Blue Light (TV series)


Blue Light is a 1966 American espionage drama television series starring Robert Goulet and Christine Carère about the adventures of an American double agent in Nazi Germany during World War II. It aired from January 12 to May 18, 1966.
A theatrical movie, I Deal in Danger, was created by editing Blue Lights first four episodes together into a continuous story. I Deal in Danger was released in 1966 after Blue Lights cancellation.

Synopsis

Prior to Nazi Germanys conquest of Europe, the United States places 18 sleeper agents inside Germany, collectively forming an espionage organization called "Code: Blue Light", assigned to penetrate German high command during World War II. Journalist David March is one of them. He presents himself to the Germans as a foreign correspondent who officially renounced his American citizenship and is in Germany to support the Nazis. He is put to work as a writer and broadcaster of Nazi propaganda and occasionally as a spy for Germany. The Germans catch and execute the other 17 Blue Light agents, leaving March the lone survivor. So deep is his cover that except for a few American officials aware of his mission, the world believes him a pro-Nazi traitor, so much so that the woman he loves commits suicide because of his support for Nazism. He must also avoid capture or assassination by Allied intelligence agencies unaware that he in fact works for the Allies.
His confidante, assistant, and contact with the French underground is Suzanne Duchard, herself a double agent posing as a Gestapo officer who hates March. She knows he is a double agent and supports his espionage activities while falling in love with him.
March sees a lot of action and faces moral dilemmas, often choosing between carrying out orders and protecting innocent people. He often kills in order to maintain his cover or to fulfil a mission.

Cast

Production

Except for its first episode, Blue Light was filmed entirely at Bavarian Studios in Munich, West Germany – according to Goulet, the first American television show filmed in color in Europe.
Following the cancellation of Blue Light, its first four episodes, which told a continuous story, were edited together to create a movie. Entitled I Deal in Danger, it was released theatrically in the United States in December 1966 and in other countries in 1967 and 1968.

Episodes

Sources:

Broadcast history

Blue Light premiered on ABC on January 12, 1966. It was cancelled after the broadcast of its seventeenth episode on May 18, 1966. Reruns of the show continued to air in its regular time slot until August 31, 1966. It aired on Wednesday at 8:30 p.m. throughout its run.

Critical reception

Blue Light was violent by the standards of television in the mid-1960s; in situations where other television heroes knocked out guards and other opponents, March knifed them to death. It was credited for its gritty depiction of espionage in World War II and for the difficult moral choices it posed. Best known as a singer rather than an actor, Goulet received good reviews for his believable portrayal of March, and the show was fast-paced, with tight plots that kept moving. It also featured some of the best television character actors of the 1960s as its guest stars. Carère, however, was viewed as a liability for the show, especially in the romantic subplot between her character and Goulets. The shows 30-minute format also worked against it, forcing episode writers to meet time constraints in part by making David Marchs opponents shallow as characters and too easy for him to outwit.