Do You Remember “The Wizard”?

{image via Michael Berk & the David Rappaport Estate}

Back in 1986, there was a short-lived but fun show called The Wizard. Do you remember it? The show starred the late David Rappaport as Dr. Simon McKay, aka the Wizard of Elm Street. He was a toymaker who had multiple adventures and misadventures with his live-in bodyguard, CIC Agent Alex Jagger, played by Douglas Barr (Howie Munson in The Fall Guy) Prior to devoting himself to making toys, he’d been a weapons analyst for the Pentagon. He was a genius inventor, having patented his first invention when he was seven or eight.

“Although only four feet tall, Simon McKay is a genius who has developed toys, devices for the handicapped, and secret inventions for the government. To protect him, the government assigned Alex Jagger to protect him from being kidnapped by a foreign power. The pair travels all over the globe during their adventures. Written by J.E. McKillop <jack-mckillop@worldnet.att.net>” from The Wizard’s IMDB page

The Wizard is not currently available on DVD. However, a small group of fans who still remember the show are trying to get 20th Century Fox to release it on DVD.

The 80s were the age of the “Buddy Show” — two men who seemingly had nothing in common become the best of friends and have adventures together, often but not always solving mysteries together: Tenspeed and Brownshoe, The Master, Ralph and Bill in The Greatest American Hero, Michael and Kitt in Knight Rider, Miami Vice, etc.

Simon and his bodyguard quickly became bosom buddies (sorry, that was a different show). Alex protected or rescued Simon multiple times. They lived together, ate together (Simon’s housekeeper, Tillie Russell, was a culinary genius, played by the late Fran Ryan). They had adventures together.

Like the recently cancelled The Librarians, The Wizard celebrated imagination and intelligence. There was enough action to generate excitement, but never excessive gore. The show was family-suitable.

David Rappaport was a musician in real life, and his skill as a drummer was worked into the show. Simon played the drums when he needed to think (even though the noise drove his housemates crazy).

Simon’s parents tried to make him grow up young, and his theory re childhood was “better late than never,” which was why he had a major sweet tooth and played with toys. He was apprenticed as a cabin boy on a freighter out of Liverpool to help him grow up,

“When my parents realized I was never going to grow big, they decided I’d need to grow up, and fast. So they apprenticed me onto a tramp freighter when I was seven. When the other kids were going down slides and kicking a ball, I was sailing from Liverpool to Singapore, fetching and carrying every mile of the way.”

What TV shows do you remember that everyonr else except the producer’s mother has forgotten?