Frankly, the titling of a tv series the XYY Man smells to me like a lame attempt to have the series being marketed as something like the Six Million Dollar Man and perhaps thats why Kenneth Royce's novel were chosen in the first place. Having seen the entire series, the XYY chromsome is dismissed as theory which it was and not a real excuse for Bill Spider Scott's actions or personality. The stories certainly have nothing to do with it.
The series has story cycles that stretch beyond a single episode and last usually for 3. This makes sense since the stories are based on Kenneth Royce's novels. I like that this series doesnt follow the usual formula of indivudual shows with complete plots per episode. That format works well for other shows of this era, it wouldn't for this one because Scott doesnt have the kind of profession that leads to numerous storylines like a doctor, solicitor, government agent, police officer or detective. If the series were 13 different stories endlessly with Bulman tracking him for different reasons every episode and Scott coming out of it at the end of them all, i would frankly despise this series as a lame The Saint ripoff. Instead there are usually two one hour long episodes that end in a kind of a plot based cliffhanger (not necessarily Scott in any kind of peril) then the concluding third episode. Strictly in a story sense, this makes this show enjoyable. The storylines arent all that preposterous to me. They do tend to get very complex and involved but it sort of reminds me of the series Bosch which makes sense since both shows have scripts based on novels. Alot goes on all interwoven. Nothing that would lead to nuclear wars breaking out (Thank God, now that would be really stupid, wouldnt it? Trying to tie a cat burglar into nukes). The first story has Scott hired to steal a photo negative from the Chinese embassy which was going to be used for blackmail. He barely succeeds but ends up with both sides of an African political struggle trying to track him down for the negative while local law enforcement are out to get him for the break in. Im glad a plot like that wasnt crammed into one 50 minute episode. Another story involves a private organization using excons for crimes under the guise of assisting them, another involving a prison break, etc. If you don't have the patience or interest in getting into these plots then you won't like this show. The third storyline in the series didnt make any sense to me to be frank. I cant even summarize the plot, it was so convoluted. Something about counterfeit art relics no one seems too interested in denying they are fake. That somehow leads to murders and attempted murders and a guy from out of nowhere dressed as a hackneyed cowboy doing horrendous John Wayne impressions saves the day. Weird.
The series is of course dated but all mid 70s tv is except costume dramas and period pieces. If its not the clothes and hairstyles, its the cars and music and if not that, it's how the show was made and effects used. The goal of this show was clearly to be trendy so there is alot of pop rock music creeping in. I heard Mike Oldfield's Tubular Bells more than once, Rolling Stones' Honkey Tonk Woman, Pink Floyd's Brain Damage, Queen's Loverboy, Derek and the Dominos' Layla and Scott is released from prison in the first episode to the tune of The Who's Wont Get Fooled Again on the car radio. Shows that always try to be trendy get dated the worst. The theme music makes me cringe every time I hear it. Thankfully there is no incidental music. The pop songs are either played on radios or record players in the scenes themselves and not as part of some soundtrack.
Though this series had a short run, it led to a dramatically successful spinoff based mostly around Sgt George Bulman and DC Derek Willis titled Strangers though my favorite Bulman series is the last one titled simply Bulman with Strangers a very close 2nd. Don Henderson was a vastly underrated actor and his portrayal of Bulman deserves to be revisited.
