91 episodes
The Equalizers The Equalizers
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- TV & Film
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5.0 • 4 Ratings
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The Equalizer aired on CBS from 1985 to 1989. It inspired two Denzel Washington movies and a reboot with Queen Latifah, but the original series with Edward Woodward is largely forgotten (It can be streamed on nbc.com or the NBC Roku app. Your move, Peacock). In a perfect world, it would receive all the nostalgic love of your MacGyver, your Magnum PI, your A Team, your Knight Rider. The premise - a retired special agent puts an ad in the paper to help those who feel the odds are against them (take that, paper clips and talking cars). Never heard of it? Not a problem. Vince, Chris, and Chuck take a deep dive into the show one episode at a time - incredibly absurd plots, well-known guest stars in every episode (sometimes 4 or 5!), and all other aspects of this show that make it a true hidden gem.
Note: This is pure episodic TV, very few larger plots and themes, so no need to listen in order. This podcast, like say the celebrated show Parks+Rec, had a gestation period, and our full crew kicked in on season 1 episode 16, so you might want to skip ahead.
Photo Credit: Bill Heck
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The Caper
The Equalizer Season 4 Episode 18: The Caper
Aired on CBS: May 4, 1989
Directed by: Alan Metzger
Written by : Tom Towler
Featuring: Maureen Stapleton, Laura San Giacomo, Zach Grenier, Michael Wincott
A lighter episode of The Equalizer. Yes there's still some grisly violence but this time that's paired up with a lighter mystery plot, a diamond heist, and a spunky new sidekick for Robert McCall. EQ is helping out Mrs. Rutherford (Maureen Stapleton), an older woman who's witnessed a murder and whose head is otherwise in the clouds from all the cheap mystery novels she reads. And she insists on a female bodyguard, so on Mickey's recommendation EQ enlists the help of Trudy Collins (Laura San Giacomo) who looks straight out of Desperately Seeking Susan. All that plus a mystery plot twist and a rather gratuitous strip club scene. Chris and Chuck dig deep into the episode as well as into the Florentine Diamond, Indy 500 pace cars, and the Kinsey report.
@equalizerspod
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Prisoners of Conscience
The Equalizer Season 4 Episode 17: Prisoners of Conscience
Aired on CBS: April 27, 1989
Directed by: Marc Laub
Written by : Robert Eisele
Featuring: Tony Plana, Pat Hingle, Dan O'Herlihy, Tim Woodward (Edward's son!)
Another Equalizer episode with international intrigue. Whereas last week dealt with Bulgarian ambassadors, this time we got a team of torturers in town working for the Chilean government. But as with every Equalizer episode, the creators add some additional, crazy intrugue of their own: The head torturer (Randall Payne) just happens to be the same man who killed Robert McCall's father; we get a flashback/dream sequence with the Equalizer talking to his father, played by Edward Woodward's real life son Tim Woodward; plus the torture sequences have less polish than our 21st century sensibilities are accustomed to, so that's kinda weird. Chris and Chuck go deep on Chilean history, pronounce "Pinochet" in every way possible, and salute Robert Lansing for his final appearance as Control.
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Time Present, Time Past
The Equalizer Season 4 Episode 16: Time Present, Time Past
Aired on CBS: April 20, 1989
Directed by: Gordon Hessler
Written by : Tom Towler
Featuring: William Zabka, Shirley Knight, Brian Bedford, Dennis Boutsikaris
A big episode for the larger Equalizer through-story: First, the second appearance of Kay: Equalizer's ex-wife and Scott's mother. Shirley Knight got a Best Guest Actress Emmy nomination for her "You were never there for us... and now look what you've done: Scott's been kidnapped by the Bulgarian Embassy" scenes with Edward Woodward. Secondly, this episode is a series wrap for William Zabka, and what a way to go: a training montage, thwarting the Bulgarians, losing his innocence, listening an opera album on headphones. It's a tour de force. And then the action itself - brotherly strife between two Bulgarian spies by two veteran guest stars of the show - packs a punch and checks off one more country whose spies the Equalizer has taken head on.
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Starfire
The Equalizer Season 4 Episode 15: Starfire
Aired on CBS: April 13, 1989
Directed by: Bradford May
Written by : Robert Eisele
Featuring: Michael Moriarty, George Plimpton, Wendell Pierce, Angela "you're what the french call les incompetents" Goethals
Equalizer episode or early precursor to the X-Files? Another superlative episode, the most sci-fi episode to date. This one reinforces once again that audiences have no idea what to expect when they sit down to watch an Equalizer episode. EQ helps a man who calls himself Seti (nudge nudge, UFO nerds) who believes he is part of a large cosmic battle but who is for real being targeted by assassins. That would be enough but this episode just keeps giving - Bunk from The Wire as a psychologist monitoring this odd alien guy; a spacey kaleidoscope; some budget 80s special effects; and another odd inclusion of a young girl in trouble (Angela Goethals not long before Home Alone). Is the show hinting that UFOs are real? Are they in fact real? Chris and Chuck provide conclusive answers to that question and many more in this can't-miss episode.
@equalizerspod
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17 Zebra
The Equalizer Season 4 Episode 14: 17 Zebra
Aired on CBS: April 6, 1989
Directed by: Alan Metzger
Written by : Jacqueline Zambrano
Featuring: William Atherton, Cordelia González, Joe Seneca, Robert Joy
Just like other epic shows like The Sopranos or Breaking Bad, we at this Equalizer podcast have a different schedule for the second half of our final season. In our case, what has usually been a weekly show is now... every month or so. But like Gideon's army of three hundred against the Midianites, we are charging ahead with trumpets blaring. And 17 Zebra is a doozy of an episode to come back to: legendary Equalizer guest William Atherton (jerk from Real Genius, Die Hard, Ghostbusters) stars as an esteemed paramedic who is so fed up with the drunks, winos, and junkies he picks up that he starts killing them! If that wasn't enough, we go deep on every Bible verse McCall tosses around. Just like a prayer we will take you there, listeners.
@equalizerspod
equalizerspodcast at gmail dot com
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Lullaby of Darkness
The Equalizer Season 4 Episode 13: Lullaby of Darkness
Aired on CBS: March 30, 1989
Directed by: David Jackson
Written by : Coleman Luck
Featuring: Stephen Lang, Ellen Latzen, Mary-Joan Negro, Vivian Nathan, Jacqueline Brookes
Stephen Lang - the villainous Colonel Miles Quaritch in Avatar - is similarly evil in this one, though his victims aren't the Na'vis but rather his character's own wife and daughter. Like most episodes dealing with ugly topics, the viewpoint of the show is good but the execution gets uncomfortable, being from 1989 and all. Shaking up the episode: a) Lang's character takes out a restraining order against the Equalizer (future EQ villains take note) b) the daughter escapes into her imagination along with her old/creepy/evil dolls, making this the most that The Equalizer has ever dipped into the fantasy genre. We wouldn't say it's the easiest Equalizer episode to watch, but of course we're established professionals so this podcast episode goes down easy as always.
@equalizerspod
equalizerspodcast at gmail dot com
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Customer Reviews
these three are the best together
I love this podcast. It's so much fun to hear these guys mock or cheer or appreciate the vengeful justice of the equalizer. It's such a weird show that could have only been made in the 80s.
And only these three can review it. Scene by scene. Don't stop. I have a problem and I need your podcast.