Spider-Noir Was Not Nicolas Cage’s First TV Show – This Was…

Having just finished Spider-Noir (and thoroughly enjoyed it), I felt the need to read a few reviews of the show to see if my opinion matched with those of the critics.  It did – Spider-Noir is widely considered an entertaining and visually unique show, with a distinct and very stylish noir aesthetic.  However, several of the reviews stated that this was Nicolas Cage’s first TV show – something that isn’t quite correct…

In fact, Cage has dipped his toe in to TV waters once or twice over the years, most notably taking a co-starring role in 1981’s The Best of Times.  At that time, he was billed as Nicolas Coppola (his real name). It was broadcast by ABC on July 13, 1981 – and as it was a TV Pilot, it was most likely shot a few months earlier. As Nicolas Cage was born on January 7, 1964, this means he was 17 years old at the time of broadcast and was probably 17 during filming as well (assuming filming took place in spring 1981).  

The show chronicles the everyday adventures and mishaps of a group of teenagers, with each actor playing a character bearing their own first name.  As such, the young Nicolas Coppola played Nick, the sporty one.  Whenever there is an opportunity to appear shirtless, the young Nicolas takes it (to be fair to him, that was probably a director’s decision). 

An early scene shows him air-boxing and referencing Sylvester Stallone’s famous scene in Rocky, where Balboa trains by punching sides of beef hanging in a meat locker (perhaps surprisingly, they never appeared together in a movie, although there has been occasional fan speculation about Cage appearing in later Expendables films).   However, he also gets to try out his acting chops in a more serious monologue, where he talks about “this here El Salvador thing” and worries about being drafted.

Here's the "Best of Nicolas Cage" from the TV pilot, including his monologue.

Tonally, this makes this TV pilot a bit of a mess.  It is no wonder that it was not picked up for a full series, as it is little more than a variety show with a vague attempt to weave in a plot between the musical numbers and various painfully unfunny teenage antics.  Cage does stand out though, his dramatic comedy-beefcake entrance doing one-armed push-ups at the beach is a lot of fun. He's obviously ecstatic to be in front of a camera. Yet seeing his character abruptly pivot away from this fun to the serious monologue about the state of the world really, really jars.  What is evident throughout is Cage’s natural enthusiasm and commitment to giving his best to the role – something that we have seen ever since, even when he is chewing the scenery into oblivion.  His performance here does show a lot of promise.  The script, alas, does not.  Cage's character's advice about how to pick up girls, for example, would probably have got you arrested in 1981, let alone today.

In The Best of Times, Cage shares a lot of screen time with Crispin Glover (also 17 in 1981), who serves as the protagonist and has the unenviable task of trying to bring this hotch-potch together into a meaningful whole.  This was also Glover’s TV acting debut, and here he displays a goofy charm that quite possibly led to him being cast as George McFly in 1985’s Back to the Future.  It also marked the TV debut of future scream queen Jill Schoelen who would go on to make numerous appearances in horror movies.

Also appearing, but very much going through the motions, is legendary stand-up comedian and actor Jackie Mason, playing a local shopkeeper who has to put up with the kids’ antics whenever they visit his store (which is once).

If you feel you can sit through the whole show, here it is... I was at least consoled by one thing.  If this pilot, with its almost dizzying scene sequencing speed, can be used as a measure of the attention span of 1981 teens, then we have little or nothing to worry about today's equivalent.

The Best of Times was directed by Don Mischer – who won multiple Emmys over his career.  If you were around for 2004’s Democratic National Convention, you will have heard his voice. He was the producer of the event in Boston and after John Kerry’s acceptance speech, balloons were timed to fall to the floor in spectacular, celebratory fashion. They didn’t and Mischer lost his temper – to say the least.  Unfortunately, CNN accidentally broadcast his profanity-laden tirade to the watching nation.

Back to Cage – or Coppola as he was known then.  He would move on the following year to his first (albeit uncredited) role in Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982). As the nephew of Francis Ford Coppola, Cage had to deal with a lot of teasing about his last name during the filming of Fast Times.  Fellow actors would quote lines from his uncle’s films in implicit accusations of nepotism.  His new name was partly inspired by the Marvel character Luke Cage, and the result was successful enough that many people were unaware of his connection to the Coppola family until after he had already become famous in his own right.