Automan

The 1980s were full of optimistic TV action series of a kind we just don't see any more. Not that I'm against the high-quality screen writing of such shows as "24", "Buffy" or "Angel"; it's just that I miss the old popcorn dramas which were nothing if not fun and provided ample light relief from stressful schooldays. Recent releases of "The A Team", "Knight Rider" et al on DVD have brought that old pleasure back, but I'm still eagerly anticipating "Airwolf", "Street Hawk" and "Automan". The latter two lasted only one season, but they were certainly enjoyable to me and my school friends. In those days when an American TV show was cancelled it was of too little consequence to become known in the UK, so we never knew why these fun shows disappeared. "Automan" appealed to me because it seemed to be a reverse of "Tron". The hero was rather straight-laced (even compared to Christopher Reeve's Superman!), but the show had plenty of visual treats and action to satisfy kids like me. It's the humour that I would like to re-evaluate as an adult. I'm almost certain I'd enjoy seeing this again!

This show is completely corny. Of course, this is a bi-product of its decade and genre, but it still seems cornier than its counterparts. And most of the acting isn't too great, with the exception of Chuck Wagner, whom I thought did a good job as Walter's complete opposite. The girl was pretty much filler. Almost like they thought they needed to have a cute woman in the cop shop to draw in...young boys? Show they were EEO? I don't know, but she seemed a total waste of film.

But darn it if I don't love this show. Cheese makes for a good, silly 45 minutes of entertainment. And even bad sci fi is often good. And Desi Arnaz Jr. made for a good geek. The writers I think went a bit far with that whole stereotype of computer geniuses being totally awkward screw ups in any other arena but IT, but I suppose it did help display the contrast between Walter and Automan, who was what Walter wished he was.

But don't watch this right after Dragnet or Adam-12, as you may think the LAPD suddenly went insane.

OK, at the mid-70s you have to recognize how the American TV shows became more and more interested in the idea of being "super" more than ever. After the phase of the cowboy shows, the espionage ones, then the mysteries' solvers, we came to the point of a man, or a woman, who's part human and part machine, or that person who got superpowers anyway. It's very well known matter in the old comics, but from the 1970s in TV, the revelation, or the revolution, began.

Remember titles like: (The Six Million Dollar Man - 1974), (The Invisible Man - 1975), (The Bionic Woman - 1976), (Gemini Man - 1976) and (Wonder Woman - 1976). At the same time, another kind became in fashion: the Buddy-shows like (Switch - 1975), (Starsky and Hutch - 1975), (CHiPs - 1977), (The Hardy Boys-Nancy Drew Mysteries - 1977). So, why not to gather the 2 successful elements, "The Superhuman" and "The 2 Buddies Team", in one sci-fi / action show.

They already married them in (Future Cop - 1977); a short-lived TV show about a veteran patrol officer who gets an android for a partner. After more prosperous ones, like (The Greatest American Hero - 1981) and (The Powers of Matthew Star - 1982), there was the big hit (Knight Rider - 1982) where an ex-policeman is in the company of a talking supercar to achieve justice. And right in the next year, (Automan) has been born.

It was such a smart and funny idea. Read its tagline: "A computer generated superhero and his human creator fight crime in their city".. this is music to my ear! Imagine a talking computer, in the form of a brawny good man, with a comic human partner, in action all the time; this has endless ironies.

If you watched it as a kid, you'd never forget it. The whole azure image of (Chuck Wagner) as (Automan) is something that sticks in your memory forever. And sure its formula speaks cleverly to the child in you, unlike the most of nowadays' shows I suppose. As an adult, I just hated points like the unneeded striptease of the title character at one episode, which was obviously inserted to have more viewers, however in cheap and embarrassing way!

Ohhh, the 1980s is gone, so most of the childish innocent fun too. You'd think that the makers of these shows were great children themselves. I believe watching CSI today makes you cherish these oldies much, and discover the secret of them being real classics for reasons other than the nostalgic feel.

Unfortunately, (Automan) lasted for only 13 episodes; I won't say that 13 is the most ill-fated number for many canceled shows, but let's say that many good things come in 13 such as: (A Man Called Hawk - 1989), (The Lone Gunmen - 2001), (Pepper Dennis - 2006) and (Automan). My best regards to the nice azure robot, its makers, and their time.

In a time when innocents has played a part of my life, Automan has been a great T.V. gem that creator Glen Larson and ABC has top offer. It was the very first live-action super hero show that widen my horizons of imagination. Though it attracts more kids then adults. It is why the show got canceled because of poor ratings and expensive special effects. Automan was very original and it should be granted a second chance then. Thanks to the Sci-Fi Channel, it is great to relive all 13 episodes of this failed series.

Yes, this was a little predictable, as one reviewer said, but it had a sense of humour that American shows seldom crack. Strangely, it was from Glen Larson, whose creations have not always stood the test of time. Yet the charm in Automan was so delicious that it was a shame that it only lasted 13 episodes.

Walter Nebicher (Desi Arnaz) is a computer geek who creates a hologram called Automan (Chuck Wagner) - but the character turns out to have not only Walter's ideas for a crime-fighter, but his own soul. Turns out Automan has lived in a parallel, video-game universe (à la Tron, the big SFX hit of the early 1980s) and counts Pac-man and Donkey Kong ('He's an animal') among his friends.

This improbable storyline, plus Automan's sidekick, Cursor (who has quite the eye [he must have one!] for the ladies) played for good laughs. What we do know is that the characters are not really going to develop much. Walter has a stereotypical loud cop boss with a New York accent (Gerald S. O'Loughlin) who hates him, a beautiful female police detective (Heather McNair) who fancies him, and an immediate superior (Robert Lansing) who feels he's misunderstood yet wants to make him feel valued. And the villains are similarly flat, perhaps with the exception of the suave Patrick Macnee in the première episode.

For a guy who doesn't like sci-fi (and who was in his teens when this aired), it was a fine way to spoof the genre and to poke fun at the primitive nature of video games and early 1980s' computers. Additional ideas were that Walter could feed in data about human life into Automan, so he could dance like John Travolta after receiving a Beta tape with a disco flick - another opportunity for set-ups. A priceless tennis-playing scene sees Cursor replace the real ball, set up for more laughs. Sometimes the oldest gags are the best ones.

Meanwhile, Automan gets stuck on everyday human problems: when asked what his (astrological) sign is, he cannot reply. Walter suggests, 'Tell him you're an Apple II.'

Unlike Galactica 1980, the special effects don't look too primitive, and in its day, were very swish for TV.

Automan did have the storylines of a kids' show, much like the similarly ill-fated Enos, the Dukes of Hazzard spin-off that was its contemporary. However, folks appreciated a bit of a tickle then, seeing a splash of humour in the (by then) tired genre of the one-hour-format cop show. Numerous episodes looked expensive and probably were - so the show always looked the part. Automan is a product of its era and still retains some fascination for me. Sometimes, you just need something that isn't so serious.