The Checklist: Fortune Dane (S1 Ep6) “Jailhouse Blues”
Last year I had the pleasure of experiencing the series Street Justice, starring Carl Weathers and Bryan Genesse, for the first time and I was blown away with how great it was.
Street Justice was not Hollywood’s first attempt at making Carl Weathers a television star. Back in 1986, ABC greenlit the Carl Weathers series, Fortune Dane. The series premiered on February 15, 1986 and on March 22, 1986, Fortune Dane aired for the final time.
Why did Fortune Dane fail to gain an audience? Was it purely based on a poor Saturday time slot and tough competition from The Golden Girls over on NBC? Or is the show itself to blame? There was only one way to find the answer and that was to put an episode of Fortune Dane to The Checklist test. I selected the final episode of the series aka Fortune Dane‘s last chance to impress the network brass.
I should point out that I did come into the series with some familiarity. Years ago I picked up a Fortune Dane VHS, thinking it was a Carl Weathers movie I had never heard of. It was actually two episodes of the series edited together to fool this Carl Weathers fanboy into thinking it was a movie. But I should also point out that I remember very little about the faux movie I watched years ago, except for the interesting choices made for the show’s open…
#1. Does the show have a quality open?
The opening for Fortune Dane would be absolutely perfect for a Carl Weathers exercise video in the same vein as Dolph Lundgren’s Maximum Potential or Frank Zagarino’s Fitness for Life. However as an opening for a crime fighting action adventure series, the glorified training montage that leads into a shower scene really doesn’t work. Although the jacket Carl Weathers is wearing at the end of the open is pretty awesome. 0/1
#2. Does Carl Weathers’ character have a cool name?
There are a few characteristics Carl Weathers is known for… his mustache, his hearty laugh and playing characters with cool names. Weathers played Hambone in Bucktown, Yarbro in Friday Foster, Dreamer Tatum in Semi-Tough, Sundog in Death Hunt, Hurricane Smith in Hurricane Smith and Chubbs in Happy Gilmore. I haven’t even mentioned his most famous character, Apollo Creed, and as action fans we can not forget him as Jericho “Action” Jackson (and Dillon Usonovabich?)
In Fortune Dane, Weathers plays Fortune Dane… former football player, turned cop, turned special agent for the mayor of Bay City. So once again, Carl Weathers’ character has a cool name.
In “Jailhouse Blues” Fortune goes undercover in a prison to protect a high profile witness Aldo Gregory (played by Stanley Kamel) who is being targeted by the less than ethical business partners he found himself associating with during his time as Bay City’s city controller.
Fortune poses as Rasheed Williams, an inmate with quite the resume of violence. Fortune’s partner, Perfect Tommy, is also involved in the undercover operation, posing as a prison guard. Now if you were a first time Fortune Dane viewer and the show’s open didn’t confuse the hell out of you, the fact that the first time we see Fortune is as Rasheed Williams and not as the hero you would assume Carl Weathers was playing, it could have had you flipping over to NBC to hear a St. Olaf story that some how made more sense than what you were watching on ABC. Shouldn’t there have been a briefing with the Mayor so the viewers at home were in on the plan, before we just jumped to the prison. 1/2
#3. Were there any notable guest stars?
Julius Harris of Live and Let Die fame, plays a lawyer who works for the men looking to take out Aldo Gregory. Harris pays a visit to an inmate named Keyes and looking to cut a deal with him on behalf of his clients. If Keyes takes out Aldo Gregory, then Keyes will be taken care of. Keyes was played by Beau Starr, who action fans may remember from such films as The Perfect Weapon, Joshua Tree and Speed.
Keyes isn’t the only inmate looking to collect. The legendary Gene LeBell plays another prisoner who takes a crack at Aldo and he may have bene successful too if not for Rasheed/Fortune. LeBell has been in dozens and dozens of action movies, including Kickboxer 2, Eye of the Tiger and Nowhere to Run. 2/3
#4. Did we get a prison fight?
“Jailhouse Blues” did not feature any fights in the prison mess hall or the prison showers (if they weren’t giving away Carl Weathers in the shower at the start of every episode, it could have been used for a ratings grab here). However, there was a skirmish in the yard and the cellblock fight I alluded to between Carl Weathers and Gene LeBell that lands Perfect Tommy and Aldo in the prison infirmary. 3/4
#5. Does good triumph over evil?
Perfect Tommy being laid up in the infirmary turns out to be the secret weapon the good guys need to keep Aldo safe. Keyes shows up at the infirmary and is ready to take out both Aldo and Fortune and pays no mind at all to Tommy… and that’s how Keyes gets shot dead! 4/5
- Final Score = 4/5 (80%) In today’s streaming world, catching up on or totally binging a TV series is as simple as pushing a few buttons. But back in 1986, if you missed a show and you didn’t set your VCR to record it, you missed it until it ended up in reruns (IF it ended up in reruns). That is why it seems so strange to me that Fortune Dane did not do anything to establish who Fortune Dane was at the start of this episode or at least use the show’s open to give a quick backstory instead of Weathers scrubbing his back in the shower. If this was a series that had been on for years that would be one thing, but this show was in its infancy and should have been building a strong foundation of familiarity with the audience instead of assuming they knew the full Fortune Dane backstory. It really is no surprise Fortune Dane had nothing but misfortune in the Nielsen ratings.
