Synopsis
The movie and subsequent series follow the adventures of "The Highwayman", one of a mysterious group, presumably of U.S. Marshals, conducting crime-fighting missions and solving bizarre mysteries. Each Highwayman in this group is equipped with a high-tech, multi-function truck.
The pilot movie used a different opening narration, also voiced by William Conrad:
They say he came into this world from someplace off the clock.
And his mother was an ice-cold wind; his pa a fiery rock.
It's told that on some starless nights his rig could up and glow,
And folks who say they saw it coming swear they didn't see it go.
Now you hear a lot of legends told when you ride the long hard slab,
From some who say the man is good and some who say he's bad.
But all agreed who've ever tried to play a cheatin' hand;
You only get one chance to draw against "The Highwayman."
Most crimes in our society begin or end on some stretch of road, where laws often terminate at county lines. Combatting these legal blackouts is a new breed of lawman; working the fringes of society's frontiers, and known simply as 'Highwaymen.'
This is the story—and the legend—of one such man: The Highwayman.
The 1987 pilot movie starred Sam J. Jones. The lead character is more mysterious than any of the other Highwaymen in that his real name is never revealed (he is only known as "The Highwayman" or "Highway"). He drives a large, black, computerized truck with a bullet-shaped cabin, which is the nose of a concealed helicopter (an Aérospatiale Gazelle) which can detach from the rest of the truck. The truck can also operate in "stealth mode" to become invisible. A concealed futuristic sports car can emerge from the truck's rear. Some elements of the futuristic dashboard design were re-used from Knight Rider.
Claudia Christian co-starred as the Highwayman's liaison, Dawn, and Stanford Egi as technical wizard Mr. Toto. The pilot was retitled Terror on the Blacktop when shown as a stand-alone TV movie.
After the 1987 pilot film, only Jones returned for the weekly series. The retooling of the premise eliminated the truck's "stealth mode", which was never mentioned again. The Highwayman was joined by a new sidekick, Australian outback survival expert "Jetto," played by Mark "Jacko" Jackson; Jane Badler as the Highwayman's "boss", Ms. Tania Winthrop, and Tim Russ as D.C. Montana, who was responsible for the maintenance and modifications to the vehicles. The show was also filmed entirely on location in the American Southwest. Unusually, the show even switched production companies (the pilot was the last co-production between Glen Larson Productions and Twentieth Century Fox Television, the series was independently produced by Larson's New West Entertainment). (The name "D.C. Montana" is a pun on the name of D.C. Fontana, famed TV script writer who worked on many shows including Star Trek.)
After Jetto's truck, which was identical to the Highwayman's, was destroyed in the first episode, "Road Ranger", he is given his own, unique truck, the front half of which can separate into a futuristic car. The truck was later used in the first episode of Power Rangers Time Force.
Although the organization shares elements with that of "F.L.A.G." (the Foundation for Law and Government) from Knight Rider, it shares more with the mysterious "Firm" from the original three seasons of Airwolf. The exact organization that the Highwayman and Jetto work for is never revealed in any great depth. Highwaymen seem to have extra-legal powers that occasionally cause conflict with the local police.
With much of the series featuring the Highwayman (and/or Jetto) driving their trucks along vast stretches of desert road, there are heavy modern-Western overtones to many episodes. With the hybrid vehicles and weaponry, and the ordinary police unable to deal with many fragments of society, and the overall tone of the series, many of the episodes have a vaguely post-apocalyptic feel to them.
Despite its short run, the series was broadcast in various other countries including Germany, France, Italy, Mexico, The Philippines, South Africa, Pakistan and the United Kingdom.
The original Highwayman truck (the one with the Gazelle helicopter cab) was designed and built by Jon Ward. It was restored and currently owned by a mobile tattoo service called 'Highwayman Ink' in Sulphur Springs, Texas.
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