Robert McCullough
Questions and Answers - October 21, 2005
Mr. McCullough was the Supervising Producer of Zorro. He also penned many of the scripts for the show. He graciously consented to answer a few questions concerning the show recently.
1. Are there any amusing little incidents that happened during filming that you could share with us?
You have to understand how much time has passed since then...and that I’ve done
a lot of other shows and stuff since then. Amusing? The whole shoot was great
“fun”, to be sure. One of the interesting things about Duncan is that he is a
true, dyed-in-the-wool vegetarian, and the food served on the set always ran to
fabulous beef, chicken and seafood stuff. And here was the star of the show
eating sliced tomatoes and lettuce while the rest of us gorged ourselves at
every meal. One of the principal directors was Ray Austin, a true Brit, and
something of an action-hero sort himself. He was probably 60+ at the time...a
man who had been Cary Grant’s stand-in, a professional stuntman, yet a very
proper Brit through and through. He had a wonderful facility for doing the Cary
Grant voice and demeanor at the oddest times, and kept all of us in stitches
throughout some of the most trying and challenging shooting schedules I’ve ever
experienced. Ray was an excellent director, the complete raconteur, a fine
horseman, swordsman, and....what a flirt!
2. When writing for the show, how much did you have to rewrite and delete
scenes to get the script to fit the format?
Every script went through at the very
least a dozen rewrites. The outlines were always great story-telling fun...and
then we had to get real about what we could actually afford to shoot, how the
stunts would actually be performed (this was all done long before digital
imagery and effects were available to TV productions). And, of course, even the
most pedestrian dialogue scenes were improved and tightened up with constant
editing. After a while, of course, we began to hear Duncan’s pace and meter in
our heads and the writing became much more facile for all of us.
3. Do you know if there are B-rolls, deleted scenes, or gag reels for the
show? (And if there are, how could we fans get our hot little hands on them?)
I think you might have some in your
hot little hands right now!
(Note: Thanks to Mr. McCullough, I do! Dailies and direct-from-film
copies of some episodes! I’m working on getting them organized
and transferred to DVD right now. But fairly soon, these will be available!)
4. What was your favorite episode? Why?
Oh, gosh...I barely remember specific
episodes, to tell you the truth. But my favorite shows would have to involve
those wherein Duncan and Michael Tylo had scenes together; both men are fine,
fine actors...and yet they hardly spoke to one another off-set and out of
character. Perhaps it was just two top guns keeping a distance from one another
out of competitive instincts; perhaps it was the yin-yang of their
characters...and, of course, they are very different people. Duncan is the
ultimately controlled, highly-disciplined artist, a fabulous athlete, poet, and
painter. Michael is the life of the party, a true gadfly, very gregarious, very
boisterous, and a bit of a rabble-rouser. It made for great scenes, writing,
and characterizations. Fave episode? sheesh...maybe...I remember “The Falcon”
well...but there were so many...
5. What would a typical shooting schedule be like for one episode?
Two shows every six days; often
shooting scenes from both episodes on the same day. On the set for first shot
at 7:30 a.m., last shot at 6:00 p.m., one hour lunch, plenty of “tea” breaks,
but mostly just grinding and going as fast as we could. A real demanding
schedule for actors, makeup and wardrobe people.
6. How did you learn of the cancellation of the series?
Don’t really remember...probably got
a phone call from Gary Goodman, the L.A.-based exec producer who simply informed
us that Family Channel was not picking us up.
7. Were any episodes written that were not shot?
Probably less than ten. We wrote and
produced very economically; we actually had a very firm vision and methodology
to writing and production. Most other shows “burn” dozens of scripts over a
four-year run. We did not. We didn’t hire writers who couldn’t deliver, and
any scripts that needed “fixes” were quickly fixed!
8. What were the biggest obstacles of shooting the show?
Budget is always the big bugaboo for
any series. We were also doing most of the writing and editing and casting in
Los Angeles, while the shows were filmed/produced entirely in Madrid, Spain.
And remember, this is before email and internet. We had very clunky modems and
fax machines, but that was about it. Communication was a huge obstacle, as were
transportation and shipping issues. When I think about it, it’s amazing we ever
got it all done given the technology of the time!
9. If there had been another season of the show, what direction would the
storylines have taken?
We certainly would have explored more
of the Alcalde/Zorro conflict and their personal backgrounds. It was just such
fun putting Michael Tylo and Duncan on the same set that it would have been
great to discover that they were, in fact, long-lost brothers or some such.
Prince and the pauper, perhaps. And then there was Don Diego’s love life and
the fact that he seems so...controlled. I would love to have explored his more
passionate side in some way. The best shows and situations always come out of
character developments. And, of course, we would have become much more
aggressive with the action sequences, particularly showcasing Duncan’s
equestrian skills which are formidable.
10. Do you know who actually owns the rights to the show? Apparently this is
hard to determine and this is the reason the show can’t be shown on American
television.
I believe that John Gertz still controls all rights to the Zorro character. The TV series itself is probably controlled by whomever bought out new world television. You could probably Google New World TV, find out who bought them, and go from there. I’m sure the show can, in fact, be aired; it’s just a question of advertiser interest.