Disney's "Zorro" TV series (1958-1959)

[Dargo]

So, this series predates my birth and...

Yeah?! Well then, let me tell ya here "kid" , this series did not "predate" ME!

In fact, I was 6-7 years old when I'd watch it first-run on the then third rated ABC television network. And even at that tender age, I remember memorizing the lyrics to its opening theme song here and would sing along to it as I sat on the floor in front of that old Philco 21in console black & white TV set and prepare to watch each exciting new episode of this early Spanish California masked avenger...



(...and so I guess what I'm sayin' here is, GEE THANKS for makin' me feel old here!)

LOL

[KayFrancis]

LOL , you and me both Dargo.. I remember watching Zorro too. Btw, I became a Grandma a week ago. My younger daughter had a beautiful baby girl

[Dargo]

LOL , you and me both Dargo.. I remember watching Zorro too. Btw, I became a Grandma a week ago. My younger daughter had a beautiful baby girl

CONGRATS, Carol! What wonderful news!

[scsu1975]

Great series. I was barely old enough when it first hit television, but I seem to remember watching in syndication on Channel 5 in NYC ... maybe Carol can confirm that.

I still have my Zorro trading cards ... about 30 or so, a few of which are pictured below. And the kid in the Zorro costume ... well, I'll let you figure out who that is.

[Dargo]

...And the kid in the Zorro costume ... well, I'll let you figure out who that is.

Well Rich, considering I also can proudly claim that I had that boxed set of the official Walt Disney Zorro getup here, that could've been me as well.

And in fact and come to think of it, the venetian blinds and the drapes your little self is standing in front of here, looks a lot like how I remember our house was decorated back then.

(...say, wouldn't have ALSO had a Philco 21in console B&W TV set sitting in YOUR living room that you watched Guy Williams performing his weekly feats of derring-do TOO, now would YA?)

[scsu1975]

Well Rich, considering I also can proudly claim that I had that boxed set of the official Walt Disney Zorro getup here, that could've been me as well.

And in fact and come to think of it, the venetian blinds and the drapes your little self is standing in front of here, looks a lot like how I remember our house was decorated back then.

(...say, wouldn't have ALSO had a Philco 21in console B&W TV set sitting in YOUR living room that you watched Guy Williams performing his weekly feats of derring-do TOO, now would YA?)

I think we had a similar discussion on the old TCM boards about our costumes. But those drapes sure are tacky, aren't they? That is a toy chest I'm sitting on.

I don't recall if we ever had a Philco, but we did have a GE set that went berserk one day. When you turned it off, the sound went off but the picture stayed on. I remember my aunt laughing hysterically when that happened - maybe because she worked on the assembly line at GE and even put together my parents' first TV from scratch.

[Dargo]

I think we had a similar discussion on the old TCM boards about our costumes. But those drapes sure are tacky, aren't they? That is a toy chest I'm sitting on.

I don't recall if we ever had a Philco, but we did have a GE set that went berserk one day. When you turned it off, the sound went off but the picture stayed on. I remember my aunt laughing hysterically when that happened - maybe because she worked on the assembly line at GE and even put together my parents' first TV from scratch.

Yeah, I think our earlier discussion about this was in a thread with the topic of something like "Toys we had as a kid". Good call here.

And re your malfunctioning GE TV set, it could've been worse, ya know!

Uh-huh, it could've turned out to be a situation in which after a TV repair man who looks like Sterling Holloway comes to fix it, it would foretell a future in which your dad pushes your mom out a window to her death.

(...well, that would be of course only IF your dad had happened to look like William Demarest and your mom like Joan Blondell)

[Allhallowsday]

... Guy Williams is a great action hero and has more than the expected amount of star charisma...

I watch GUY WILLIAMS every week on METV Lost In Space reruns, perhaps my earliest TV memory. I found him intimidating at age 5 or so, and unlikable. He was better on Zorro (I subscribed to the Disney channel on cable TV 35 years ago...)

[Lomm]

I love this show. Guy Williams is my favorite Zorro. I got a copy of the show on DVD many years ago (when it was still readily available and cheap, as opposed to now!), and I rewatch it every few years.

[scsu1975]

[KayFrancis]

Thanks Dargo for the congrats. And Thanks to
Rich, Tiki, Hibi, Holden and Speedy for their congrats too.

Rich, you're a few years younger , I'm the same age as Senor Dargo, so you probably did watch Zorro in reruns in the '60's. I think I remember watching Zorro after the original Mickey Mouse Club. Definitely on Channel 5 in NYC ( ABC station ). I still remember.the first verse to Zorro's theme song. I vaguely remember an episode of Zorro that guest starred Annette Funicello. I remember the heavy set character Sgt. Garcia who always appeared as a buffoon.

I remember also watching a show called Diver Dan around the same time period as Zorro. Anyone else remember Diver Dan?

[Dargo]

Little known fact about that Chordettes version of the Zorro theme song here.

When they traveled to England in the summer of '59 to perform their hit songs "Mr. Sandman" and "Lollipop" AND to do this bit and sing this theme song on British television, in order to cater to the local flavor there, they sang the last line of the chorus: "Zorro, who makes the sign of the Zed".

(...however, not one of these ladies ever rightfully felt it sounded quite as right nor as good, and so after returning to the good ol' U.S.of A, post-tour, all were thankful they were then able to return to singing this song for their audience and as it should be sung)

[Allhallowsday]

I love this show. Guy Williams is my favorite Zorro. I got a copy of the show on DVD many years ago (when it was still readily available and cheap, as opposed to now!), and I rewatch it every few years.

I think I like TYRONE POWER best...

[Dargo]

...I remember the heavy set character Sgt. Garcia who always appeared as a buffoon.

I always felt actor John Banner had patterned his Hogan's Heroes Sgt. Schultz character after Henry Calvin's Sgt. Garcia character, and wondered if perhaps the HH producers had this in mind when they cast him in that role.

I remember also watching a show called Diver Dan around the same time period as Zorro. Anyone else remember Diver Dan?

Yep, I remember Diver Dan, alright.

(...was never one of my favorites, though...always felt it was, I guess you'd say, too "static")