Captain Nice

Back then we appreciated almost anything with a 'kid theme', especially in the evening. There were a few tantalizing bits thrown at us back then, Top Cat and Bugs Bunny were prime time a few years earlier. But to have a whole non-animated series devoted to being able to drink a potion, ala NICE or eat a pill, as in Mr. Terrific and become super, now that was GREAT FUN. After all these years I remember Captain Nice leaping from a van where in the dark he dressed in culottes and the time the secret formula dripped into a gutter to powerize a 'HIC-BOOM' worm. Even then I knew it was cheap, but I watched it, right after Mr. Terrific.

I was about 16 when the show premiered and already a fan of comic book superheroes and comedy, so I HAD to watch this show. And I LOVED it. A shame it only ran one season.

What I also remember that in the promotion of the show, there was this great comic book art poster drawn by the legendary Jack Kirby of Marvel Comics fame but I only saw it on TV. I would love to own a copy of it if it exists anywhere.

One of the things I remember was a running gag used by the writers. The Commissioner (played by Liam Dunn, a thin balding older man, famous for being a comic foil in many Mel Brooks films) would say something like, "Don't tell me the bank was robbed again" to which the chief would echo the words, "The bank was robbed again." Then Dunn would say with great exasperation. "I asked you not to tell me that." It still makes me laugh today. Even fellow schoolmates would echo this gag.

With great comic talent like Alice Ghostly and Liam Dunn as backup, and on the heels of the ultra campy Batman series (which I hated at the time for making a mockery of a great comic book hero) it should have been a huge hit.

The public! Go figure.

I was very young when Captain Nice and Mr. Terrific aired and then quickly disappeared. Even from that tender age, however, I remember the rumor going around was that the networks were pressured to can these shows because the nebbish lead characters altered their states by ingesting some trippy substances. Others on this site mention Carter Nash's father hiding behind his newspaper. I only vaguely remember that, but it fits as CN's mother was the type to hen-peck. i.e. When Carter's super powers are revealed to his mother she asks what name he has chosen. He'd chosen Captain Nice because of the CN on his belt buckle. She throws up her hands in disappointment and asks, "Couldn't you have chosen something better--like . . . "Super Brain" or something?" I thought that was funny even as a little kid. The only other bit I remember from the series involved an appearance by some kind of Gilligan's Island style native who spoke guttural gibberish. When the native says to the mother, "Tahk-a-mock-a-doi," she is aghast by the nerve of him--maybe she even slapped his face. Was funny that a 60s era stay-at-home mom would know some obscure language. And my brothers and I used that native phrase as undercover cursing around our parents. We could let the receiver of this curse imagine the worst was meant, and yet avoid getting punished for swearing. My last thoughts about Captain Nice and Mr. Terrific are that it seemed odd that two so-similar shows debuted at the same time, just as The Munsters and The Addams Family had. Figured that there was some industrial (TV industry) espionage going on, but as a seven year old I probably just called them copycats.

I vaguely remember this show. Of course, I was only ten when it was on, and our TV watching was limited. But I remember William Daniels was in it, as this hapless superhero. And he would use some potion to give himself superpowers - which were temporary. I seem to remember an episode where his powers dissipated when he was in the middle of something, like flying, and he had to quickly take more.

I had mostly forgotten about this show until my favorite, St Elsewhere, came on. Then the familiarity of William Daniels voice brought it back.

It was a humorous show, like "It's about Time," and didn't lend itself to scary dreams like the shows Chiller or The Outer Limits did.

I watched the reruns of this lost TV series few years ago and I've to say isn't that bad. Of course is dated, most of it is completely non-sense and it's clearly a low cost production but it's still watchable, it's possible to find several good moments and... I really like Captain Nice costume!