History Trivia / HIGHLANDER

[later]

** ''The Raven'' was a misconception. The showrunners were already burnt-out, and the series was hobbled from the beginning by an uncooperative lead actress and a normie sidekick whom [[CreatorsPest nobody wanted to write for.]]Panzer in particular hated how stodgy the show was in comparison to the hipper Adrian Paul show. He detested the cliffhanger (the aptly-titled "Dead on Arrival") where Nick gets ambushed by "a weirdo wearing a cape" and wielding poison gas-balls. No one has anything positive to say about that ending.

'''Panzer''': ''[wryly commenting]'' I will take my share of the blame. I hope there are others who will stand up next to me.

** FollowUpFailure: ''The Raven'' was mostly a misconception. The showrunners were already burnt-out, and the series was hobbled from the beginning by an uncooperative lead actress and a normie sidekick whom [[CreatorsPest nobody wanted to write for.]]Panzer in particular hated how stodgy the show was in comparison to the hipper Adrian Paul show. He detested the cliffhanger (the aptly-titled "Dead on Arrival") where Nick gets ambushed by "a weirdo wearing a cape" and wielding poison gas-balls. No one has anything positive to say about that ending.

** Nobody has anything kind to say about how ''The Raven'' ended. Panzer in particular hated how stodgy the show was in comparison to the hipper Adrian Paul series, and detested the cliffhanger (the aptly-titled "Dead on Arrival") where Nick gets ambushed by a weirdo wearing a cape and wielding poison gas-balls.
--->'''Panzer''': ''[wryly commenting]'' I will take my share of the blame. I hope there are others who will stand up next to me.

* FollowUpFailure: ''The Raven'' was mostly a misconception. The showrunners were already burnt-out, and the series was hobbled from the beginning by an uncooperative lead actress and a normie sidekick whom [[CreatorsPest nobody wanted to write for.]]
-->'''David Abramowitz''': The character of Amanda was never meant to be a heroic lead. She was always meant to be {{the gadfly}}, the character--the little angel on your shoulder that says, 'Go on, have that extra drink.' 'Go on, put that in your pocket.' 'Go on, sleep with that woman even though you're not married to her. Have a good time!' And to make ''that'' character heroic, you have to twist her and turn her, and [[TomHanksSyndrome it didn't play into Elizabeth's strengths]], which is that kind of bounce and that kind of comic stuff.

* ActorInspiredElement: Creator/ClancyBrown came up with most of the Kurgan's [[LargeHam hamtastic]] and playful personality, as he didn't like how the role was originally written as little more than a boring and emotionless ImplacableMan.

** The original script for the first film was much darker, scarier and more violent than the film that got made. Connor was born in 1408 instead of 1518. He lived with his mother and father. In the draft, Heather (Connor's beloved wife in the film) does not exist; Connor was promised to a young girl named Mara whom he loved with all his heart, but who later rejects him after he becomes immortal. Connor leaves his village instead of being banished. His alias in the draft was Richard Tupin and he used an assortment of swords rather than the katana he took after Ramirez's death in the film. Ramirez was a Spaniard rather than an ancient Egyptian born more than two thousand years earlier. The Kurgan was known as the Knight using the alias Carl Smith. He was not a savage, but a cold blooded killer. Brenda was known as Brenna Cartwright. Other major aspects were later changed during rewrites. Initially, Immortals could have children; in the draft Connor is said to have had 37. The film was originally set in Washington DC and Pennsylvania in the present day rather than New York City. The final showdown took place in a museum.

* DyeingForYourArt: Adrian Paul wore hair extensions in season one. They were painful and hard to maintain, so he grew his hair long for season two through six. He was tired of caring for it by then, so Duncan got an ExpositoryHaircut after Richie died.

* LifeImitatesArt: Tragically. Myles Ferguson, who portrayed child Immortal Kenny, died at the age of 19.

** The cast had such a good time doing the movie, they agreed to film additional scenes details Macleod's relationship with his assistant for free. These scenes were cut from the version shown in theaters; years later, they turned out to be revelation on DVD.

** The opening scene was intended to take place during an NHL hockey match, but the NHL refused to allow the crew to film there because, by the crew's own admission, they were intending to emphasize the violence of the hockey match.

** The cast had such a good time doing the movie, they filmed additional scenes that detail Macleod's relationship with his assistant for free.

