Jason King (TV series) the X-Men comics, the character of Jason Wyngarde (aka Mastermind) was partially inspired by Jason King and Peter Wyngarde. Mastermind had first appeared in the 1960s, but took on the appearance and identity of Jason Wyngarde in the build-up to the X-Men's first confrontation with the Hellfire Club in the late 1970s. Wyngarde had played the leader of another Hellfire club in "A Touch of Brimstone", an episode of the popular TV series "The Avengers", in which Diana Rigg appeared in a leather costume that Jean Grey adopted as the Hellfire Club's Black Queen. He is also one of the
1970s in television a ratings giant until the 1980s. ABC aired "Soap", a sitcom that parodied soap operas, and garnered controversy by writing in one of the first gay characters on U.S. television. Many stations refused to air the series (another storyline consisted of heroine Corinne Tate, played by Diana Canova, lusting after a priest who eventually left the priesthood to marry her). Silverman's legacy also included the escapist "fantasy" genre, which started in 1977 with "The Love Boat". The series involved popular movie and television stars in guest roles as passengers on a luxury cruise liner that sailed up and down the