| Winter Olympics | |
|---|---|
| Season 1, Episode 1 | |
| |
| Air date | September 12, 1983 (US) |
| Episode guide | |
| Previous N / A |
Next "Monster Lake" |
"Winter Olympics," also known as "Gadget in Winterland," is the pilot episode of Inspector Gadget.
Synopsis
At the opening episode, an announcer describes, "Winterland: A beautiful mountain resort where the world's athletes are gathered for the opening of the Olympic games." Dr. Claw adds from his lair, "...And a perfect opportunity to show the world the supremacy of M.A.D.!".
Out on the slopes, Inspector Gadget (with a mustache) and his dog Brain careen out of control on skis towards a crowd. They somehow avoid catastrophe, but not before Gadget is recognized. He shushes Brain and pleads that he's off-duty. Back at their chalet, Gadget, his niece Penny, and Brain relax until Gadget's boss Chief Quimby alerts him that Dr. Claw is in the area. Sure enough, the iron-gloved villain has sent the M.A.D. Yodeler, a maniacal little man with an avalanche-causing singing voice, to do Gadget in. The detective inadvertently thwarts the little Swiss man's efforts and he sends him running for cover. Next, as an anxious crowd awaits the traditional lighting of the Olympic fire, the inspector has to prevent a M.A.D. agent (who is carrying a torch of dynamite) from sabotaging the opening ceremonies. Claw continues his efforts to get rid of Gadget (as well as Penny and Brain) with a booby-trapped cable car gondola, an out-of-control towline, and an icy waterfall. After these attempts fail, Claw sets loose his Abominable Snowbot, a huge mechanical monster programmed to destroy the Olympic village. Gadget tries to arrest the mechanical beast, but he thrashes him like a rag doll and drags him back to Claw's castle.
Just before the Snowbot is about to crush Gadget like a bug, Penny uses her computer book to short-circuit the monster's controls, so he self-destructs while an angry Claw escapes.
Video
Trivia
- There are 2 versions of the pilot episode: One is the original with Gary Owens as the voice of Gadget, and can only be found on the Magna Pacific DVD release in Australia. The other is the re-dubbed version, with Don Adams voicing Gadget, along with several extra sound effects added. This version is the one heard on reruns and used on American DVD releases.
- The Abominable Snowbot shows up again in Last Case, suggesting he was rebuilt between the events of this episode and the movie.
- Upon the original broadcast date of this episode, DiC received a letter from MGM threatening to sue them because Gadget looked like Inspector Closeau from the Pink Panther cartoons. Because of this, Gadget's stache was removed, starting with the next episode.
- However, the rest of the series was FAR different from the pilot other than the slight mustache removal; Inspector Gadget wasn't...as useful as he was in the pilot, and is more accident prone, and Penny was now the real hero instead of an equal... though it would be assumed that Gadget, Penny and Brain were on vacation; but their vacation was interrupted by Dr. Claw's villianous schemes. Why Gadget was made useless is unknown. Sufficed to say, this pilot might somehow become the basis for the 2015 reboot.
- Prior to being re-worked a bit for the official series, the Pilot first aired as a special on December 4, 1982 on all five Field Communications stations: WFLD-TV Chicago, KBHK-TV San Francisco, WKBD-TV Detroit, WLVI-TV Boston, and WKBS-TV Philadelphia.