Saint, The - On the syndicated mystery adventure THE SAINT/NBC/1967-69 actor Roger Moore starred as the infamous playboy Simon Templar otherwise known as "The Saint." His nickname was derived from his initials (ST) and from the fact that he was always helping people out of binds. His last name "Templar" referred to the "Knights Templar" a member of a military and religious order established among the crusaders early in the 12th century. The Saint was based on the best-selling mystery stories of Leslie Charteris that debuted in the 1928 novel Meet the Tiger which spawned a series of movies and a radio show in the 1930s and 1940s. The vocal talents of Edgar Barrier, Brian Aherne, Vincent Price, Tom Conway and Barry Sullivan were used for the "The Saint" radio programs; and Louis Hayward, George Sanders, and Hugh Sinclair played The Saint in movie adaptations. Actor Ian Ogilvy revived the role of Simon Templar in the RETURN OF THE SAINT/SYN/CBS/1978. The 1987 TV pilot movie The Saint (aired on CBS's SUMMER PLAYHOUSE) featured Andrew Clark as Simon Templar, this time living in the New York City; and Simon Dutton played the role of this dashing playboy in a series of made-for-television movies on THE MYSTERY WHEEL OF ADVENTURE during the 1989-90 season. The Saint's calling card featured a stick figure sporting a halo.

Sal the Pig Boy - Workplace nickname of Sal (Curtis Armstrong), a half-man, half-pig researcher who worked for The World Chronicle newspaper in New York City on the occult newspaper adventure THE CHRONICLE/SCI/2001-2002. Headquartered in the basement archives of the Chronicle, Sal (who sports the snout of a pig) uses his talents as a computer hacker to locate archived stories and other pertinent bits of information needed by the newspaper's investigative reporters. Sal aggressively pursued the women on the staff and when rebuked for his behavior, he replied "What' do you expect, I'm a pig!" When criticized for his porcine condition, Sal proudly proclaims "I maybe half-pig, but I'm half-man and that's 1/4 of what I need." At the height of passion, Sal squeals like a pig.

Salami Sam - Loudmouth wrestler who wore a silly looking bathing suit on the live-action children's show THE HOWDY DOODY SHOW/NBC/1947-60. Originally known as Ugly Sam, this wrestler pranced around the stage making all sorts of funny faces. Sometime later, Ugly Sam changed his name to Salami Sam and carried around a huge salami on which he occasionally chewed to give him nourishment and extra strength. See also - FOOD: "Salami"

Sam - The name used to describe a number of TV characters over the years. On the sitcom LEAVE IT TO BEAVER/CBS/ABC/1957-62 Wally Cleaver (Tony Dow) was jokingly called "Sam" (also Gertrude & Ellwood) by his wisecracking friend Eddie Haskell (Ken Osmond). Sam was the name of unseen telephone answering service girl (voice of Mary Tyler Moore/Roxane Brooks) at Hi-Fi Answering Service on the detective drama RICHARD DIAMOND, PRIVATE DETECTIVE/CBS/NBC/1957-60 (Diamond called her Samuel). Darrin Stephens (Dick York/Dick Sargent), an advertising executive on the sitcom BEWITCHED referred to his witch wife Samantha as "Sam." On the sitcom WHO'S THE BOSS/ABC/1984-92 Tony Micelli (Tony Danza) called his daughter Samantha, "Sam." On the police drama SILK STALKINGS/CBS/USA/1991-99, Florida police detectives Rita Lee Lance (Mitzi Capture) and Chris Lorenzo (Rob Estes) called each other Sam in homage to golfer Slammin' Sammy Sneed ("the greatest golfer who ever lived!"). And on the police drama PROFILER/NBC/1996 Ally Walker played Samantha "Sam" Waters, a forensic psychologist who profiles serial killers. Sam was also what Stephen Crisman (the husband of actress Mariel Hemingway) called his wife. He named a chain of restaurants (Sam's Cafe) in California, Texas, and New York in her honor.

