(ABC Primetime, 1966 - 1967) [based upon the radio series which began in 1936, the premise was that of another crime-fighting duo which was, oddly enough, related to "The Lone Ranger"; Since George Trendle was the radio station owner who owned both series, this had a natural if far-fetched explanation -- the Green Hornet was a masked man whose alter-character was named Britt Reid -- who was the Grand-nephew of John Reid, the alter-character known also as "The Lone Ranger", which see; The Green Hornet's faithful companion was named Kato; he was a young oriental man, not unlike Tonto -- the Lone Ranger's faithful Indian companion (and not unlike Batman's Robin); The popularity of the camp-humoured TV series "Batman" (66-68) may have had something to do with the experiment to bring The Green Hornet to television; but it lasted only one season; Bruce Lee, who made his debut playing Kato, went on to become a major martial-arts star after the demise of this short-lived show.]
[above is the title as filed for copyright; The THEME had an original melody but integrated the original tune with "The Flight Of The Bumble Bee" -- the famous semi- classical novelty which had also been the THEME of the Green Hornet radio series for decades; May's arrangement featured the slower original melody; and hence was given a copyright of its own even though it incorporated the fast moving classical ditty by Rimsky-Korsakov (see below).] Composer/Adapter: music by Billy May (ASCAP/BMI) [professional name of Edward William May Jr.] Original Publisher: Hastings Music, Inc. (BMI) 1994 Publisher: EMI Catalogue Partnership (BMI) 2001 Publisher: EMI Hastings Music, Inc. (BMI) c/o EMI Music Publishing, of New York, NY Copyright Date: Sep. 13, 1966; EU 954 671. Renewal Date: Sep. 23, 1994; RE-678-881. Recordings:
[this famous semi-classical novelty piece extracted from a Russian opera, had also been the THEME of the radio series.] Composer: Nikolai Andreyevitch Rimsky-Korsakov (predates ASCAP & BMI) Original Publisher: Vasili Bessel & Co., St. Petersburg, Russia [as per "The Book of World-Famous Music" by James J. Fuld] 2001 Publisher: [in the public domain] Composition Date: 1899 - 1900 First Publication Date (of the opera): Sep. 28, 1900. [as per "The Book of World-Famous Music" by James J. Fuld] Recordings: