Sci Fi TV Obscurities: A look at sci fi and fantasy TV shows that made it to the air only briefly before getting cast to the television wasteland.
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What Is It? Police Officer Walter Nebicher is also a computer expert and he creates an artificial intelligence being known as Automan (the “Automatic Man”) who has superpowers. Nebicher works together with Automan–at times they merge as one–to fight crime in their city. Also at their disposal is the computer-generated Cursor which could “draw” objects into existence such as the autocar, autobike, autocoptor, and more.
Aired: ABC, 1983-84, 1 Season Totaling 13 Episodes
Starring: Desi Arnaz, Jr., Chuck Wagner, Heather McNair, Robert Lansing, Gerald S. O’Loughlin
Created By: Glen A Larson
Is It Must Watch Sci Fi? No. It may be worth a look for some cheesy 80’s fun, but it is definitely not an essential series.
The Skinny: This series appeared in 1983, very much trying to capitalize on the popularity of Disney’s TRON which had hit the theaters the year prior. It shared some AI-related themes and mimicked the look and feel of that movie, but it put less focus on the computer/tech side. Coming from none other than Glen A. Larson (who previously delivered Battlestar: Galactica and Buck Rogers in the 25th Century), it was yet another attempt by him to get a superhero series going after the dreadful Manimal disappeared quickly the prior season.
Automan actually started out with an interesting premise and seemed like it could have turned into a fun little show. But instead, its stories mostly delivered by-the-numbers procedural romps and never really explored the sci fi aspects of its premise. It became another cop show with a twist, and ended up remaining on the schedule only slightly longer than Manimal did. The actors did what they could with the material given to them, but ultimately the show failed to live up to its ambitions. Some still have fond memories of this one, though, as it was one of the few genre entries on the broadcast networks at that time. And it may be worth seeking out a few episodes for some good cheesy fun. But diminishing returns set in pretty quickly.
>Buy Automan on DVD from Amazon.com
Cancelled Too Soon: Yes. The show was put in the difficult Monday 8 PM ET timeslot where it had to compete with popular Scarecrow and Mrs. King as well as well as TV’s Bloopers & Practical Jokes on NBC. Automan never managed to build much of an audience and it was yanked from the schedule after only twelve of its thirteen produced episodes had aired.
Should It Be Rebooted? Probably not. This is not a well-known series nor does it count as a hidden gem. Not too many people are clamoring for this to be brought back, especially since we already have an overload of superhero shows on television these days.
Interesting Facts: No computer effects were used on the series because that would have been too expensive at that time for a television budget. Automan and his sidekick Cursor were brought to life through traditional animation and practical effects. Robert Lansing, who plays Lieutenant Jack Curtis in the series, had previously appeared as Gary Seven in the Star Trek episode “Assignment: Earth”.
Where Can You Watch It? The series has been released on DVD which includes all thirteen of the produced episodes. It is not currently available for streaming on any of the major services, but you can find episodes on YouTube.
Read More About the Show: Wikipedia | IMDb.com
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