From the Vault: Thunder in Paradise

In 1994 while Hulk Hogan was in between WCW and WWE, he was filming a TV show was called Thunder in Paradise. The show only lasted by one season with twenty-two episodes because Hogan returned to wrestling in WCW. Thunder in Paradise had Baywatch vibes to it, but with a lot more crazy and fun action scenes. Hogan’s character was “Hurricane” Spencer, who is a former Navy SEAL. His partner in crime was “Bru” played by Chris Lemmon who provided a lot of comedy to the show. Outside of YouTube, finding the original twenty-two episodes is next to impossible. However, Lionsgate released a 3-disc set featuring Episodes 1 and 2, episodes 6 and 7, and episodes 17 and 18. These were all two-part episodes that had a continued story.

The first two episodes had an intriguing story. Hurricane was going to lose his boat Thunder, but he met Meg, who was about to lose her hotel if she didn’t get married. Hurricane had already befriended Meg’s daughter Jessica, who always enjoyed hearing his fun stories. Meg and Hurricane get married to save the boat and hotel, but shortly after everything was disrupted after someone attempted to take Jessica’s necklace that Hurricane gave to her. When Hurricane and Bru set out on the mission, Jessica and Kelly are kidnapped by the villains who tried stealing the necklace. Hurricane, Bru, and Meg set out to rescue Jessica and Kelly. In the end, Jessica and Kelly are rescued and everyone lives happily after. I found the ending to hilarious because Hurricane and Meg do their best to deceive Meg’s Uncle who tried to take the hotel from her. The ending to the episode was pretty raunchy, but funny at the same time. These episodes featured Jimmy Hart, Jim “The Anival Neidhart, Brutus “the barber” Beefcake, Hercules, and Giant Gonzales.

Thunder Paradise 2 consisted of episodes 6 and 7 and the episodes were called, “Sealed with a Kismet.” Kelly is having dreams about falling in love and getting married. The man that Kelly is dreaming about is a prince in a foreign land. The prince also shares in the same dream and seeks out Kelly at the bar on the beach. This causes Hurricane and Bru much anger that their territory is being invaded by the unknown. Kelly eventually goes with the prince to his homeland, but Jessica keeps having nightmares about what happens to Kelly, Hurricane, and Bru. Those nightmares become true as Kelly is held captive by the prince and his army. Hurricane and Bru decide to pack up and rescue Kelly.  They eventually rescue Kelly but not without their share of fights and bedlam. Even though these episodes seem very cheesy, there was a good moral to the story. You don’t need to find a prince or princess to feel loved. The fact of the matter is that love comes in many different forms and can be received and given by many people.   These episodes feature Fred Ottman (Tugboat/Typhoon), Giant Gonzales, and Brutus “the Barber” Beefcake.

Thunder in Paradise 3 consisted of episodes 17 and 18, which were called “Deadly Lessons.” During this episode the government asked Hurricane and Bru to take down an international drug lord. They head to South America and successfully capture the drug lord, but it didn’t come without consequences. The drug lord’s right-hand man showed up in the states and did a hostile takeover of Jessica’s school and made demands of Hurricane or else. Hurricane and Bru begin the fight from the outside while Kelly and Jessica try to escape from the inside. Hurricane and Bru trick the right-hand man into leaving the school and getting on Thunder for a boat ride. This allowed the hostages, Hurricane, Kelly, and Jessica to get out of the school before it was blown up. One of the hidden lessons in this episode involves Kelly. There is an internal struggle with her about not pursuing her dreams and trying to stop others from being destroyed by pursuing theirs. Kelly ultimately learns that you can have multiple dreams and that there are multiple pathways to someone’s dream. These episodes featured Jimmy Hart and Brutus “The Barber” Beefcake.

Now we all know that Thunder in Paradise wasn’t a classic television show, but it is fun to look back on some of the cheesiness and corny things about the show. The show had a lot of laughs and ridiculous action scenes, but it also had quite a few hidden life lessons. The one thing I didn’t like about the series is that they killed off Meg after two episodes. I wish they would have kept her alive so people could have seen the bickering between and Hurricane, and to see if they could have made their arranged marriage work. You can find the entire series on YouTube, but I wish they would release the entire season on to DVD for a collector’s item. Other wrestlers who were featured in the series but not on the three-disc set were Steve Keirn, Sting, and Terry Funk. Thunder in Paradise will give you the 80s and 90s pro wrestling nostalgia and make you feel like a kid again.