September 2, 1994<\/p>\n
WEEKEND SUNRISE<\/b><\/p>\n
STEVE HALL<\/i><\/p>\n
Fortune Hunter<\/i><\/b>
\n**Or: James Bond meets virtual reality.<\/i><\/p>\n
In this cartoony, sci-fi, Bondish ripoff premiering at 7 p.m. Sunday on Channel 59, suave secret agent-for-hire Carlton Dial (Mark Frankel) has help from a nerdy couch potato sidekick, Harry Flack (John Robert Hoffman).<\/p>\n
Thanks to the tiny camera in Dial’s contact lenses, Flack can follow Dial in action on a giant TV screen,
\nwhether he’s busting the chops of a bad guy or seducing a mysterious Mata Hari.<\/p>\n
Dial is a former British agent made redundant by the end of the Cold War. To support his expensive lifestyle, he recovers items lost or stolen in international skullduggery.<\/p>\n
Alas, the show’s idea of intrigue is as shallow as a petri dish. In the premiere, Dial goes after a superweapon, Frostfire, in the hands of a corrupt industrialist (Chris Sarandon).<\/p>\n
Dial’s adventures are pedestrian in their familiarity. Who hasn’t seen supersmooth agents outsmart card sharks, bag beauties and save the world while making irreverent wisecracks?<\/p>\n
Sample: A villain realizes Dial isn’t the pickpocket he claims to be.<\/p>\n
“You must think I’m a real idiot,” he says.<\/p>\n
“Oh, I don’t know,” replies Dial. “You could be one of those faux idiots. It’s hard to tell in this light.”<\/p>\n
Groan. Say, Harry Flack, do you think you could get American Gladiators on that big screen?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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