** ''The Raven'' had a promising start, but as the series went on, David Abramowitz admitted to mentally checking-out since, despite being billed as a showrunner, [[GodDoesNotOwnThisWorld he had no creative say in the matter]]. On repeated oxcasions, Dennis Berry and other directors criticized the attempts at "RestorationComedy"; they tried telling Gaumont that it was incongruous with The Game.

* ScrewedByTheLawyers: Unfortunately Lambert’s lack of a second appearance also forced the editing-out of Connor in the footage of Little Deer’s funeral, which was filmed for the pilot and reused in “Line of Fire”.

** Duncan and Amanda’s head bump kiss attempt in another episode was also a left in flub. The episode was comedy-heavy and it fit well.

** The writers have indicated that the original idea for Methos' past evil deeds was much less severe, "like he was the Sheriff of Nottingham, not that he was Satan in a blue mask." Peter Wingfield's performance is given credit for pushing them to go darker than they might have otherwise.
** The writers briefly considered having the character of Lymon Kurlow survive his encounter with Duncan out of a desire to continue working with actor/stuntman Anthony De Longis. It was eventually decided that Kurlow was not sufficiently interesting to become a recurring villain, and De Longis later returned as Otavio Consone.

** Duncan's first meeting with Connor was partially-filmed when the producers almost got Christopher Lambert to make a second guest appearance later in the series. But the scene was cut once Lambert turned down the offer. Adrian Paul's reaction shots as Duncan were filmed and included on the DVD extras. Connor and Duncan's first meeting would eventually be featured in ''Film/HighlanderEndgame''.

* YouLookFamiliar: Many guest actors were recycled, e.g. Callum Keith Rennie, who had a bit part in "Eye For An Eye" and was recast as the VillainOfTheWeek in "The Innocent".

** ''The Raven'' had a promising start, but as the series went on, Abramowitz admitted to mentally checking-out since, despite being billed as a showrunner, he had no creative say in the matter. Dennis Berry and other directors criticized the attempts at "RestorationComedy", repeatedly telling Gaumont that it was incongruous with the bloody nature of The Game.

** ''The Raven''. Five failed on-screen auditions and, as we all know, Elizabeth Gracen got the job by default. Claudia Christian (of ''Series/BabylonFive'' fame) was probably one of the strongest tryouts, but she didn't get the role for some reason, either creative or contractual. Abramowitz claimed he auditioned Creator/CarrieAnneMoss for the role, but that Panzer shot it down, saying [[ItWillNeverCatchOn she couldn't act convincingly]].

** ''The Raven'' had a promising start, but as the series went on, Abramowitz admitted to mentally checking-out since, despite being billed as a showrunner, he had no creative say in the matter. Dennis Berry and other directors criticized the attempts at "RestorationComedy", repeating telling Gaumont that it was incongruous with the bloody nature of The Game.

** Lambert wanted to continue the series, and he thought a TV series was a good move. But he himself wasn’t interested in doing a weekly TV series. So when offered a chance to reprise his role as Connor [=MacLeod=], he asked for an obscene amount of money and was turned down. As the series was being developed, it was going to be a direct sequel to the first film; but without Lambert on board, it was decided that Adrian Paul would [[TheOtherDarrin take over the role]] of Connor. Paul pragmatically asked to play his own character, fearing fans would unfavorably compare him to Lambert. The gamble worked and Duncan [=MacLeod=] was created.

** ''The Raven'' had a promising start, but as the series went on, Abramowitz admitted to mentally checking-out since, despite being billed as a showrunner, he had no creative say in the matter. Dennis Berry another directors criticized the attempts at "RestorationComedy", repeating telling Gaumont that it was incongruous with the bloody nature of The Game.

* ExecutiveMeddling: Kenny wasn’t killed because the networks wouldn’t allow a child character to die violently onscreen, even a 1,000-year-old child.

** Lambert wanted to continue the series, and he thought a TV series was a good move. But he himself wasn’t interested in doing a weely TV series. So when offered a chance to reprise his role as Connor [=MacLeod=], he asked for an obscene amount of money and was turned down. As the series was being developed, it was going to be a direct sequel to the first film; but without Lambert on board, it was decided that Adrian Paul would [[TheOtherDarrin take over the role]] of Connor. Paul pragmatically asked to play his own character, fearing fans would unfavorably compare him to Lambert. The gamble worked and Duncan [=MacLeod=] was created.

** There was thought given to finishing the arc of Richie with a movie set about 20 years [[spoiler:after his suppose death]].

