Friday, October 7, 2011

Desi Arnaz Jr. In Automan (1983)

This week is shaping up to be all about sci-fi TV shows. In this one, Walter Nebicher (Arnaz) creates holographic superhero Automan (Chuck Wagner), able to leave cyber space and fight crime in the real world. His sidekick is a floating object called Cursor, who draws objects such as cars, clothing and helicopters that become three dimensional reality and can be used by Automan to save humanity. This imaginative concept was only marginally successful because of weak scripts. The visuals were good for the time, resembling those in Tron (1982), with glowing blue elements. Look for Heather McNair as the token female.

This series lasted only 12 episodes and a commercial release DVD has never been made. It can be found on YouTube and various fan sites. Above is the first installment of the pilot episode, uploaded to YouTube by imstillstuckinthe80s.

Obscurity factor: 7 (has devoted cult fans, not on DVD, available on YouTube)

No comments:

Post a Comment