The Assassins

ZERO GROWTH

By Alan Saly

This show reminds me of the theatrical trailer from DIRTY HARRY, which shows Clint Eastwood , as Inspector Harry Calahan, chasing Andrew Robinson, as the Zodiac Killer. The voiceover: "Dirty Harry and the homicidal maniac. Harry's the one with the gun." In this show, the assassins, Harrison Brooks and Theodore Atkinson, are the people who "commit extraordinary crimes against the people and the state." Yet they are the heroes of the show. I believe they also founded a successful Broadway theater.

The premise of the show, laid out in the first episode, "The Easter Egg Dying Party," is simple: to reduce the rapidly overpopulating world, the Assassins eliminate undesirables and replace them with desirables. Or as one character puts it: "My organization is pledged to initiate zero population growth over the country of England to prevent many, many difficulties. As you know, all the problems of society are caused by excess population. We eliminate excess members – or loose ends, if you prefer – and substitute in place a picked handful of our men, who will guide the empire into domination over the earth."

Sounds like a series created by Hitler, doesn't it? In any event, the Assassins are clean and they kill, kind of like a germicide. With them, it's never personal.

Listen to:

The Easter Egg Dying Party
Episode 1. Taped: April 10, 1971
Introducing Harrison Brooks and Theodore Atkinson, two international killers who stage extraordinary crimes against the people and the state in an effort to reduce overpopulation. In this episode, the team investigates an organization that is assassinating the assassins. Brooks: John Sanderson. Atkinson: Tom Ellsworth. Hamilton: Alan Saly.

Shock Ending
Episode 2. Taped: June 12, 1971
Detective John Smith attempts to infiltrate the assassins’ organization. Brooks: John Sanderson. Atkinson: Tom Ellsworth. No. 1: Question Mark.