Cover Up (TV series)
Cover Up is an American action/adventure television series that aired for one season on CBS from September 22, 1984, to April 6, 1985. Created by Glen A. Larson, the series stars Jennifer O'Neill, Jon-Erik Hexum, Antony Hamilton, and Richard Anderson.
| Cover Up | |
|---|---|
 Jon-Erik Hexum and Jennifer O'Neill | |
| Genre | Action/Adventure |
| Created by | Glen A. Larson |
| Directed by | Phil Bondelli Richard A. Colla Peter Crane Don Carlos Dunaway Walter Grauman John D. Hancock Jeffrey Hayden Sidney Hayers Christopher Hibler Bruce Kessler Guy Magar Bernard McEveety Arthur Allan Seidelman Michael Vejar Don Weis |
| Starring | Jennifer O'Neill Jon-Erik Hexum Antony Hamilton |
| Theme music composer | Dean Pitchford Jim Steinman |
| Opening theme | "Holding Out for a Hero" performed by EG Daily |
| Composer(s) | Joseph Conlan J.A.C. Redford Morton Stevens |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 22 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Glen A. Larson |
| Producer(s) | Brian Alan Lane Bob Shayne Harker Wade |
| Editor(s) | David Howe Gene Ranney |
| Camera setup | Single-camera |
| Running time | 44 mins. |
| Production company(s) | 20th Century Fox Television Glen A. Larson Productions |
| Release | |
| Original network | CBS |
| Audio format | Monaural |
| Original release | September 22, 1984 – April 6, 1985 |
Plot
Fashion photographer Dani Reynolds's life suddenly changes after the death of her husband. That's when she discovers that he was actually an undercover CIA agent. When she learns he had been murdered, she recruits Mac Harper, a former Special Forces Operator, to help her find her husband's killers.
Henry Towler, her husband's boss, then offers her the dead husband's job. Dani would pretend she was still a photographer and Mac would be her model. Henry would send them anywhere in the world where Americans are in trouble or criminals need to be caught. Once there, they act pretty much on their own.
After the death of actor Jon-Erik Hexum, who played Mac, the episode "Writer's Block" introduced Dani's new assistant, Jack Striker. Jack was a CIA agent who, like Mac, operated under the cover of a model.
Cast
- Jennifer O'Neill — Dani Reynolds
- Jon-Erik Hexum — Mac Harper (1984)
- Antony Hamilton — Jack Striker (1984–85)
- Richard Anderson — Henry Towler
Production
On-set accident
During a break between scenes on the set on Friday, October 12, 1984, Jon-Erik Hexum became bored with the filming delays. He began playing Russian roulette with what he believed was a harmless .44 Magnum prop gun and jokingly placed it to his temple and pulled the trigger. The shot sent the wadding from the blank cartridge at Hexum's skull, driving a bone fragment the size of a quarter into his brain and causing massive hemorrhaging. Hexum was rushed to the hospital, where he eventually was declared brain dead. On October 18, he was taken off life support.[1]
Hexum appeared in only seven episodes of the series, including the pilot. He was replaced by Antony Hamilton for the remainder of the season.[2] Jennifer O'Neill appeared in all of the episodes. As Cover Up continued to air throughout the winter of 1984–85, ratings held up. The network ultimately canceled the series after its first season due to mediocre ratings.[3]
Episode list
| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 2 | "Pilot" | Peter Crane | Glen A. Larson | September 22, 1984 | |
| 3 | "Death in Vogue" | Guy Magar | David H. Balkan | September 29, 1984 | |
| 4 | "The Million Dollar Face" | Phil Bondelli | Glen A. Larson | October 6, 1984 | |
| 5 | "Harper-Gate" | Arthur Allan Seidelman | Bob Shayne | October 13, 1984 | |
| 6 | "Sudden Exposure" | Guy Magar | Lane Del | October 20, 1984 | |
| 7 | "Nothing to Lose" | Richard A Colla | Doug Heyes Jr. | October 27, 1984 | |
| 8 | "Golden Opportunity" | Sidney Hayers | Bob Shayne | November 3, 1984 | |
| Hexum's last episode[4] | |||||
| 9 | "Writer's Block" | Richard A. Colla | S : Low Shaw; T : David H. Balkan & Douglas Brooks West; S/T : Andrew Schneider & Sam Egan | November 24, 1984 | |
| Hamilton's first episode[5] | |||||
| 10 | "Murder in Malibu" | Sidney Hayers | TBA | December 1, 1984 | |
| 11 | "Midnight Highway" | TBA | Doug Heyes Jr. | December 8, 1984 | |
| 12 | "A Subtle Seduction" | Walter Grauman | Douglas Brooks West | December 29, 1984 | |
| 13 | "Black Widow" | Sidney Hayers | Robert Hamilton | January 5, 1985 | |
| 14 | "Murder Offshore" | Jeffrey Hayden | Joe Gannon | January 12, 1985 | |
| 15 | "The Assassin" | Christopher Hibler | TBA | January 26, 1985 | |
| 16 | "Rules to Die By" | Bernard McEveety | Robert Hamilton | February 2, 1985 | |
| 17 | "Healthy, Wealthy and Dead" | TBA | TBA | February 23, 1985 | |
| 18 | "The Ugliest American" | Don Weis | TBA | March 2, 1985 | |
| 19 | "Who's Trying to Kill Miss Globe?" | TBA | TBA | March 9, 1985 | |
| 20 | "Adam's Rib" | John D. Hancock | Robert Hamilton | March 23, 1985 | |
| 21 | "Jack of Spades" | TBA | TBA | March 30, 1985 | |
| 22 | "Passions" | Don Carlos Dunaway | Doug Heyes Jr. | April 6, 1985 | |
References
- "Jon-Erik Hexum Fatal Joke". Entertainment Weekly. 1994-10-14. Retrieved 2008-08-16.
- Davidson, Casey; Shaw, Jessica (1995-04-28). "Monitor: Pop Culture News". ew.com. Retrieved 2008-08-16.
- Snauffer, Douglas (2008). The Show Must Go On - How the Deaths of Lead Actors Have Affected Television Series. McFarland & Company, Inc. pp. 88–92. ISBN 978-0-7864-3295-0.
- TV.com. "Cover Up: Golden Opportunity". TV.com.
- TV.com. "Cover Up: Writer's Block". TV.com.