Adderly
Adderly is a Canadian television adventure-drama series which aired from 1986 to 1988. It was broadcast on both Canadian TV and on CBS in the United States. it starred Vancouver-born Winston Rekert as "charming and witty V.H. Adderly," an operative working for an obscure government intelligence agency.[1]
| Adderly | |
|---|---|
| Created by | Elliott Baker, based on his novel Pocock & Pitt |
| Starring | Winston Rekert Dixie Seatle Jonathan Welsh Ken Pogue |
| Country of origin | Canada |
| No. of seasons | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 44 |
| Production | |
| Production location | Toronto |
| Running time | 60 minutes |
| Production companies | Global Television Network JayGee Productions Robert Cooper Productions |
| Distributor | Orion Television Distribution |
| Release | |
| Original network | Global (Canada) CBS (USA) |
| Picture format | 35mm film |
| Original release | September 24, 1986 – March 9, 1988 |
Background
Adderly was based on series creator Elliott Baker's novel, Pocock & Pitt.
Cast
- Winston Rekert as V.H. (Virgil Homer) Adderly
- Jonathan Welsh as Melville Greenspan
- Dixie Seatle as Mona Ellerby
- Ken Pogue as Major Jonathan B. Clack
Plot
V.H. Adderly (Rekert) is a secret agent for an organization known as the I.S.I (International Security and Intelligence). Before the series begins, an enemy agent, Victor Barinov, crushes Adderly's left hand with a medieval mace during an interrogation in East Germany. Adderly loses the use of the hand, and since he is no longer considered useful as an active agent, he is reassigned to the I.S.I.'s tiny Department of Miscellaneous Affairs, located in a small basement office. This is meant to be a sort of "good service" reward for Adderly, as his supposedly cushy Miscellaneous Affairs job is mostly concerned with mundane in-house administrative paperwork. During the series, Adderly consistently finds ways to use his vague, non-specific status as a representative of "Miscellaneous Affairs" to actively investigate anything the I.S.I. has overlooked, and regularly goes above and beyond his mundane duties to uncover and neutralize dread plots that the larger organization has failed to investigate.[2]
Miscellaneous Affairs is officially run by Melville Greenspan (Welsh), a man fastidiously devoted to bureaucracy and unwilling to allow Adderly the freedom to pursue his outside interests. The only other departmental staff member is Mona Ellerby (Seatle), Greenspan's over-qualified secretary who is addicted to adventure and romance novels. Greenspan's superior is Major Jonathan B. Clack (Pogue), who is in charge of the I.S.I. as a whole, and is responsible for Adderly's reassignment from active field operations to Miscellaneous Affairs.
Through the course of the 44-episode run, Adderly repeatedly demonstrates his ability to perform the duties of an active field agent, even saving the life of Major Clack himself. This only confirms to Clack that Adderly is an important asset at his current post. It is implied that Clack may have created the Department of Miscellaneous Affairs to allow Adderly the freedom and flexibility to pursue various cases which the I.S.I. couldn't normally handle.
Episode guide
Season 1 (1986–87)
| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | "Hit-Man Complex" | Don McBrearty | Elliott Baker | September 24, 1986 |
| 2 | 2 | "Mailman" | Gilbert Shilton | Robert Arnott | October 1, 1986 |
| 3 | 3 | "Critical Mass" | Paul Shapiro | Aubrey Solomon | October 8, 1986 |
| 4 | 4 | "A Change of Mind" | Joseph L. Scanlan | Len Janson & Chuck Menville | October 15, 1986 |
| 5 | 5 | "Backfire" | Gilbert Shilton | Alfred Harris | October 22, 1986 |
| 6 | 6 | "Rich Kid" | Randy Bradshaw | Elliott Baker | October 29, 1986 |
| 7 | 7 | "Capture the Flag" | Charles Dennis | Charles Dennis | November 5, 1986 |
| 8 | 8 | "Nina Who?" | Timothy Bond | Carl Binder | November 12, 1986 |
| 9 | 9 | "The Dancing Lesson" | William Corcoran | Elliott Baker | November 19, 1986 |
