"Hercules and the Golden Touch" is the thirty-first episode of Hercules that first aired on November 12, 1998.
Plot[]
A James Bond parody. Hercules meets Epsilon, an agent who wants to bring down King Midas, a greedy king whose touch turns everything into gold. Hercules investigates as a secret agent and learns that Midas wants Hermes' sandals to transform the whole world. Hermes is forced to give up his sandals, and Hercules frees them, going after Midas with the help of Princess Marigold, Midas's daughter. After being foiled in a James Bond-manner by Hercules, Midas ends up seeing a very negative side to his power: he accidentally turns his own daughter into a golden statue. Hercules and the king appeal to Bacchus, the god who gave Midas his golden touch, to remove it and turn things back to normal. He does so, and Hermes' sandals are returned.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- As this episode is a parody of the James Bond series of films, it also contains homages to such:
- Agent Epsilon is patterned after Bond himself, including his affiliation with an intelligence agency. His working for Midas calls to mind Alec Trevelyan, the main antagonist of the 1995 film GoldenEye.
- Apsilon's affiliation with the Athens Intelligence Agency is a reference to Felix Leiter's employment by the CIA.
- The Muses' musical number at the beginning of the episode calls to mind many of the opening credits to the James Bond films, usually with abstract imagery and dancing girls (or Icarus in this case)
- Icarus presenting Herc with Daedalus' inventions is reminiscent of Q's presenting various devices to Bond.
- Midas' palace is structured similar to a casino, a commonly recurring location in many James Bond films.
- Herc introduces himself as "Les. Hercu Les," a play upon Bond's usual greeting of "The name is Bond. James Bond."
- Marigold fulfills the role of Bond Girl, in this episode, with the closest equivalent being Pussy Galore from Goldfinger.
- Marigold being the daughter of an antagonist is a reference to Tracy di Vicenzo, the Bond Girl of On Her Majesty's Secret Service, with Tracy being the daughter of a crime boss.
- Marigold being turned to gold is based on Jill Masterson in Goldfinger, who is executed in her sleep by painting her head to toe in gold paint.
- Midas' doomsday device is based upon many a device used by numerous Bond villains, most notably those created by series antagonist Ernst Stavro Blofeld.
- Herc makes quippy one-liners in a manner similar to Bond.
- Hercules is able to create an oil slick using olive oil via a switch in Pegasus' saddle, a reference to how many cars in the Bond films, including the iconic Aston Martin DB5, can produce such.
- Hermes' spyglass focusses on Herc in a manner similar to the gunbarrel sequences that begin most of the Bond films.
- Icarus advertises a non-existent entry called "From Sparta With Love!", a reference to the second film in the series, From Russia With Love. The mosaic is based on the poster for For Your Eyes Only, which was coincidentally set in Greece.
- The narration for the non-existent entry is based on the "Bond will return..." taglines at the end of each film.
- Agent Epsilon is patterned after Bond himself, including his affiliation with an intelligence agency. His working for Midas calls to mind Alec Trevelyan, the main antagonist of the 1995 film GoldenEye.
