Hell Town Trivia Facts

Hell Town

- Trivia Facts

Fun Facts:

» Trivia
» Quotes
» Goofs

Robert Blake fought to get the pilot made and on the air even though it was to run against "Dynasty," the Number One show on television during the 1984-85 season. When the TV-movie pilot did better than any NBC show had done against "Dynasty" (by a wide margin), Blake then asked NBC to immediately take the show to series even though it was still two months before NBC was to announce their schedule. He also balked at a six-episode order (too few to get "Dynasty" "under control", he claimed) and demanded 12 shows, later getting four more when initial ratings weren't too bad. He was able to deliver by putting the show into production earlier than most rookie series could.
"Baretta" similarities are all over the place. Father Noah "Hardstep" Rivers acted as much like Tony Baretta as possible; the theme song was by the same composer and sung by the same person; frequent "Baretta" guest star Whitman Mayo got the top supporting-cast role; Father Noah and his buddy One Ball (Mayo) were pocket-billiards lovers (repeating Baretta's love for the game), and Blake, as executive producer, represented himself under the alias "Lyman P. Docker," the name of the title character (also an alias) from an episode in "Baretta'"s final season.
NBC chief executive Brandon Tartikoff wanted to lure Robert Blake back to television, but claimed in his autobiography that "in order to try to screw somebody, I probably screwed myself." At the time Blake approached Tartikoff with the idea for a series, Blake was being considered for the role of David Addison on "Moonlighting." Tartikoff gleefully snapped up Blake for "Hell Town," causing "Moonlighting'"s producers to settle on their second choice, an actor who had recently appeared on NBC's "Miami Vice" and impressed them - Bruce Willis.
One thing is different when "Hell Town" is compared to "Baretta (not counting how successful the shows were). "Baretta" had a small supporting cast which were not mentioned in the opening credits; "Hell Town"'s eight supporting actors were listed in the opening credits.

» Back to Hell Town TV Show