The Killer Who Wouldn't Die
                                                                              
Director: William Hale
Year: 1976
Rating: 6.0
The Killer Who Wouldn't Die was a pilot of a TV show that was not picked up. A little surprising because it is pretty solid for this sort of thing back in the 70s and had a big TV star - Krekor Ohanian. Ohanian was the name of the character as well. You might know him better as Mike Connors who starred in Mannix for eight years from 1967 to 1975.  Connors said he hated the name that was given to him but it stuck to him and so finally getting to use his real name - Armenian, not Irish - if only as a character pleased him. Mannix was a big success and only ended because of some studio troubles. To some degree Mannix was the kickoff of the turn of TV from Westerns to cop shows that dominated the 1970s with shows like Rockford, Kojak, Harry-O, Hawaii 5-0, Barnaby Jones, Columbo, Cannon, Streets of San Francisco and many others. No one ever called TV original. It is one of my favorite periods of TV and I still watch them at times. But this wasn't picked up - perhaps the fad was dying or it felt too much like Harry O.



Ohanian is an ex-cop who now runs a boat charter service. His shop is run by the wife (Mariette Hartley) of a friend of his and an older Armenian is his co-pilot. His wife died a few years before in a car bomb meant for him (hmm Monk?). Keller, an old football college friend pops up out of nowhere played by Clu Gulager and you instinctively don't trust him. I never trust him in anything. A voice that is very distinct and grates because of that. Ohanian gets a call from his friend - husband of Hartley - to come see him. He tells Ohanian that he is actually in the CIA and suspects one of his men of having a sideline as a hitman and tells him "27" before he is shot dead. 27 was the call for Keller to go over tackle. He knows now why his old friend came to visit and tells him he will get him. Maybe not the smartest thing to tell a hitman.



Keller fakes his death and catches a cargo ship to Hawaii where 5-0 is sadly not being run by McGarrett (which was still on TV) but by Patrick O'Neal. Ohanian figures out the ploy and is right behind him. He zeroes in on one of the passengers on the boat - Samantha Eggar - who contacts James Shigeta who has a pit of poisonous snakes - there appears to be a conspiracy to kill a Mainland Chinese official played by Philip Ahn. There are a few suspenseful sequences and a couple good slugfests. Connors was known for doing most of his stunts. He actually played basketball under John Wooden at UCLA. A nice cast they put together - but to no avail. Connors got one more shot at a TV series in 1981 - Today's FBI - but it only lasted a season.