** Unfortunately Lambert’s lack of a second appearance also forced the editing out of Connor in the footage of Little Deer’s funeral which was made for the pilot and reused in “Line of Fire”.
** There was thought given to finishing the arc of Richie’s death with a movie set about 20 years later.

* The season five episode with Xavier St Cloud’s apprentice was filmed for season 4 but held over so both seasons would have an equal number of episodes.

** Nobody has anything kind to say about ''The Raven''. Panzer in particular hated how stodgy the show was in comparison to the hipper Adrian Paul series, and detested the cliffhanger (the aptly-titled "Dead on Arrival") where Nick gets ambushed by a weirdo wearing a cape with poison gas balls.

** When the series was first being developed, it was meant to be a direct sequel to the first film, with Adrian Paul taking over the role of Connor [=MacLeod=]. Adrian pragmatically asked to play his own character, fearing fans would unfavorably compare him to Christopher Lambert. It worked and Duncan [=MacLeod=] was created.

-->'''Panzer''': ''[wryly commenting]'' I will take my share of the blame. I hope there are others who will stand up next to me.

-->'''David Abramowitz''': The character of Amanda was never meant to be a heroic lead. She was always meant to be {{the gadfly}}, the character--the little angel on your shoulder that says, 'Go on, have that extra drink.' 'Go on, put that in your pocket.' 'Go on, sleep with that women even though you're not married to her. Have a good time!' And to make ''that'' character heroic, you have to twist her and turn her, and [[TomHanksSyndrome it didn't play into Elizabeth's strengths]], which is that kind of bounce and that kind of comic stuff.

-->'''David Abramowitz''': The character of Amanda was never meant to be a heroic lead. She was laways meant to be {{the gadfly}}, the character--the little angel on your shoulder that says, 'Go on, have that extra drink.' 'Go on, put that in your pocket.' 'Go on, sleep with that women even though you're not married to her. Have a good time!' And to make ''that'' character heroic, you have to twist her and turn her, and [[TomHanksSyndrome it didn't play into Elizabeth's strengths]], which is that kind of bounce and that kind of comic stuff.

###Unbeknown to Bill Panzer or his staff, Elizabeth Gracen had quietly gone off the deep end, believing she was being shadowed by the U.S. government. (This was the real-life reason for Amanda's Annie Lennox makeover: Gracen dropped off the grid for a while before filming and bleached her hair to avoid detection.) Gracen was being fed lies by her new "manager": he claimed to be "the Ambassador to the Cayman Islands from the Vatican", but was actually some kind of grifter.

* All of the prop swords broke at times and multiple copies were always kept on hand. But Richie’s sword was notorious for breaking. Stan Kirsch begged for a new one for several seasons before Richie finally got one in “End of Innocence.” The trouble was that all of Richie’s fight scenes afterward were flashbacks where he used the old sword. The new sword was only able to be used in his fight with Duncan where he died.
* The costumes from “Band of Brothers” actually disintegrated after filming due to the actors rolling around in the sulfur piles the fight was set in.
* Duncan’s barge caught fire in one episode to give an onscreen reason for a name switch caused by an inability to use the original barge in later seasons.
* The abandoned hospital in “Turnabout” was a real closed down former mental hospital.
* Kenny wasn’t killed because the networks wouldn’t allow a child character to die violently onscreen, even an 1000 year old child.

* CreatorBacklash: Nobody has anything kind to say about ''The Raven''. Panzer in particular hated how stodgy the show was in comparison to the hipper Adrian Paul series, and detested the cliffhanger (the aptly-titled "Dead on Arrival") where Nick gets ambushed by a weirdo wearing a cape with poison gas balls.

* IronyAsSheIsCast: Christopher Lambert is very nearsighted and couldn't wear his glasses for the role. He is half-blind throughout his fight scenes.

** According to Russell Mulcahy (though Clancy Brown swears it never happened), when they first shot the scene of The Kurgan bursting through a door to cut the table in half, Brown instead ran in, cut through the candelabra and nearly decapitated Connery. Connery was duming and stomped off the set. Later, Connery returned and Brown apologized, saying he was very nervous.

###Unbeknown to Bill Panzer or his staff, Elizabeth Gracen had quietly gone off the deep end, believing she was being shadowed by the U.S. government. Gracen was being fed lies by her new "manager": he claimed to be "the Ambassador to the Cayman Islands from the Vatican", but was actually some kind of grifter.

-->'''Panzer''': ''[wryly comnenting]'' I will take my share of the blame. I hope there are others who will stand up next to me.