Stingray (NBC TV series)

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This article is about the NBC TV series. For the ITV series, see Stingray (TV series).

Stingray is the name of a short-lived NBC television series produced by Stephen J. Cannell that ran from 1986 to 1987. It starred Nick Mancuso, who played the mysterious character known only as Ray, whose trademark was a black 1965 Chevrolet Corvette Sting Ray.

Ray, who lives in Southern California, devotes his time to helping those who are in trouble, much like New York City's Robert McCall in CBS's contemporary but longer-running and more popular series The Equalizer. Ray's background is even more shadowy than McCall's. All that is known about him is that, like McCall, he advertises surreptitiously in newspapers, ostensibly offering a "'65 black Stingray for Barter Only" and including a telephone number (555-7687); those wishing to enlist his services, presumably having learned the ad's real meaning by word of mouth, can call him for help.

Ray does not charge money for his help; instead, he extracts a promise from his client in advance that the client will repay Ray in the future by performing a favor, perhaps easy, perhaps difficult, upon Ray's request. As the series begins, Ray has apparently extracted this promise from many previous clients; this allows him to call in a variety of favors during the series to help his current clients. In one episode, for instance, when he poses as a doctor and is called upon, as part of his cover, to perform surgery, he calls in a favor from a former client who is a physician; the former client secretly takes Ray's place in the operating room and performs the surgery. In this respect the programme not unlike the even shorter lived Vengeance Unlimited.

Ray is a skilled driver and accomplished martial artist, and is excellent at covering his tracks and hiding his real identity. On several occasions, clients and government authorities believe that they have discovered who he really is, but in the end they find that they are mistaken. Often it seems that Ray either is or was affiliated with a secret government agency, perhaps the CIA, but this is never conclusively proven. When the license plate for his Stingray is run through a computer it lists many different addresses and owners. Two of the most notable were "1600 Pennsylvania Ave., Washington, DC", the address of the White House, and the motor pool for the Governor of California.

While apparently possessing many of the elements for a good action/adventure show, the series never won high ratings and was cancelled shortly after its introduction. The series also had a very distinctive, slick and contemporary style, in which music (by veteran TV composers Mike Post and Pete Carpenter) played a large part. In addition to frequent quick-cutting of visuals in time with the incidental music, the show also inserted music video style interludes, complete with purpose-built "pop songs" sung by (usually) semi-obscure pop and rock vocalists (for example, David Pack singing "Signs of Human Error" in the episode Playback).

[edit] Trivia

All 1963-1967 Corvettes carried the additional "Sting Ray" (two words) moniker. It was not an option; Chevrolet just expanded the name. The name was dropped with the newly redesigned 1968 model but returned again in 1969 as "Stingray" (one word) and was used until 1976.

[edit] Episode list

Airdate	Ep.#	Episode Title
1985-07-14	pilot	“Stingray” (2-hour pilot)
1986-03-11	1-01	“Ancient Eyes”
1986-03-25	1-02	“Ether”
1986-04-01	1-03	“Below the Line”
1986-04-08	1-04	“Sometimes You Gotta Sing the Blues”
1986-04-15	1-05	“Abnormal Psych”
1986-04-29	1-06	“Orange Blossom”
1986-05-06	1-07	“Less than the Eye Can See”
1986-05-13	1-08	“That Terrible Swift Sword”
1987-01-09	2-01	“The Greeter”
1987-01-16	2-02	“Gemini”
1987-01-23	2-03	“Playback”
1987-01-30	2-04	“Bring Me the Hand That Hit Me”
1987-02-06	2-05	“Echoes”
1987-02-20	2-06	“The First Time Is Forever”
1987-02-27	2-07	“Autumn”
1987-03-06	2-08	“The Neniwa”
1987-03-20	2-09	“The Second Finest Man Who Ever Lived”
1987-03-27	2-10	“Night Maneuvers”
1987-04-03	2-11	“Cry Wolf”
1987-04-10	2-12	“Blood Money”
1987-04-17	2-13	“Anytime, Anywhere”
1987-05-01	2-14	“Caper”
1987-05-08	2-15	“One Way Ticket to the End of the Line”