OK...how many people here remember the show "The Master", where Lee Van Cleef played the role of a white ninja master?

http://doctor-forrester.home.mindspring.co...Cleef_still.jpg

Basically, Van Cleef's character had an 80s hair scary man side kick who went around with him and they would use boring asian pseudophilosophical cliches to solve everyone's problem. It was like a cheap knockoff of Kung Fu, but then Kung Fu: The Legend Continues ended up being like a cheap knockoff of The Master with the inclusion of a male sidekick with long hair. (The Master was a 1984 TV show so it came before Kung Fu: The Legend Continues.)

In any case, I think that The Master is fifty billion times cooler than Kung Fu because it has Sho Kosugi instead of David Carradine in it.

Anyway, this is my big question: I only have the first two episodes of The Master on DVD. However, I understand that there were 14 1 hour episodes, or something like that. Has anyone seen all 14 of the episodes? If so, can you tell me what ninja powers Lee Van Cleef exhibits? I want to make a Shadowrun physad based on Lee Van Cleef's character.

So far, in the first two episodes, I've seen:
Killing Hands (where Van Cleef severs someone's artery "with my fingers")
Athletics 6 (12) (tightrope walking, hanging to the bottom of a Mitsubishi)

Before I start making up a geriatric caucasian ninja (uh oh, sounds like we might be getting near Ashida Kim territory here) I just want to make sure that I know what all of Van Cleef's major shticks are.

Any information you might have would be appreciated.

And for those of you who haven't seen The Master, you owe it to yourself to see it. You can buy a DVD with the first two episodes for like 3 dollars secondhand on Amazon.com.

I recall The Master runing a marathon and mot even breaking a sweat, waiting by the car while his student runs up panting and heaving.

Of course he explained that he had total body control and was really breathing quite hard at that moment, or something like that.

He SO took a shortcut

WoundedRonin:

I watched that series when it was originally run on NBC. (I suddenly feel really old. )

There were 13 episodes--the 2-hour pilot, which was originally telecast on January 20, 1984, followed by three one-hour episodes on January 27, February 3, and February 10, respectively. Then, there was a three-week gap. Broadcasts resumed on March 2, with episodes on March 9, March 16, and March 23. Another gap followed, this time two weeks. Broadcasting resumed on April 6, running until April 13. The final 3 episodes were telecast on May 4, August 10, and August 31.

The only unusual ninja ability that I recall Lee Van Cleef's character having was the ability to slow his heartbeat/rate of respiration and play dead. He actually STOPPED his heart on one occasion, I think, but said to his sidekick that to do so more than once or twice in a lifetime could be fatal.

Van Cleef's character was "John Peter McAllister". The "80s hair scary man side kick" to whom you are referring was "Max Keller", played by Timothy Van Patten. (Even though Tim's young enough to be Dick Van Patten's son (Dick was born on December 9, 1928; Tim on June 10, 1959), he's actually his half-brother; Dick's sons, Vincent, Jimmy, and Nels, are actually Tim's nephews.)

Sho Kosugi played "Okasa", McAllister's former pupil, who was trying to kill him because he thought McAllister wanted to return to the United States and open a ninja school there. McAllister was actually looking for a daughter that he never knew existed.

The plotline was something to the effect that McAllister had been stationed in Japan after either World War II or the Korean War, and his wife, who was pregnant at the time they divorced, returned to the States without telling him that he was about to become a father.

She apparently told their daughter that her father had left her before the girl was born, and somehow the young woman, and McAllister, learned the truth after the girl's mother died.

The series was cancelled before McAllister found her, though. I think it was dropped because concerned parents put pressure on the network (in this case, NBC) for showing such a violent program (although, as I recall, no one was ever actually killed during the series run) during the so-called "family hour" (Friday nights, either 8:00--9:00 P.M. or 9:00--10:00 P.M. ; I forget which).

You can find out more about the series here: epguides.com The Master: A Titles and Air Dates Guide

Edit: Okay, so I was wrong about the "...no one was ever actually killed..." part. It WAS over twenty years ago....)