Sandbaggers - Nickname for an elite cadre of espionage agents on the British spy drama SANDBAGGERS/ITV/1978-80. The Sandbaggers chronicles the story of Neil Burnside (Roy Marsden), Director of Operations (“D-Ops”) in Britain’s Secret Intelligence Service (“SIS”). Burnside is in charge of the Special Section of field operatives led by senior officer Willie Caine (Ray Lonnen) referred to as "Sandbagger One." They supervise the men and women who work with them on the front lines of the Cold War against the K.G.B. and other hostiles. Field Agents included Jake Landy (David Glydner, a.k.a. "Sandbagger Two (episode 1-3); Laura Dickens (Diane Keen) a.k.a. "Sandbagger Two" (episodes 4-7); Tom Elliott (David Beames) a.k.a. "Sandbagger Two" (episode 8); Mike Wallace (Michael Cashman) a.k.a. "Sandbagger Two (episode 9-20); Alan Denson (Steven Grives) a.k.a. Sandbagger Three (episodes 1-3). The Sandbaggers was created by Ian Mackintosh, a former a former lieutenant-commander in the Royal Navy with an Intelligence background. TRIVIA NOTE: According to the Random House Dictionary, a "Sandbagger" is one who "deceives...coerces, intimidates or thwarts or causes to fail or be rejected." In Sports a "Sandbagger" is a would be Pro Player trying to pass as an Amateur or an Amateur passing as a Novice with hope of gaining an advantage or reward.

Scarecrow - Code name for US espionage agent Lee Stetson (Bruce Boxleitner) who worked for a secret government agency called The Agency on the spy adventure SCARECROW AND MRS. KING/CBS/1983-87. Scarecrow's partner, Amanda King (Kate Jackson) was a bored, divorced Washington D.C. housewife with a penchant for intrigue. They first met when Scarecrow thrust a package into Mrs. King's hands at a train station as a ploy to escape from pursuing Russian spies. Amanda and Lee later married each other but kept it a secret from their employers and family members. On the WONDERFUL WORLD OF DISNEY in the early 1960s (Patrick McGoohan) starred in a multi-part story THE SCARECROW OF ROMNEY MARSH/NBC/1964 about Dr. Syn, a minister who donned the shaggy costume of a scarecrow to battle the cruelty of the Crown along the southern coast of England. According to the program's rousing theme song "Scarecrow, Scarecrow, The soldiers of the King feared his name, Scarecrow."

Scarlet Pimpernel, The - English nobleman, Sir Percy Blakeney (Marius Goring) pretending to be a brainless fop, donned the guise of the mysterious "Scarlet Pimpernel" on the syndicated adventure THE SCARLET PIMPERNEL/SYN/1956 to battle the injustice of the French Revolution. The Scarlet Pimpernel took his name from the small, red, star-shaped flower that bloomed in the English countryside. In the British movie version of The Scarlet Pimpernel (1934), actor Leslie Howard played Lord Blakeney who recited a small poem that described this dashing hero. It read: "They seek him here. They seek him there. Those Frenchies seek him everywhere. Is he from Heaven? Or is he from Hell? That damn'd elusive Pimpernel." The phrase "curs'd elusive Pimpernel" was used for the 1950s TV series. This classic tale later resurfaced in two made-for television movies including the 1982 remake starring Anthony Andrews and the 1999 BBC1/A&E production starring Richard E. Grant. The Scarlet Pimpernel character is based on the 1905 novel "The Scarlet Pimpernel" written by English writer, Baroness Orczy.

Schmoopie - Cloying term of endearment ("You're Schmoopie!" "No, you're Schmoopie!") heard on "The Soup Nazi" episode of the sitcom SEINFELD/NBC/1990-1998. When Jerry and his girlfriend Sheila (Alexandra Wentworth) began calling each other "Schmoopie," his friends thought it was just to gooey, especially George Costanza (Jason Alexander), who hated such overt physical displays of affection. But when George next met Jerry at their local hangout, a competition of affection ensued as Jerry and his date were "Schmooping" all over the place. George, not to be shown up in the eyes of his girlfriend, began to talk baby talk ("Ooogie-Woogie," "Baby-waby") to his fiancée. A little later Jerry dropped his girlfriend and the normally reserved George was now stuck with supporting his new persona as a touchy feely sensitive kind of guy.

Schnickle Fritz - The family nickname of actress Susan Lucci coined by her Austrian husband. Susan Lucci is best known for playing the role of Erica Kane on the soap opera ALL MY CHILDREN/ABC/1970+. On the sitcom SILVER SPOONS/NBC/SYN/1982-88 secretary Kate Sommers (Erin Gray) owns two cats, Fluffy and Snickle Fritz.

