Adderly

For the English town, see Adderley.
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
Location(s) Toronto
Running time 60 minutes
Production company(s) Global Television Network
JayGee Productions
Robert Cooper Productions
Distributor Orion Television Distribution
Release
Original network Global (Canada)
CBS (USA)
Original release September 24, 1986 – March 9, 1988

Adderly was 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]

Background

Adderly was based on series creator Elliott Baker's novel, Pocock & Pitt.

Cast

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 (1986–1987)

Ep. Title Airdate
1 1 Hit-Man Complex 24 Sep. 1986
2 2 Mailman 1 Oct. 1986
3 3 Critical Mass 8 Oct. 1986
4 4 A Change of Mind 15 Oct. 1986
5 5 Backfire 22 Oct. 1986
6 6 Rich Kid 29 Oct. 1986
7 7 Capture the Flag 5 Nov. 1986
8 8 Nina Who? 12 Nov. 1986
9 9 The Dancing Lesson 19 Nov. 1986
10 10 Adderly with Eggroll 26 Nov. 1986
11 11 Brotherly Love 3 Dec. 1986
12 12 Secrets of the Sun 7 Jan. 1987
13 13 A Matter of Discretion 14 Jan. 1987
14 14 Nemesis 4 Feb. 1987
15 15 Year of the Tiger 11 Feb. 1987
16 16 Who Do, Voodoo 18 Feb. 1987
17 17 Miscellaneous News 25 Feb. 1987
18 18 Tiers of Internment 4 Mar. 1987
19 19 Running Backwards 8 Apr. 1987
20 20 Class of '87 29 Apr. 1987
21 21 Mirror Man 13 May 1987
22 22 A Far, Far Better Thing 27 May 1987

Season 2 (1987-1988)

Ep. Title Airdate
1 23 Speed of Light 7 Aug. 1987
2 24 Run to Darkness 14 Aug. 1987
3 25 Eye in the Sky 21 Aug. 1987
4 26 To Better Days 28 Aug. 1987
5 27 Blood Feud 4 Sep. 1987
6 28 The Perils of Mona 11 Sep. 1987
7 29 Midnight in Morocco 30 Sep. 1987
8 30 The Bridge 7 Oct. 1987
9 31 Headhunter 14 Oct. 1987
10 32 Code Name: Chipmunk 28 Oct. 1987
11 33 Spymaster 11 Nov. 1987
12 34 Requiem 18 Nov. 1987
13 35 Horse Cents 25 Nov. 1987
14 36 Debbie Does Dishes 2 Dec. 1987
15 37 The Man Who Didn't Know Too Much 9 Dec. 1987
16 38 Deathwatch 23 Dec. 1987
17 39 Covert Agenda 20 Jan. 1988
18 40 The Game 10 Feb. 1988
19 41 Adventures in Bodysitting 17 Feb. 1988
20 42 The Interrogation 24 Feb. 1988
21 43 See How They Die 2 Mar. 1988
22 44 Point of No Return 9 Mar. 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

  1. Eirik Knutzen. "Manual Labor Finally Paid Off for Rekert." Cleveland Plain Dealer, August 2, 1987, p. TV2.
  2. Terrace, Vincent (2009). Encyclopedia of Television Shows, 1925 through 2007 (Volume 1). Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, Inc. ISBN 978-0-7864-3305-6.
  3. 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.

External links

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