Automan
Automan is an American superhero television series produced by Glen A. Larson. It aired for 12 episodes on ABC between 1983 and 1984. It consciously emulates the visual stylistics of the Walt Disney Pictures live-action film Tron, in the context of a superhero TV series. The series was later shown in reruns on the Sci-Fi Channel.
Synopsis
Automan follows the adventures of police officer and computer programmer Walter Nebicher, who has created an artificially intelligent crimefighting computer program that generates a hologram able to leave the computer world at night and fight crime.While in the tangible world, Automan poses as Walter's friend, government agent Otto J. Mann. This is a secret to all except Walter's close associate Roxanne Caldwell. Meanwhile, in the computer world" from which Automan originates, where he has met such luminaries as Donkey Kong.
Nebicher can merge with Automan to become one being, sharing consciousness and skills, while retaining Automan's invulnerability.
Automan's sidekick is Cursor, a floating, shifting polyhedron which can "draw" and generate physical objects as needed. The most common forms taken are an automobile, an airplane, and a helicopter, all of which can defy the laws of physics.
The show also stars Robert Lansing as Lieutenant Jack Curtis and Gerald S. O'Loughlin as Captain of Detectives E. G. Boyd, both Walter's superiors. Both believe Automan is a friend of Walter from the FBI. Captain Boyd, a technophobe who had no use for computers, often holds up Lieutenant Curtis as the kind of cop he was convinced was the ideal for police – an ideal to which he believes Walter could never rise.
Features
The Automan costume appeared to glow on screen due to its retroreflective sheeting designed by 3M. The fabric consisted of tiny reflective balls, and could reflect nearly 100 percent of light shone at it. The costume also had highly polished plates attached to it to provide the holographic appearance, all enhanced in post-production through chromakey effects.The Autocar and Autochopper were the most common vehicles created for transport. Each vehicle would appear or disappear as a sequence of wireframes drawn by Cursor, and were engineered by the special effects team using black props with strips of reflective tape stuck on them. The Autocar was a "brought to life" in the fictional world of the television series by the special effects team using a real life Lamborghini Countach LP400 as a model. In the fictional world of the television series, the Autocar had capabilities beyond real world physics, like the ability to make 90-degree turns without losing control and overtake merely by strafing rather than turning. However, human passengers not properly secured in their seats were often thrown around inside with the momentum from the sudden position change. The FX team's Autochopper was based on a real life Bell Jetranger. The fictional Autochopper had capabilities no real world helicopter had, such as the ability to land anywhere. The show also featured a futuristic airplane and motorcycle, while other episodes featured a distinctive handgun and a guitar.
Another prominent feature of the fictional Automan was his ability to "wrap himself" around Walter as a means of protecting him. They would appear as one person, but because Walter was inside Automan, he would inadvertently end up speaking in two voices.
Despite Automan's many fictional powers, he also had his weaknesses. Automan's excessive use of electricity would often mean he would suffer from power shortage during the daytime, so he was rarely active in sunlight.
Cancellation
Automan was put in the Monday 8 PM ET timeslot where it competed with the popular Scarecrow and Mrs. King as well as TV's Bloopers & Practical Jokes. Because of poor ratings and expensive special effects, Automan was canceled after twelve of its thirteen episodes had aired.Cast
- Desi Arnaz Jr. – Walter Nebicher
- Chuck Wagner – Automan / Otto J. Mann
- Robert Lansing – Lieutenant Jack Curtis
- Gerald S. O'Loughlin – Police Captain E. G. Boyd
- Heather McNair – Roxanne Caldwell
US television ratings
Episodes
DVD release
On October 1, 2012, Fabulous Films released the complete series on DVD in the UK. This was the first DVD release of the series anywhere in the world.On August 18, 2015, the show was released on DVD in Australia as a four disc set through Madman Entertainment.
On November 10, 2015, Shout! Factory released the complete series on DVD in Region 1 for the very first time. The 4-disc set featured all 13 episodes of the series as well as bonus features.