Schnozzola - The showbiz nickname of James "Jimmy" Francis Durante, a popular Italian-American comedian with the big nose ("Schnozzola") who starred on this popular comedy variety program set in a small nightclub called Club Durant. At the end of each weekly performance, Jimmy paused to say "And Good night, Mrs. Calabash, wherever you are" and then slowly exit offstage following a pathway made from overhead spot lights. Mrs. Calabash was Jimmy's first wife. Jimmy Durante also appeared as a regular on the musical/variety shows ALL STAR REVUE/NBC/1950-53; BUICK CIRCUS HOUR/NBC/1952-53; THE COLGATE COMEDY HOUR/NBC/1953-54; TEXACO STAR THEATER/NBC/1954-55; and JIMMY DURANTE PRESENTS THE LENNON SISTERS/ABC/1969-70. He suffered a stroke in 1972 (leaving him wheelchair bound) and died in 1980.

Scooby Gang, The - In the episode "What's My Line? (Part 1)" on the horror adventure BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER/WB/UPN/1997-2003, a teenager named Xander refers to his Sunnydale High School friends as "The Scooby Gang," a reference to the 1960's cartoon series SCOOBY-DOO, WHERE ARE YOU?/CBS/1969-1972, where a group of adolescents investigate supernatural occurrences. The Scooby Gang on Buffy consists of Buffy Summers (Sarah Michelle Gellar), a vampire hunter (a.k.a. "Slayer"); Willow Rosenberg (Alyson Hannigan), a computer nerd and witch in training; Alexander "Xander" Harris (Nicholas Brendon), a good-natured teen with crush on Buffy; Cordelia Chase (Charisma Carpenter), a snobby preppie; Oz (Seth Green), a rock musician and finally, Rupert Giles (Anthony Stewart Head), a British school librarian who is Buffy's Watcher (who trains the Slayer "The Chosen One" in the skills necessary to defeat the creatures of the night).

Scooter - The childhood nickname of Sgt. Bosco "B.A." Baracus (Mr. T), the AWOL Army mechanic on the adventure THE A TEAM/NBC/1983-87. When he was a small boy, he had a little truck that he loved very much. Because he always scooted its wheels over the carpets, his mother (Della Reese) called him Scooter. Dick Loudon (Bob Newhart) of the sitcom NEWHART/CBS/1982-90 was called Scooter by his old college girlfriend, Diana Gordon (Shelley Fabares) because he drove around campus on a red motor scooter. Jamie Powell (Nicole Eggert), a beautiful young teenager on the sitcom CHARLES IN CHARGE/SYN/1987-90 was called Little Scooter by her father who still had not realized his daughter was growing up. On the military drama CHINA BEACH/ABC/1988-90, the spit and polish hospital commander Major Lila Garreau (Concetta Tomei) was nicknamed Scooter. And on THE NEW ADVENTURES OF BEANS BAXTER/FOX/1987-88, Benjamin "Beans" Baxter's (Jonathan Ward) brainy younger brother (Scott Bremner) was called Scooter. Terrence "Scooter" (Cress Williams) Khadijah's old boyfriend surfaced during the spring of 1994 on the sitcom LIVING SINGLE/FOX/1993-97.

Scourge of the West, The - Fearsome title given to bumbling Captain Wilton Parmenter (Ken Berry), a frontier cavalry commander on the military comedy F TROOP/ABC/1965-67. He earned this sobriquet when he accidentally led a troop of Union soldiers in the wrong direction (a sneeze on horseback was taken for the order "Charge!") and smack dab into the middle of a Confederate sneak attack, which the soldiers thwarted. For his supposed bravery, he was given the command of F Troop, an inept bunch of rejects stationed on the Kansas Territory of the late 1860s.

Screech - Nickname of high school student Samuel "Screech" Powers (Dustin Diamond) a gawky teenage computer nerd who attended Bayside High School in the town of Palisades on the sitcom SAVED BY THE BELL/NBC/1989-93. His character continued in the sequel series SAVED BY THE BELL: THE COLLEGE YEARS/NBC/1993-94 as he enrolled at California University; and later on SAVED BY THE BELL: THE NEW CLASS/NBC/1993-2000 when he returned to Bayside High School as the Principal's administrative assistant. The "Screech" character first appeared in the 1987 sitcom GOOD MORNING, MISS BLISS that was set in a junior high school in Indiana. It's success inspired the SAVED BY THE BELL franchise.

Back to Top