitive, The A-Team and Renegade and the uniqueness of having an Asian leading man/martial artist as the star. 2/2
#3. Were there any notable guest stars?
One of the great things about a guy on the run series like Vanishing Son is every week you have the built in excuse to meet a whole new set of characters which opens the door for the opportunity for some notable guest stars.
In this episode, Jian-Wa Chang is working as a bouncer at a club in New Jersey where Dana Micelli, a rising star in the music world, is performing. Dana was played by none other than Sherrie Rose, who starred in a number of action movies during her career, most notably as the female lead in The King of the Kickboxers.
John Pyper-Ferguson of Drive fame plays Keith, a sound engineer who was romantically entangled with Dana at one point, but hasn’t been able to come to terms that the relationship is over… which spells trouble for Jian-Wa, when he finds himself helping Dana who also finds herself the apple of a mobbed up record mogul, Morgan Ross. 3/3
#4. Did we get any martial arts action?
Jian-Wa gets to put his martial arts skills to good work early when some of Morgan Ross’ goons show up at the club, looking to strong arm the club owner into signing over the rights to Dana Micelli… We get to see Jian-Wa in action again when he has to deal with jealous Keith and more mob goons before it is all said and done. 4/4
#5. Does Jian-Wa get to kiss the girl?
Even though there was no romance teased between Jian-Wa and Dana during the episode, it is really no surprise at the end when Jian-Wa, with his dreamy leading man good looks, is saying goodbye that he manages to steal a kiss from Dana before he is off to his next adventure (and possibly next kiss) in Episode 12. 5/5
- Final Score = 5/5 (100%) After watching this episode of Vanishing Son and putting it to The Checklist test, I am baffled as to why this series did not have a longer run. Was the premise too familiar and looked at as a copycat? Was the star too unfamiliar and not seen as a star? Was it unfairly compared to the success of Hercules and had the plug pulled too early? The world may never know… but I know I would have been all about more Vanishing Son, especially when you have Russell Wong doing Marlon Brandon from The Godfather impersonations along with kicking ass.
