Human Target - in Other Media

In Other Media

A television pilot, starring Rick Springfield, was produced in 1990. Springfield starred as Chance, who was now a Vietnam vet as well as a private investigator/bodyguard. In this version, for ten percent of a client's annual income ("whether you're a busboy or the king of England"), Chance would take the client's place and protect his or her life. Philo Marsden (Kirk Baltz) was an eccentric computer genius who helped Chance by designing high-tech masks, and Jeff Carlyle (Sami Chester) was the chauffeur, cook and pilot for Chance's mobile base of operations, the Blackwing (designed by Mike Kaluta). Lilly Page (Signy Coleman) was an ex-CIA agent who helped coordinate Chance's missions. The show was created by Warner Brothers and Pet Fly Productions (producers of The Flash, Viper and The Sentinel), and aired on ABC. Though produced in 1990, the show aired only briefly in 1992 (7 episodes aired in the summer of 1992 although the pilot itself was never aired). The version of the show which aired in 1992 had a slightly different cast from that of the unaired pilot episode. Guest stars included the late David Carradine in the episode entitled "Second Chance".

In November 1991, prior to the show's debut, Chance appeared in his own book, a 48-page one-shot titled The Human Target Special #1, an ostensible tie-in to the television show (the cover advertised that it was "Coming soon to ABC-TV!"), in which Chance and his cohorts protected a DEA agent from harm. It was written by Mark Verheiden, with pencils by Rick Burchett and inks by Dick Giordano.

In February 2009 FOX announced that a new FOX television series was in the works starring Mark Valley, Jackie Earle Haley, and Chi McBride. In May 2009 it was confirmed that FOX had placed an episode order and it would be on their 2009-2010 schedule. The series deviates from the comics version in that Chance assumes nondescript cover identities that keep him close to the "target", rather than taking on the target's identity himself. Human Target debuted on CTV and FOX in January 2010. Fox renewed the show for a second season in May 2010. The show was officially canceled on May 10, 2011 after two seasons.