powersroc

This was another entertaining episode of THC.Johnny Rondo(Steve Forest),a former gun-for-hire wants to start a new life with his son(Kurt Russell),one devoid of guns.This episode always struck me as a possible pilot/spin-off for its own TV series.Generally most TV shows do employ the method of having one of their episodes serve as a pilot for a new show.Some succeed,most do not.My other favorite western alongside THC,Laredo,was originally first presented on an episode of The Virginian.Laredo itself had two of their episodes utilized as pilots:One with Jack Lord,pre-Hawaii Five-O,another with the popular singing team of Chad & Jeremy.Star Trek offered Assignment:Earth as a possible spin-off,Maude was first introduced on an episode of All in the Family & The Jeffersons also spun-off from AITF,Good Times from Maude.Its a technique still employed by TV to this day.

This was an intriguing concept to have the villains use a leopard as their hit-man.Although I always wondered as to how the leopard made a clean getaway? I assume the elevator he came up in to reach the Daily Sentinel newsroom wasn't still waiting for him. Later,an outraged zoo keeper confronts reporter Mike Axeford about his article in the newspaper attacking this man's leopard.Other than knowing a leopard killed Mike's friend,how would Mike know the name of this leopard or who owned it? Later on in the gardens at the estate of the villains the leopard is released from its cage to go after Axeford on whom a homing device has been planted which draws the animal to its victims.The Green Hornet & Kato are also in the garden when TGH tells K that the leopard is after Mike. Exactly how did they know this,the leopard could have been after them.I'm not sure that this was the pilot episode as indicated in the trivia section here at IMDb.In the very first TGH episode broadcast(September 09,1966)"The Silent Gun,"the Hornet Sting weapon is oddly missing in this episode.I suspect that this was the pilot for TGH & after viewing it the producers decided he required another high tech weapon besides his gas gun & created the Hornet Sting for him.