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Masquerade

Counterespionage missions utilize the skills of ordinary citizens, including a plumber, a pickpocket, an actor, a flight attendant, a waiter and a washed-up football player. The title tune is sung by Crystal Gayle.

 

Masquerade (1983)

Considered an amalgam of Mission: Impossible and The Love Boat, the tongue-in-cheek series starred Rod Taylor as Mr. Lavender, the leader of "Operation Masquerade", a top-secret branch of American Intelligence that conducts missions using ordinary civilians, recruited for their anonymity and their specialized skills. Two trained field agents, Casey Collins (Kirstie Alley) and Danny Doyle (Greg Evigan) are assigned to chaperone the amateur spies. This concept was identical to Call to Danger, a series concept that had been attempted with two unsuccessful pilot films starring Mission: Impossible's Peter Graves in the 1960s and 1970s.

The Love Boat comparison (frequently used in contemporary reviews of this series) stemmed from the show's casting of a different ensemble of well-known actors each week, much as Love Boat populated its episodes. The first act of every episode depicted the recruitment of a new group of agents, which was invariably followed by a briefing by Mr. Lavender aboard his private plane, ending with Lavender saying, stone-faced: "Welcome to Operation Masquerade".

The series debuted with a 90-minute pilot film and was followed by about a half-dozen episodes before the series was cancelled. This was Kirstie Alley's first television series after her debut in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan the previous year. Country singer Crystal Gayle performed the theme song.

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Alternative Title : [Add An Alternative Title]
Status : Cancelled Edit Status
Running Time : 1 hour
Premiered : December 15, 1983
Date Ended : April 27, 1984
Number of Episodes : 14
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Language : English
TV Station : ABC
Country : United States
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Genre : Adventure, Thriller, Action

Tags : Spy, Style