Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, July 10, 1993 TAG: 9307100318
SECTION: SPECTATOR PAGE: S-10 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: HARRIET WINSLOW THE WASHINGTON POST
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The Searcher, that's who.
And Diedrich Bader is The Searcher, one of the stars of Fox's "Danger Theatre" (Sunday at 7:30 p.m. on WJPR-Channel 21/27), a new summer series spoofing the invincible stars of the action-adventure shows that proliferated during the 1970s and '80s.
"The idea is that action heroes are so incredibly unrealistic, anything could happen to them, and they could be fine," he said.
Think of the indefectible leading men of "The Equalizer," "The Hitchhiker," "Hawaii Five-0," "Knight Rider" and "Miami Vice."
"They were never really hurt," Bader said, "because basically they were cartoon figures, but they've been handed to us as real human beings with hearts of gold."
Fox's new series will make light of past and current action shows that ask viewers to swallow a lot.
The force behind "Danger Theatre" is co-producer Penelope Spheeris, director of the film "Wayne's World" and of the upcoming "Beverly Hillbillies," for which she cast Bader as dippy Jethro Bodine.
"The Searcher" is one of two series that make up the tongue-in-cheek show. The other is called "Tropical Punch," starring Adam "Batman" West. The two scenarios will share the half-hour slot, sometimes getting a whole episode each. Robert Vaughn hosts both.
The Searcher, Bader said, is a "finder of lost loves," a spoof of the "MacGyver" or "Magnum, P.I." type of hero who is continually banged up chasing suspects, then bounces back as though made of rubber. Fires rage, cars crash, knives fly and still the unfazed Searcher goes about his private-eye work, speaking in hushed tones with one eyebrow raised.
At 6 feet 2, the swarthy, 25-year-old Bader physically fits his part. As The Searcher, he sports a continual three-day beard growth and raises his left eyebrow roguishly at the slightest bemusement.
Bader's first break came when he was attending North Carolina School of the Arts on a full scholarship. While on vacation in Santa Fe, N.M., with his parents, he met a casting director at a dinner party. From this chance meeting, he landed the lead in an ABC pilot called "Long Arm."
"I got this thing when I was on vacation, which was a total lark absolutely. And then I went back to school, and the deans had changed and the new one really hated me. I was the youngest person in my class by about two or three years, and I was really, really wild at that time."
He left college in his junior year and headed for New York City, sleeping on friends' floors. He stayed for about a month and then "bit the bullet and moved out to Los Angeles and did the TV thing. The first year it was hard, but I made a living in TV. I've been on 21 or 22 shows; I've been on every network."
After a succession of guest parts he got a role in "Quantum Leap" that finally gave his career the push it needed: He met the show's supervising producer, Robert Wolterstorff, who would later executive-produce "Danger Theatre" with Spheeris.
On the "Leap" episode, Bader played a leather-jacketed hood, a Marlon Brando sort of character, in a story called "Leader of the Pack." He found he enjoyed working with series star Scott Bakula, he said, "because he had great respect for actors."
Bader said stars are seldom trained actors, "and they are so insecure about their acting abilities that they tend to insult and degrade actors continuously. Writers have nothing but contempt for you, and producers - it's an awful world to be in, because they are so frustrated with the stars that they take it out on the guest stars."
Bader's very deep voice and mature good looks didn't help either, he said. "I would've had a much easier time of it if I had looked like I was in high school and my voice was much higher than it is. Mature roles are really, really hard to get when you're 20 or 21 years old."
Bader worked as a security guard, a waiter, a lifeguard and a handyman as he learned how insecure the acting profession can be.
Tired of playing guest stars, Bader said "Danger Theatre" came just at the right time. "I was so jaded and so dying to get out of Los Angeles, I made fun of everybody I auditioned for. Sometimes I even got the job if I was doing it tongue-in-cheek - a total satire of what they wanted."
by CNB