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The next time I want some idiot to guard a prisoner, I shall do it myself!
- Henry Calvin (Sgt. Demetrio Lopez Garcia)
In 1983 a comedy follow-up, Zorro and Son, aired on CBS. The series was shot in color on many of the same studio lots where the original was filmed. Featuring none of the original cast (Guy Williams walked out after a script dispute), the show performed poorly in the ratings.
Zorro
10 October 1957
2 April 1961
Zorro is an American action/adventure drama series produced by Walt Disney Productions. Based on the well-known Zorro character, the series premiered on October 10, 1957 on ABC. The final network broadcast was June 2, 1959. Seventy-eight episodes were produced, and 4 hour-long specials were aired on the Walt Disney anthology series between October 30, 1960 and April 2, 1961.
For most of its brief run, Zorro's episodes were part of continuing story arcs, each about thirteen episodes long, which made it almost like a serial. The first of these chronicles the arrival of Zorro / Diego and his battle of wits with the greedy and cruel local Commandante, Captain Monastario. After Monastario's final defeat, in the second storyline, Zorro must uncover and counter the machinations of the evil Magistrado Galindo, who is part of a plot to rule California. The third story arc concerns the leader of that conspiracy, the shadowy figure of the Eagle, revealed as vain and insecure José Sebastian Varga. Season one concludes with Varga's death.
Season two opens with Diego in Monterey, the colonial capital, where privately collected money to bring a supply ship to California is consistently diverted to a gang of bandits. Diego stays to investigate, both as himself and as Zorro, and becomes interested in Ana Maria Verdugo, the daughter of the man organizing the effort. Once Zorro defeats the thieves, he enters into a rivalry with his old friend Ricardo del Amo, a practical joker who is also interested in Ana Maria. Ana Maria in turn is in love with Zorro. While in Monterey, Zorro and Sergeant Garcia also get involved in a dispute between the peons and a repressive Lieutenant Governor. Diego is on the verge of giving up his mask to marry Ana Maria, but Don Alejandro talks him out of it. Zorro (and Diego) says goodbye to Ana Maria and returns to Los Angeles, where he gets involved in a series of shorter adventures. In one three episode story arc, guest starring Annette Funicello, Zorro must solve the mystery of Anita Campillo's father, a man who does not seem to exist. Other storylines late in the series involve Diego's ne'er-do-well uncle (Cesar Romero), a plot against the governor of California, an encounter with an American "mountain man" (Jeff York, reprising a role from The Saga of Andy Burnett), and outwitting a greedy emissary from Spain.
Guy Williams was introduced to the Disney audience as Zorro in a segment of the Disney anthology television series, "The Fourth Anniversary Show". During this episode, which starred the Mouseketeers and featured upcoming shows, Moochie (Kevin Corcoran) repeatedly asks Walt Disney, "What about Zorro?" Finally Zorro appears, but not in the same shot with the Mouseketeers. Zorro explains who he is, and coyly answers the question of whether he's "real."
Williams and other key cast members also made a number of live appearances at Disneyland in 1958. Some of their shows involved Zorro and Monastario battling each other on the rooftops of Frontierland.
George J. Lewis, who portrayed Diego's father Don Alejandro, had previously appeared in the 1944 serial Zorro's Black Whip as Vic Gordon, an ally of the Black Whip.
The show was very popular, especially with children, and its theme song (written by Norman Foster and George Bruns and first recorded by the Mellomen) was a hit recording for The Chordettes, peaking at #17 on the Hit Parade. It also created a problem with "Z" graffitiing on school desks across the United States.
Despite good ratings, the series ended after two seasons due to a financial dispute between Disney and the network over ownership of Zorro, Mickey Mouse Club, and the Disney anthology television series (at the time titled Disneyland). During the legal battle, however, Disney kept the franchise going for a few years in the form of four new Zorro adventures aired on the anthology series. Guy Williams was kept on full salary during this period, but by the time Disney and ABC resolved their differences, Walt Disney decided that public interest in the character had flagged. Nevertheless, Disney continued to pay $3,500 per year for the television rights until 1967.
The 1957-1959 episodes were colorized in 1992, and appeared in that format for a time on the Disney Channel and elsewhere, often alternating with the original black and white versions.
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