Sea Hunt

There's an awful lot of pew, pew, pew in it.

Starring Lloyd Bridges, who people knew on television from Sea Hunt, the aquatic action series that he was in.

We'll get to the bottom of everything.

And I'm telling you what, there are a lot of huge TV people in this program.

Yeah?

Paul, I've been watching Sea Hunt.

Oh.

Mike Nelson.

Yeah.

Don't dive without a buddy.

Dude, all I can think of is following, I don't know, was it you or Barry? Following you on, on our bellies with our socks half off playing Sea Hunt.

[laughs]

We celebrate the sea and those that protect us from it, from ourselves and from the Pacific Ocean.

We celebrate lifeguards, Coast Guard, Navy men, Harbor Patrol, the policia, and of course, Mike Nelson, the great character by Lloyd Bridges in Sea Hunt.

Sharks are good for one thing: an argument.

[laughs]

[laughs]

Marineland of the Pacific.

That's where they shot Sea Hunt all those years.

That's why you can go to Nelson's Bar down there by the water, and people s- and there's pictures of Lloyd Bridges everywhere, and Sea Hunt paraphernalia everywhere, and people still can't figure it out because they're so stupid.

Browning would reprise his underwater role for the two Creature from the Black Lagoon sequels, the only actor to portray the Gill-Man in all three films.

After the Creature series of films, Browning became the stuntman and underwater director for the TV show Sea Hunt, working with producer Ivan Tors.

He's quite a guy, very sharp.

And, uh, we did a third year of Sea Hunt at Silver Springs and shot all the episodes for that year.

And, uh, I was hired to just be the bad guy, and I would fight Courtney Brown, who was the double for Lloyd Bridges, in just about every scene.

And I had to wear different bathing suits, different hair and makeup, either go as a blonde or a brunette or wear a hood.

I enjoyed it very much.

And, uh, we, we then moved to, to Nassau and shot the remaining couple of years of Sea Hunt over there.

That means eliminating fossil fuel emissions, establishing ms-- marine protected areas, ending destructive fishing practices, stop mining, drilling, and spilling, keep plastic and other pollutants out of our waters, rebuild wetlands, oyster reefs, kelp forests, and the living defenses that help protect coastlines.

I'm not expecting a return to the ocean I grew up with, watching Sea Hunt on a black-and-white television.

That was a different world with five billion fewer people and more room for wilderness and wildlife.

Nostalgia won't bring that back.

Productions.

They were originally based out of Nassau, but they would film at, like, the Miami Seaquarium, uh, when they did, uh, Sea Hunt starring Lloyd Bridges.

They would do the underwater, you know, diving scenes.

Um, Rico Browning, uh, famous for being the Creature from the Black Lagoon, had, uh, moved down to, uh, Miami by that point, and he, uh, played, like, the heavy, um, on a bunch of episodes, uh, for Sea Hunt.

And he ended up building a pretty close relationship, uh, with Tors.

So, um, over time, uh, Tors became more and more invested in not having to go back and forth between Nassau and just staying in, in Miami.

So he ends up establishing a studio named Ivan Tors Studio.

And, um, it was about that same time that Browning, kinda looking for a new line of work after the, uh, Creature series ended, Sea Hunt finishes its run, and, uh, he had an idea for a, uh, children's story, um, about a boy and his dolphin that he, uh, pitched as, uh, Lassie on the Water.

We honor the greatness of our friends in the Coast Guard, the Navy, Harbor Patrol, the police, the Sheriff's Office, which Mike is trying to join in Orange County.

And most of all, the spirit of the great Mike Nelson, played by Lloyd Bridges in Sea Hunt.

My name is Mike Nelson.

Last month I was called to Florida.