By Jonathan Klotz
| Published
After Hercules and Xena became massive hits on syndication, some of the networks wanted to try their hand at the cheesy fantasy adventure genre. None tried as hard as the cable network TNT.
Instead of Greek mythology, the network decided to bring one of the most legendary heroes to life with The New Adventures of Robin Hood. If you remember watching it, there’s a very good chance it’s because of the infamous marketing stunt featuring Hulk Hogan that tricked viewers into watching the first episode.
The Infamous Robin Hood Match
TNT wanted a huge number for the premiere of The New Adventures of Robin Hood, and at the time, WCW Monday Nitro was the hottest show on cable. This was thanks to a few months earlier, when Hulk Hogan formed the NWO and all of a sudden, pro-wrestling was cool.
On January 13, 1997, 12 days before they would clash at the NWO Souled Out Pay Per View, “Hollywood” Hulk Hogan and The Giant (Paul Wight) had a match, but it was only going to air during the commercial breaks for the new series. For over 30 minutes, during the breaks, fans were treated to the “live” match, which in reality only lasted around nine minutes but was edited to seem longer and keep fans watching.
Derided as “The Robin Hood” match in wrestling fan circles for decades, it was an embarrassing stunt for both the network and WCW (both of which were owned by Ted Turner). No one has tried a promotion tactic as misleading and manipulative since.
The New Adventures of Robin Hood didn’t retain much of that initial audience, but those who stuck around for the next four seasons were able to enjoy a deliberately cheesy, corny, low-budget, but incredibly fun take on the English legend.
A Campy Series That Knew What It Was
It starred Matthew Porretta as Robin Hood, which is notable since he played Will Scarlet in the Mel Brooks parody Robin Hood: Men in Tights.
The New Adventures of Robin Hood wasted no time in introducing magic weapons, monsters, witches, aliens, and eventually, time travel. Casting Warwick Davis as Big John was a clue as to the show’s tone. It sounds like it shouldn’t have worked, and it didn’t, but that was a large part of the show’s charm.
Adapting the Hercules and Xena formula for Robin Hood included doing episodes that were homages to different movies. These included The Seven Samurai, a Predator-style hunt in the jungle in Season 4 and the Season 2 episode, “Outlaw Express,” that resembles Face/Off with Robin and his evil double. Of course, there’s also the time loop Groundhog Day-style episode and one with Elvis being sent back in time to Sherwood Forest.
The New Adventures of Robin Hood started getting very strange after it made the switch from TNT to syndication in Season 3.
That change is also partly why the series is impossible to watch today, as not only is it not on streaming, but only the first season was ever released on DVD. If it weren’t for Matthew Porretta’s YouTube channel in which he’s posted videos talking about his time making the series, The New Adventures of Robin Hood might have faded away completely.
There’s always hope that the series will appear on a service somewhere; after all, The Drew Carey Show made it to streaming this year for the first time ever, but until then, explaining the time Robin Hood met Elvis will make you sound crazy.