| 10 | 10 | "Adderly with Eggroll" | Peter Rowe | Tony Sheer | November 26, 1986 |
| 11 | 11 | "Brotherly Love" | Bruce Pittman | Jaron Summers | December 3, 1986 |
| 12 | 12 | "Secrets of the Sun" | William Corcoran | Jim Osborne | January 7, 1987 |
| 13 | 13 | "A Matter of Discretion" | F. Harvey Frost | Judith Thompson | January 14, 1987 |
| 14 | 14 | "Nemesis" | Timothy Bond | Carl Binder | February 4, 1987 |
| 15 | 15 | "Year of the Tiger" | Alan Simmonds | Jim Henshaw | February 11, 1987 |
| 16 | 16 | "Who Do, Voodoo" | William Corcoran | Ken Gass | February 18, 1987 |
| 17 | 17 | "Miscellaneous News" | Timothy Bond | Guy Mullally & Gregor Hutchison | February 25, 1987 |
| 18 | 18 | "Tiers of Interment" | George Bloomfield | Carl Binder | March 4, 1987 |
| 19 | 19 | "Running Backward" | Stefan Scaini | Story by : Carol Bolt & Carl Binder Teleplay by : Carl Binder | April 8, 1987 |
| 20 | 20 | "Class of '87" | Timothy Bond | Don Mankiewicz | April 29, 1987 |
| 21 | 21 | "Mirror Man" | Jorge Montesi | Jim Henshaw | May 13, 1987 |
| 22 | 22 | "A Far, Far Better Thing" | Rene Bonniere | Peter Lauterman & Angelo Stea | May 27, 1987 |
Season 2 (1987–88)
| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 23 | 1 | "Speed of Light" | George Bloomfield | Glenn Norman | August 7, 1987 |
| 24 | 2 | "Run to Darkness" | Jorge Montesi | Jim Henshaw | August 14, 1987 |
| 25 | 3 | "Eye in the Sky" | Joseph L. Scanlan | Carl Binder | August 21, 1987 |
| 26 | 4 | "To Better Days" | Joseph L. Scanlan | Johnny Segura & Alan Zweig | August 28, 1987 |
| 27 | 5 | "Blood Feud" | George Bloomfield | Jim Henshaw | September 4, 1987 |
| 28 | 6 | "The Perils of Mona" | Timothy Bond | Carl Binder | September 11, 1987 |
| 29 | 7 | "Midnight in Morocco" | George Bloomfield | Denis Gibson & Kevin Scanlon | September 30, 1987 |
| 30 | 8 | "The Bridge" | Don McBrearty | Peter Lauterman & Angelo Stea | October 7, 1987 |
| 31 | 9 | "Headhunter" | Don McBrearty | Jim Henshaw | October 14, 1987 |
| 32 | 10 | "Code Name: Chipmunk" | Stefan Scaini | Peter Haynes | October 28, 1987 |
| 33 | 11 | "Spymaster" | Bruce Pittman | David Cole | November 11, 1987 |
| 34 | 12 | "Requiem" | George Bloomfield | Carl Binder | November 18, 1987 |
| 35 | 13 | "Horse Cents" | George Bloomfield | Jerome McCann | November 25, 1987 |
| 36 | 14 | "Debbie Does Dishes" | Bruce Pittman | Douglas Rodger | December 2, 1987 |
| 37 | 15 | "The Man Who Didn't Know Too Much" | John Bell | Carl Binder | December 9, 1987 |
| 38 | 16 | "Deathwatch" | George Bloomfield | Jim Henshaw | December 23, 1987 |
| 39 | 17 | "Covert Agenda" | George Bloomfield | Lyle Slack | January 20, 1988 |
| 40 | 18 | "The Game" | TBA | TBA | February 10, 1988 |
| 41 | 19 | "Adventures in Babysitting" | TBA | TBA | February 17, 1988 |
| 42 | 20 | "The Interrogation" | TBA | TBA | February 24, 1988 |
| 43 | 21 | "See How They Die" | TBA | TBA | March 2, 1988 |
| 44 | 22 | "Point of No Return" | TBA | TBA | March 9, 1988 |
Broadcast history
Adderly aired from September 1986 through May 1987 (its first season) in the 11:30pm CBS Late Night slot on the CBS network. For the second season (beginning in August 1987), the show's popularity prompted CBS to run episodes in prime time, but there was little promotion and the show didn't do well in the ratings. CBS moved the show back to the 11:30pm time slot in September 1987 where it remained until the series ended.[3] Canadian broadcasts of the series did not commence until January 1987.
References
- Eirik Knutzen. "Manual Labor Finally Paid Off for Rekert." Cleveland Plain Dealer, August 2, 1987, p. TV2.
- Terrace, Vincent (2009). Encyclopedia of Television Shows, 1925 through 2007 (Volume 1). Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, Inc. ISBN 978-0-7864-3305-6.
- Brooks, Tim & Marsh, Earle (2007). The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows 1946-Present (9th ed.). New York: Ballantine Books. ISBN 978-0-345-49773-4.