--Foreigner

In episode 1, someone is killed. Keller throws a shuriken at an evil real estate exec who is pointing a pistol at him. Keller succeeds in winding up, throwing the shuriken, and hitting the exec in the pec before the exec can pull the trigger. And, of course, the exec dies immediately from 2 inches of steel in his pec.

In Episode 2, the main character tricks an enemy ninja into electrocuting himself. He disguises an electrical power box as himself and when the enemy ninja stabs it with his sword he gets electrocuted.

I don't recall this particular series (way before my time) but I do remember another series revolving around the white ninja looking for his son concept, a show that aired in 92 & 93 called "Raven". It was about a white guy who was trained as a ninja in the Black Dragon Clan as well as being a former special forces guy. He was looking for his lost son and the show took place in Hawai'i, with Lee Majors playing a private detective buddy of his. Goodness, I have bad taste in TV.

Before I read beyond the first post in the thread I made a bet with myself who would have the answers for WR. I owe myself 20 bucks now.

But this:

I remember both of the shows, if just barely. Raven didn't last long iirc. Just a few episodes.

you should give your Lee Van Cleef guy some sort of "steely gaze" cause he is modeled after Lee. He was the bad guy in most of the spaghetti westerns Clint Eastwood starred in.

Shadow:

According to EP Guides--Raven: A Titles and Air Dates Guide, the series lasted two seasons.

The first 3 episodes of Season 1 were broadcast on June 24, July 1, and July 8, 1992. Episode 1 was 90 minutes long, with subsequent episodes being an hour in length.

After a 2-week gap, 2 more were broadcast on July 22 and July 29, 1992. The final two episodes of that season ran on September 26 and October 3, 1992, respectively.

The second season started on January 2, 1993. Five weekly episodes were broadcast between that date and January 30. After skipping the entire month of February, broadcasts resumed on March 6, with episodes being aired every week through April 17th. The series was apparently cancelled before the final episode of that season was aired.

Edit: Sorry if I came across as condescending. I assure you, that was not my intention.

--Foreigner

Well, like I said it was an iirc. Being the absolute movie junkie that I am I totally understand it when you need to let someone know the truth of what they are saying. Feel free to enlighten me anytime.

-Shadow

Pirates are the reason for life,ninja are jokes! Look, you are pirating MP3s. You aren't ninjaing them. Pirates have ships. Ninja wear the PJs around town. Pirates drink rum. Ninja drink um.I don't know but it is not as good rum.

Arrgh!

Plus, what's not to like about awakened parrots?

Exactly! Seen them! They're even crap at their vaunted being all stealthy and shit skills.

The guitars and hippo-fives and just to lull you into a false sense of security.

You: Ninjas? HA! Ninjas are crap! They think they're so great with their black suits and their guitars and their...(shuriken in the face)

Look, Pirates use guns,canon and in the future T-birds. They don't need stealth. They got enough fire power to blow ninja to Davy Jone's locker. Arrrh!

When is the last time you saw a Ninja with a cest full of gold that turn them immortal?

Or a ninja with more blood than rum in their rum system? Cause Piriates never let that happen.

Don't forget pirates have lasers.

An excellent list for this show is at TV Tome.
The show also starred Sho Kosugi, one of the few early 80's Oriental actors to make a name for himself in American media.

I think that Sho Kosugi managed to define ninja in the 1980s for moviegoers in a large way.

Check it out. On YouTube there's the highest rated episode of The Master. I'm getting the sweats just waiting for it to load.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XiVxFQ4cyck

Ninjas give my life meaning.

For the win:
Doctor McNinja

My Favourite ever Ninja Fiction is one advertised in the Lord Of The Rings DVD : the Tongan Ninja !!! ( http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0352925/ )
Best movie ever ... at least best NINJA movie ever

Pirates drink rum. Ninja might drink sake. Or, they might abstain, lest alcohol compromise their utter dedication and reflexes/coordination/alertness.

Ninja drink sake. Okinawan ninja drink shouchu. At the new year, they drink toso to ward off evil.

~J

Real Pirates drink banana daiquiris!