Misfits

This show is kind of a rare treasure, because it got canceled after the first season, when two of the crew-members tragically died. Though it was not long on air, I was lucky enough to watch it, even it was late on TV. Because of that, back in the days not many of my classmates have seen it. So it was kind of a secret show besides the more popular ones like The incredible Hulk, Knight Rider or The A-Team, what made it even more special for me.

It had a variety of different characters, most of them not so grounded in society, but each with special or supernatural skills, who must learn to work as a team to overcome their flaws and fulfill their adventurous missions.

Dr. Billy Hayes was considered as the comic relief and the leader of the team. He always reminded me of what Steve Guttenberg did in Police Academy. Dr. El Lincoln, a kind and reserved character with the appearance of a basketball-player was able to shrink to the size of an action figure. Great stuff! My favorite character of the show was Johnny B, because as a kid, what could be cooler than a freaky guy with sunglasses an a leather-jacket shooting thunderbolts out of his hands? Yeah, not so much! And as mentioned before, last but not least, the sweet but moody Gloria who has to learn to control her telekinetic powers and her temper.

The show had it all: mad comedy, cheesy action and as expected - some absurd sciency stuff. The concept is easy, but it's fun, many of the minor characters are also recognizable and it has one of the greatest intro song that'll be stuck in my head for ever.

I watched it decades later, and I would still consider me a fan, even it makes me a bit sad about how the show suddenly ended and the story never got continued.

If you are also a fan of the best decade so far, watch it and love it!

I hated it when Misfits of Science ended. However, I did hear that it was because Dean Paul Martin died in an airplane accident. (He was, IIRC, a member of the Air National Guard.) It wasn't just cancelled.

(And I agree. I also had a crush on Courtney Cox.) :-)

Courteney was totally, totally hot. The show was really good too (hey, I was 15) but who am I kidding, I only watched it for Courteney.

From what I remember, the team was made up of Dr. Billy Hayes who was the organiser and fast talker, Dr. Elvin 'El' Lincoln who was really tall (and didn't like it) but after 'modifying' himself to be smaller could press a gland at the back of his neck and shrink to only a few inches tall for a short time, John 'Johnny B' Bukowski, a rock musician who could draw charge from batteries etc and discharge them as lightning bolts from his hands (but would get burned by water), Gloria Dinallo (Courteney 'sigh') who was a telekinetic and troubled teen, all Carrie-like in the pilot.

Dr. Billy Hayes and Dr. El Lincoln are scientists working for Humanidyne and the military. They get fired after an incident with an iceman. Lincoln is a 7 foot tall black man who can't play a lick of basketball. He's been taking a serum to get smaller but he ends up with a shrinking ability. They have kept other mutants secret from the military. Johnny Bukowski is an electrically powered rock-n-roller with water as his greatest enemy. Gloria Dinallo (Courteney Cox) is a telekinetic teen with anger issues. Her sympathetic probation officer Jane Miller gets her out of the mental institution. Together in an ice cream truck, the Misfits of Science saves the world. Billy and El get back their jobs working under Dick Stetmeyer.

Yeah, I remember watching this show back in the day. It came and went after a few months. I remember the tall black guy who could shrink and the cute angst-ridden girl played by Courteney Cox not long after her Dancing in the Dark breakthrough. The writing is strictly 80's with a manufactured adventure every week. The show needs a consistent villain to give it a serial aspect. It struggles to come up with stories that could incorporate the group's abilities. More than anything, it needs a structure to generate the adventure for the show rather than this random generator from nothing. It has a light comedic feel although the funniest thing may be the naked giant black dude almost every week and the wacky one-liner experiments. It's not really that funny. This is not the best show but it has some passable fun and that unforgettable cute girl who danced with Bruce Springsteen.

I have to say, yeah Misfits. I watched this as a kid (about 12-13), as two buddies have. We were absolutely stunned. Active libido-tickling (Ms. Cox at 19, you gotta love it!) and thrilled. It's a B series alright, but one that's fun, inventive and quite... anti-heroesque, if you get me. Talk about non-conventional : a black man, a dirty rock singer, a jail bird, you name it! Plots were what they were, but there were thrills and suspense. And good FX.

Sadly, it went quite unnoticed (here, at least), and was dropped in the big abyss of commercial crashes. But wet dreams keep coming about a DVD release... See it if you ever get the chance, no matter how old you are. If you like action and Sci-Fi (and simple fun), the lil' kid you still are somewhere will have a ball!