The Magician was an American television series that ran during the 1973–1974 season. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the A television program (US television programme (UK or television show (U It starred Bill Bixby as stage illusionist Anthony "Tony" Blake, a playboy philanthropist who used his skills to solve difficult crimes as needed. Bill Bixby (born Wilfred Bailey Bixby on January 22, 1934 – November 21, 1993) was an American Film and In the series pilot, the character was instead named Anthony Dorian. The name change was due to a conflict with the name of a real life stage magician.

Premise

Blake was a professional stage magician who used his skills to solve crimes and help the helpless. Years earlier, Blake had been unjustly confined in a prison in an unnamed country in South America. South America is a Continent of the Americas, situated entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a He discovered a way to escape with his cellmate, which began his interest in escapology. Escapology is the practice of escaping from restraints or other traps The cellmate died and left him a fortune. The escape led to a career in stage magic which made him famous. He never forgot his imprisonment, and it motivated him to seek justice for others.

Initially, Blake was based out of his privately owned jetliner, which was outfitted as a mobile residence with live-in pilot Jerry Anderson, played by Jim Watkins. A jet airliner, sometimes contracted to jetliner, is a passenger Airplane (passenger Aeroplane) that is powered by Jet engines. He frequently received assistance from acerbic columnist Max Pomeroy, portrayed by Keene Curtis, and his wheelchair--bound but brilliant son Dennis (Todd Crespi). Keene Curtis ( February 15, 1923 – October 13, 2002) was an American Character actor. Midway through the program's run, the idea of the airplane was dropped and Blake was living in a posh apartment at The Magic Castle, a real club devoted to magic acts. The Magic Castle is the most famous magic night club in the world At the same time, the supporting cast of the show was replaced with a new, single character, Dominick, a somewhat comical sidekick played by Joseph Sirola. No explanation for the changes was given in the series, although Tony did recruit Jerry and Max for one further case in the new format.

Magic on the program

The show is noteworthy in that Bixby insisted on doing all of the magic himself, without any trick photography, although this was not the case in the TV-movie/pilot. The illusions used in the Film, Television, Theater, or Entertainment industries to simulate the imagined events in a story are traditionally called He was instructed in these performances by the program's technical adviser, Mark Wilson. James "Mark" Wilson (born 1929 is an American magician and author Once the format changed to have the hero based in a magic club, Wilson could occasionally be seen on the stage there, as well. In addition to escapes, Bixby performed feats of sleight of hand, mentalism, and stage illusions. Sleight of hand, also known as prestidigitation ("quick fingers" or léger de main (from the French for "lightness of hand" Mentalism is an ancient performing art in which its practitioners known as mentalists, use mental acuity Cold reading, Warm reading, Hot reading After the series' cancellation, Bixby went on to host a string of magic specials on NBC and a series in first-run syndication. The National Broadcasting Company ( NBC) is an American Television network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's

Influence

Though it ran only a single season, The Magician was an influence on later series. The show was a favorite of The X-Files creator Chris Carter, who worked it into Special Agent Fox Mulder's "origin" story: a teenaged Mulder was watching The Magician when his sister Samantha was abducted by mysterious forces. The X-Files is a Peabody, Golden Globe and Emmy Award -winning American Science fiction television series created by Chris Carter Christopher Carl Carter (born October 13, 1956) is an American Screenwriter, Film director and producer, best known Within the United States, the title of Special Agent is used to describe any federal criminal or non-criminal investigator or Detective in the 1811 1801 2501 or Special Agent Fox William Mulder, nicknamed "Spooky" Mulder is a Fictional character played by David Duchovny on the 1993 - 2002

In the Quantum Leap episode "The Great Spontini", Sam Beckett leaps into an amateur magician in 1974 who aspires to appear on Bill Bixby's The Magician; however, Sam's Swiss-cheesed memory can at first only recall Bixby's connection with The Incredible Hulk, which had not been made at that time. Quantum Leap is an American science fiction television series that ran for 96 episodes from March 1989 to May 1993 on the NBC network The Incredible Hulk is an American Television series based on the Marvel Comic book character of the same name.

The Incredible Hulk itself featured an episode that paid homage to both The Magician and Bixby's earlier series, My Favorite Martian. The Incredible Hulk is an American Television series based on the Marvel Comic book character of the same name. My Favorite Martian is an American Television Sitcom that aired on CBS from September 29, 1963 to In the Hulk episode "My Favorite Magician," Bixby's character became the temporary apprentice to a stage magician played by Bixby's Martian co-star, Ray Walston. Ray Walston ( December 2 1914 – January 1 2001) was an American stage, Television and Feature film Mark Wilson was on hand again as the episode's "magic consultant" as well. James "Mark" Wilson (born 1929 is an American magician and author

Andrew Robinson has also stated that his Star Trek: Deep Space Nine character, Elim Garak, was partially influenced by Bixby's character. Andrew Jordt Robinson (born February 14 1942 is an American Film, stage, and Television actor Elim Garak is a Fictional character in the television series Star Trek Deep Space Nine, in which he is portrayed by Andrew J

See also

Blake is but one in a long line of magicians who double as detectives. Others include:

• The Great Merlini, created by author Clayton Rawson. This name can refer to multiple people The Great Merlini fictional character and David Merlini, Escape Artist The Great Merlini is a fictional detective Clayton Rawson (1906 - 1971 was an American mystery writer editor and amateur magician
• Norgil, created by Walter B. Gibson. NORwegian Ground Infrastructure for Link 16. A TCP/IP WAN network for the Norwegian Armed Forces' Link 16 training area Walter Brown Gibson ( September 12, 1897 - December 6, 1985) was an American Author and a professional magician best
• Chandu, a character in radio mysteries who was played on screen by Bela Lugosi. Béla Lugosi (October 20 1882 &ndash August 16 1956 was an iconic Hungarian stage and film actor best known for his portrayal of Count Dracula in the American
• Mandrake the Magician, a comic strip hero created by Lee Falk. Mandrake the Magician is a US Comic strip created in 1934 by Lee Falk (also creator of The Phantom) and mainly appearing A comic strip is a sequence of drawings that tells a story Currently in the Western world, most comic strips are written and drawn by a Comics artist Leon Harrison Gross, more known by the alias of Lee Falk ( April 28, 1911 - March 13, 1999) was an American writer Unlike most crime-solving magicians, Mandrake is sometimes presented as having actual magical powers.
• Alexander Blacke, the hero of the 1986 television series Blacke's Magic, played by Hal Linden. Blacke's Magic was a short-lived American TV show about a magician, Alexander Blacke (played by Hal Linden) who with some help from his con-man father Hal Linden (b March 20, 1931) is an American actor and television director
• Jonathan Creek played by Alan Davies, was a series produced by the BBC from 1997 to 2004
• Naoko Yamada, played by Yukie Nakama, the main character of the Japanese drama Trick. Jonathan Creek is a British mystery Television series produced by the BBC and written by David Renwick. Alan Davies (born 6 March 1966) is an English comedian, Writer and Actor, best known for starring as Jonathan Yukie Nakama (仲間 由紀恵 Nakama Yukie, born October 30, 1979) is a Japanese Actress, singer and former idol.

External links

• The Magician at the Internet Movie Database (series pilot)
• The Magician at the Internet Movie Database (TV series)
• The Magician by Ed Robertson