The Fall Guy Television Show: A History of Restoration and Preservation

The Fall Guy, a beloved action-comedy series that originally aired from 1981 to 1986, has a complicated history of releases and re-releases. Early DVD releases of seasons 1 and 2 in the US and Europe were plagued with copyright issues, leading to the removal of original music and scenes. ITV4 in the UK aired seasons 1 through 3 with the original soundtrack, however, only season 3 was widely circulated among fans. For years, seasons 4 and 5 remained elusive, existing only in poor quality recordings from various broadcasts.

The resurgence of interest in stunt performers, thanks in part to the release of the Ryan Gosling film “The Fall,” prompted the Heroes & Icons (H&I) channel in the US to revive the show. Their broadcast included four episodes every Thursday and one on Sunday. Unfortunately, H&I utilized the problematic DVD masters for seasons 1 and 2, retaining the replacement music and cut scenes. While season 3 mirrored the ITV4 captures, the ITV versions proved superior due to H&I’s conversion to 16:9 aspect ratio and inconsistent frame rates, resulting in a jumpy viewing experience in standard definition.

Further complications arose when H&I omitted episodes from seasons 4 and 5, presumably due to music licensing issues. Two episodes were dropped from season 4 and three from season 5. However, the remaining broadcast episodes from seasons 4 and 5 offered a glimmer of hope: they featured the original music, a welcome change after years of altered soundtracks.

High-definition copies of the show, broadcast on Nitro or Sky 1 in Germany, emerged as a potential solution. These 1080p, 4:3 aspect ratio versions provided a significant visual upgrade. Unfortunately, seasons 1 and 2 were HD masters of the flawed DVD releases, albeit with improved quality. These broadcasts included both German and English audio tracks, allowing for the extraction of the English audio to finally experience seasons 1 and 2 in high definition.

Season 3 presented a different challenge. While available in HD, it was only in German. A painstaking process of re-dubbing approximately 80% of the dialogue back into English using the UK ITV4 copies as a sound source was undertaken. The time-consuming nature of this task made it a slow but rewarding endeavor.

The H&I broadcasts provided renewed motivation to restore the series. Using the German HD broadcasts of Season 4 and the H&I broadcasts as an English audio source, a dedicated effort was made to re-dub the entire season. Alternate English audio tracks were sourced for the two missing episodes, resulting in a complete HD set of Season 4 with the original English audio.

Efforts are currently underway to re-dub Season 5 into English using the German HD broadcasts. Alternate sound sources exist for two of the three dropped episodes. Regrettably, one episode, “Trail by Fire,” remains lost as it was not included in the German broadcast and was also omitted by H&I. This leaves a gap in the otherwise comprehensive restoration project. The series, now owned by Disney, faces an uncertain future in terms of official releases that reflect the original broadcast version. This fan-driven restoration project serves as a testament to the enduring popularity of The Fall Guy and the dedication of its fans.