Does anybody know why "The Magician" was named Anthony Dorian in the TV movie pilot, but then his name was Anthony Blake in the TV series? Bill Bixby was the only actor to play the role, so why the name change?
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Never argue with a fool, onlookers may not be able to tell the difference. - Mark Twain.
I think it was something to do with a REAL Magician called Anthony Dorian but i can't be 100% sure.. if anything i would have though the real Magician would have said, "Hey! Great for my Bookings!" or "Give me a little bit of money for the name and we will call it quits since it is good for my bookings".. Most of the time i have known this kind of name change for this reason is has been because the person was shown in a Bad light.. Being a Famouse Magician and a All round Good guy can't be bad for your image can it?
Manic Man
Http://www.TheEmeraldStarPost.co.uk
Http://www.TESP.co.uk
Thanks very much. Your explanation is logical and most likely true. Since this show was done years before the Internet, it probably would have been expensive to research a name. Now of course, it can be done in minutes.
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Never argue with a fool, onlookers may not be able to tell the difference. - Mark Twain.
It can be done in minutes on the internet.. yet it isn't.. i see TV show these days with tons of mistakes in historic facts, taking names without research etc..
Manic Man
Http://www.TheEmeraldStarPost.co.uk
Http://www.TESP.co.uk
There's the famous case from the Marx Brothers movie, "A Day at the Races." Note that Groucho plays Dr. Hackenbush. Believe it or not, that was changed just before filming started. It had been Dr. Quackenbush - perfect for Groucho the quack doctor - until MGM found out there crowds of actual Dr. Quackenbushes out there, all waiting with their lawyers at lawsuit central.
yeah, happens all the time.. I wonder how the others found out though? mmm. also like i said, it seams odd for this to happen after a released tv movie/pilot (if it was a pilot film (never released) more then just a pilot Movie then i could understand). Also, in most cases when people sue for use of name, it is because they are being shown in a bad light. So Groucho playing a Quack Doctor i makes sense for real doctors with that name to be unhappy how they are being shown. But this case doesn't seam like bad light to be...
Manic Man
Http://www.TheEmeraldStarPost.co.uk
Http://www.TESP.co.uk
Sadly, it's usually all about power, no reason, just power. I can bend a famous actor or network, etc. to its knees. It could also have been a typically infamous trial lawyer playing "god" with a similar quack judge in his pocket, why the Founders established trial by a jury of peers at least as competent as any arrogant judge, if not more so.
shareExactly right.
shareWeird that both Tony and Jerry's names were changed along the way. Jerry's surname was changed from "Wallace" to "Anderson" between the movie and the series (for no known reason), and then, of course, Tony went from "Dorian" to "Blake," since Mark Wilson knew of a magician named "Bob Dorian" (billed as "The Amazing Dorian," if I recall correctly).
Something else I'd always wondered about was why Lulu (Max's lover/Dennis' mom) disappeared after the pilot. She was a nice touch and helped to soften Max's more acerbic qualities. They sort of left that to Dennis to handle in the series, but then he was dismissed early on as well, which was a really dumb move since so many girls had crushes on Todd Crespi at the time. Go figure a TV producer...
Just an aside: There's a magician in my area who goes by "Magic Mike". Since the Channing Tatum movie came out his bookings have gone through the roof. Funny thing about the whole thing is he's an overweight middle aged man.
shareSo was it the movie where it was Dorian?
shareInteresting. Check out
https://www.themagiccafe.com/forums/viewtopic.php?topic=645509&forum=95
Blake is easier to remember. And Dorian reminds people of Dorian Gray.
share