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lördag 27 juni 2020

Veckans retro

Viper is an American action-adventure television series about a special task force set up by the federal government to fight crime in the fictional city of Metro City, California that is perpetually under siege from one crime wave after another.
The weapon used by this task force is an assault vehicle that masquerades as a Dodge Viper RT/10 roadster and coupe (later, the Viper GTS).
The series takes place in "the near future". The primary brand of vehicles driven in the show were Chrysler or subsidiary companies.
The series ran on NBC for one season in 1994 before being revived two years later for three more seasons of first-run syndication.
Reruns of the series have appeared on Sci-Fi Channel and USA Network.

The Viper Defender "star car" was designed by Chrysler Corporation engineers unlike most Hollywood film/television cars that are usually customized by film picture designers.
The exterior design of the car was produced by Chrysler stylist Steve Ferrerio.

NBC run
The original series began filming in Los Angeles Area in early 1993 and was planned to debut on CBS in Fall 1993.
However, it was first delayed when Stephen J. Cannell also named his new TV show Viper.
After a lawsuit by Chrysler Corporation, Cannell renamed his show to Cobra.
After that, the premiere was delayed further when CBS deemed the series to be too violent and decided to bury it.
However, due to Chrysler's backing, the show proceeded on, and was picked up by NBC.

The series originally aired on NBC during the 1993–1994 season, debuting on January 2, 1994 with a two-hour pilot movie, as a mid-season replacement for Against the Grain in NBC's Friday Night 8PM slot.
After falling ratings, the series was canceled in April 1994.

The music for the pilot and opening theme for season 1 was composed by Eddie Jobson.
Jay Ferguson took over music composition for the rest of the seasons.
He composed a remixed theme of the original season-1 opening and the brand new season-4 opening theme.

The Dodge Viper RT/10 Roadsters used in seasons 1–3 were actually not production models.
Instead, Chrysler supplied various leftover engineering mules and prototypes of the Viper (still visually the same).
Many other cars in season 1 were leftover prototypes, as well.
For example, in the pilot movie, the Eagle Premier sedans with yellow vinyl stripes were drivetrain engineering mules for the LH cars (Dodge Intrepid/Chrysler Concorde).

The special effect "hex snakeskin" transformation for the pilot and the first season was done by Metrolight Studios.
Tim Claycomb and Tim Eilers took over the transformation sequence after the first season.
Sources indicate that it cost $50,000 for each transformation scene in the NBC season.

First-run syndication version
After NBC canceled the series, production company Paramount Television decided to rework Viper for first-run syndication.
With the company's syndication unit as distributor, Viper began airing on weekends in September 1996.
The only actor to return for season 2 was Joe Nipote in his role as Frankie "X" Waters, and he would remain until the end of the series.
James McCaffrey, who played Joe Astor, the Viper's driver in season 1, returned in season 4.
Heather Medway, who played Det. Cameron Westlake, was the only new cast member from the show's revival to stay on the entire three syndicated seasons (from 1996 to 1999).

Season 2 was filmed predominantly in Calgary, Alberta.
The series was then moved for filming in Vancouver, British Columbia, during seasons 3 and 4.
The Cobalt Blue Metallic color on the Viper GTS in season 4 was not an optional color for the production Viper GTS; it was specifically for the show only.

Viper came to an end in May 1999.