Of Jonathan Klotz
| Published
The 90s were a golden age for syndicated fantasy shows; follows in the wake of Hercules: The Legendary Journeysmade the crowd a hit Xena: The Warrior Princessand then a series of similar shows, from The New Adventures of Robin Hood and The Adventures of Sinbad to Jack of Hearts soon followed, with seemingly every international production company deciding to make their own show. Lost among its more popular contemporaries was Tarzan: The Epic Adventuresanother attempt to adapt Edgar Rice Burroughs’ famous creation for the small screen, and it was exactly as low-budget and cheesy as you’d expect, but before Season 2 could enter production, an involuntary bankruptcy shut it down for good.
draws from the classic novels
Tarzan: The Epic Adventures starred Joe Lara as the King of the Apes for the second time, reprising his role from the TV movie Tarzan in Manhattanalthough the two adaptations could not be more different. The syndicated series draws heavily from the original novels, including the villain, Count Nicholas Rokoff, and the concept of Pellucidar (Burroughs’ take on the Hollow Earth mythos), but does not include Jane. Instead, Tarzan is joined by his old friend Themba, who is on a quest to discover what happened to her tribe.
Filmed in Sun City, the famous South African resort that became a flashpoint during the 80s, Tarzan: The Epic Adventures it looks like it takes place in the same jungle every episode because it did. Made on a shoestring budget, the show features terrible dialogue, cheesy special effects and a parade of cheap costumes, but that’s also part of the appeal. To the production team’s credit, they seemed to be in on the joke, without anyone taking it too seriously, and the result was a fun, guilty pleasure that you don’t want anyone to know you’re enjoying.
An involuntary bankruptcy
Tarzan: The Epic Adventures may have been made on the cheap, but it wasn’t cheap enough for Seagull Entertainment, the show’s international distributor. Seagull Entertainment was forced into bankruptcy in the summer of 1997, just after the series aired its final episode, after failing to pay 50 employees and several creditors, amounting to over $500,000 in debt. Season 2 was already in the planning stages at the time, and it was set to introduce Jane, but due to forces beyond the production’s control, it never came to be.
Thanks to Seagull Entertainment’s self-destruction, Tarzan: The Epic Adventures never got a second chance. The series’ production company, Keller Entertainment Group, also attempted to develop a syndicated series for Conan the Barbarian. But it never made it to television, failing like so many other attempts at Conan before he ever left pre-production.
Incredibly, Tarzan: The Epic Adventures is one of the most successful adaptations of the classic character since the 1950s, with Alexander Skarsgård’s The Legend of Tarzan and Disney’s animated Tarzan. Despite being one of the most popular characters of the 30’s and 50’s, Tarzan has been parodied too much in pop culture to appeal to a modern audience, other than those who enjoy all things ironic.
Tarzan: The Epic Adventures available to stream on Pipe and The Roku Channel.
