AS SEEN ON TV: NICK CARTER

NICK CARTER

CREATED BY:

John R. Coryell

AS SEEN IN:

"The Adventures Of Nick Carter"

AS PLAYED BY:

Robert Conrad

TV DIMENSION:

Earth Prime-Time

STATUS:

Multiversal Recastaway

From Wikipedia:

Nick Carter is a fictional character who began as a pulp fiction private detective and has appeared in a variety of formats over more than a century.

Nick Carter first appeared in a dime novel entitled "The Old Detective's Pupil; or, The Mysterious Crime of Madison Square" on 18 September 1886. This novel was written by John R. Coryell from a story by Ormond G. Smith, the son of one of the founders of Street & Smith.

In 1972, the actor Robert Conrad made a television pilot set in the Victorian era. "The Adventures of Nick Carter" that was shown as a made for television movie.

From the Thrilling Detective web site:

"The Little Giant" first appeared as a 19th century detective and adventurer in Street and Smith's "New York Weekly" dime novel, on September 18, 1886. He was young, strong, dedicated to clean living (No cigarettes! No booze!) confident, a master of disguise, and possessor of a keen mind, filled with more trivia than anyone would ever need to know (except, of course, for dime novel master sleuths!) and otherworldly strength, able to "lift a horse with ease... while a heavy man is seated in the saddle... he can place four packs of playing cards together, and tear them in halves between his thumbs and fingers."

No wonder pulp historian Jess Nevins refers to him as "the Grandfather of superheroes."

It seems that Nick's dad, the legendary detective "Old Sim" Carter, had raised his son from an early age to become a pefect mental and physical specimen.

Upon reaching adulthood, Nick becomes the world's greatest detective, with a swank apartment on madison Avenue in New York City, although his cases frequently have him hopping all over the world, frequently accompanied by his loyal (and manly) partners-in-arms Patsy and Scrubby. He appeared in three stories written by Coryell, and then, literally thousands more in various Street & Smith publications, mostly written by Frederic van Rensselaer Day (1862-1922). 

From the Wold Newton web site

by Dennis Powers:
According the the pulps, Simpson Carter, a detective, also had a son whom he trained to be the best detective in the world. Despite being diminutive, Nick Carter had an amazing amount of strength and stamina.

Yet Nick Carter was not Simpson's son but rather his great uncle of sorts. Nick Carter was the son of John Carter and Margaret Butler, sister of Rhett. After Margaret died in the Civil War, John placed Nicholas in Simpson's care while he went to mine for gold. John Carter was gone for ten years during which he had his first trip to Barsoom.

Simpson Carter was a Private Detective and he took the boy under his wing. Noting his precocious gifts, [Sim Carter] trained him in all manner of disciplines and athletics. This training regime would be copied and extended by James Clark Wildman for his son, whom the world knows as Clark Savage. His mutant genes really showed for although he was only 5'4", Nick Carter could lift a horse with a man seated in the saddle. He is also a master of disguise, a linguist and well skilled in various detective arts.

I think after this week in which I lost my head over the new "John Carter" movie and my desire to include it in the TV Universe, Team Toobworld probably figured out that I'm more than willing to accept this premise as being true for Toobworld as well.

Although Toobworld Central must reject the later incarnations of Nick Carter as the character kept getting updated to fit the times (since they never appeared on TV), we're still willing to entertain theories of "relateeveety" about the man.  For one, Sgt. Vincent Carter of the United States Marine Corps ('Gomer Pyle, USMC') may have been one of his great grandsons.  Another son may have married a black woman or had an affair with one in New York City, which would have led to Nick Carter having a black great-great-granddaughter working as a detective with the NYPD, Joss Carter ('Person Of Interest').  (Her full first name may be Jocelyn.) 

BCnU!