Masters of Illusion: The Pax (now Ion) TV Version

Earlier this year, My Network TV, prior to becoming a syndication package instead of a television network, aired a series called Masters of Illusion, which featured tricks from talented magicians. As much as I wanted to really enjoy it, I felt that it failed to live up to its potential due mainly to feeling more like a generic magic series and less like a true spectacle. It is little wonder that I preferred the Masked Magician series that aired directly after it.

While you can read my article regarding this new version for the details as to why it was not as magical as I hoped it would be, I can tell you here that one major reason for this is that it is inferior to an earlier variation of the series. In the year 2000 on what was known as Pax TV (since re-branded as Ion), there was another series known as Masters of Illusion from the same production company, but having far more going for it than the 2009 version. Allow me to tell you more about this great series, which has unfortunately seemed to have be forgotten over time.

As with the later version, the show had one major goal: to showcase magic acts from top illusionists from around the world. Sleight-of-hand, card tricks, comedy acts, appearances and disappearances...you name it, it was presented at some point or another to a live studio audience. Plenty of talented magicians were featured in at least one of the thirteen episodes produced: Jeff McBride, Rick Thomas, the Passing Zone, and many others. Some of these magicians would go on to be featured in the 2009 series. Accompanying these illusions was a music score, with tracks ranging from heavy metal to dramatic orchestrated music.

So far, it sounds like the 2000 version was not very different from the 2009 series, but this is where I prove otherwise. First, unlike the latter version, the older version had a host in the form of master illusionist Franz Harary. Franz would introduce each performer, sometimes giving the home and studio audience a little information about him, her or them. At least once in each show, Franz would perform an illusion of his own, which ranged from teleporting a boy from one teleporter to another to seemingly being burned by a jet engine, only to magically vanish and reappear underneath a tarp. Franz was the ideal host due to his impressive talent and likable personality, which made the lack of his presence, as well as the lack of a similarly talented host, in the newer series all the more disappointing.

In most episodes, there would be rounds of a game called the $25,000 Challenge, in which a magician would come up to someone on the street and bet $25,000 that the old saying of the hand is faster than the eye was true. The first few episodes had Franz trying to mentally guess what someone else was drawing so that he could draw it himself. Needless to say, he would always guess correctly. In later episodes, other magicians would simply impress bystanders with their amazing talents, and both the tricks and the bystanders' reactions were often amusing. In fact, I dare say that they were more entertaining in every way than the street magic segments of the 2009 series.

Also during much of the series' run, the home audience would get an opportunity to play along with Max Maven, who would have them participate in an interactive illusion. They would often involve having people come up to the television screen, place their finger on objects, and follow Max's directions from there; or having them gather specific objects like a pencil and paper. They would then listen as Max would tell them what to do so that they could perform some magic of their own. Why these tricks were somewhat easy to figure out, they were also quite interesting, and further separated this series from any generic magic series. Indeed, in the 2009 series, only once did the home audience have a chance to interact with an illusion, which is further proof of its wasted potential.

Whereas the street illusions of the newer series were the only ones seen outside the studio, the older series went a few steps further and presented more outdoor tricks. In many cases, they came in the form of escapes, in which a magician had to free himself or herself before it was too late. Whether they had to race from a building before an explosion occurred, or escape from chains before a motorcycle could strike them, there would be a real sense of danger, and the suspense often made the escapes dramatic and worth watching. With some exceptions, the escapes would take place near the end of the episodes. Sometimes, other illusions took place outdoors, such as one in which Franz changed a toy helicopter into a real one. Why these types of tricks were missing from the newer show is beyond me.

Lastly, many episodes ended with a segment known as the Slow Motion Challenge. Here, an illusion taken from an episode would be presented once more, this time in slow motion. The idea was to have the home audience see when the magic occurred. Sometimes, the action would be slowed even further so that viewers might be able to catch the magical moment. Even if they could not, the addition to this segment is one more bit of proof that the producers seemed to put more effort into this series than they would nine years later.

Unfortunately, it seemed that Pax did not know what to do with the series when it aired on the network. Originally, it aired on Monday nights in October 2000, but after four weeks, it was taken off the schedule. Then in January 2001, Pax began to air the remaining nine episodes on a sporadic basis. It would air on random Saturday nights through July, and then it was never shown on the network again. I remember quite clearly that the promotion for the series was somewhat big for the network early on, and a picture of Franz was even included in the Fall 2000 Preview issue of TV Guide. However, when it moved to Saturday nights, Pax seemed to almost forgot that the series even existed, and only promoted it on occasion. I would have never seen it again if it was not for the fact that it has aired here in the Chicago area on a quarterly basis in syndication since 2002. I do not know if it also airs in other markets on a similar basis, but at any rate, I still get to watch this superior show, if in a more limited way.

I feel that the 2000 version of Masters of Illusion was better in every way than the newer variation for a variety of reasons. It had more enjoyable features such as escapes tricks, interactive magic, and street magic that was actually amusing to watch. It had a host who was both talented and quite likable, as well as illusions and illusionists who would often succeed in amazing the audience. While I would have to think that it was somewhat low budget, it had an overall feel that it was at least as good as bigger budgeted magic specials on the major networks, if not better. All this made the 2009 series all the more disappointing: it had the chance to go beyond having a generic feel, but failed to do so. If it had been more like the earlier version, it might have been better. I would have even settled for having My Network simply rerunning the original series and introducing it to anyone who missed out on it years ago. Alas, I was left with a half-hearted series that left a bad taste in my mouth, and that is a shame.

It never seems to fail: people get hooked on a great series, only to see it be abruptly canceled. I was a huge fan of Masters of Illusion when it aired on Pax, and thus I was upset when they treated it like a throwaway series. It was sad, as many of the episodes had more going for them than many of those for the new version. Luckily, I still get to watch it four times a year in syndication, and thanks to airing on local networks, it has at least remained alive in reruns in spite of being canceled. I wish that the episodes were released on DVD...I would even settle for a set with both versions, although I envision myself watching discs of the older series far more often than those of the newer series. Here is to hoping that if Masters of Illusion makes another comeback someday, it will be more like the 2000 version and less generic and boring.