F.A.L.C.O.N.
F.A.L.C.O.N. was a t.v. series (well, two series and several made-for-tv movies) based on a series of pulp novels from the 1940s and 1950s, which were updated and reissued in the late 1970s then again in the 1990s. Each re-issuing has proven successful enough to insure the further survival of the franchise.
F.A.L.C.O.N. stands for Federal Agency, Law-enforcement Coordination and Operations Network. The series (all of them) chronicle the exploits of that agency's operatives as they foil the worst, most exotic, most dangerous criminal materminds and plots. In books, the stories were international in scope, but mostly the t.v. programs limited themselves to adventures that happened inside the NAL.
The two most recurring antagonists were the Presidium--a super-secret cadre of corrupt power brokers--and what was referred to as a "Rogue State." This last was never named, but hints as to its identity were dropped here and there, changing with the times. It was at various time hinted to be Prussia, Russia, Tejas, Louisianne and Florida-Caribbea. Sometimes the Rogue State was said to be allied with the Presidium.
Each F.A.L.C.O.N. team consisted of a leader, a lieutenant, a technical specialist and the equivalent of a highly trained soldier.
The first television series ran from 1968 through 1974 and is still popular in syndication. The leads were Wellington Crane, a sophisticated senior agent, his lieutenant Natasha Felton who was very beautiful and a mistress of disguise, Mike Varney an expert at all things mechanical, and Pawl Gregor an expert in the martial arts.
The second series ran from 1989 through 1972. It was not generally as popular as its predecessor, perhaps because it had a rotating series of team members. On the other hand, it did rais the bar in sheer inventiveness.
Since 1997 a total of three made-for-t.v. films have been made, featuring a two-person team aided by a rotating series of specialists. The regulars are Jessica Kroft a former Olympic gold medalist in archery and Gwilim Nigols the heir to a gigantic shipping fortune who chose to devote his life to fighting crime. Their three adventures were:
- FALCON Hunt The team has to track down a modern-day pirate gang who are using a submersible loaned them by the Rogue State.
- FALCON Flight The team knows a deadly bacterialogical weapon has been stolen and is in the possession of someone aboard a transatlantic airship flight.
- FALCON Shadow The team finds itself facing their own opposite number, an equally skilled team who work for the Presidium.
