Captain Nice

I disagree with most of the comments saying that this show was bad. This was a funny show created by Get Smart's Buck Henry. I never missed an episode and managed to get all 15 in VHS tape format (although a bit fuzzy). Much better program than the competing super hero spoof, Mister Terrific

The pairing of Williams Daniels, an early king of sarcasm and snark, and Buck Henry, co-creator of Get Smart, seemed a perfect match to warp the image of the stalwart superhero. I don't remember much about the show, except it started off strong, writing-wise ... then seemed to peter out, becoming family friendly and silly, eventually being canceled early (15 episodes back then, more than most current shows single season!). I do remember one of my all-time my favorite lines from a comedy show. Now, I'm paraphrasing here, but I recall an exchange between Capt Nice and an outraged spectator: Bystander: You can't arrest that man! Captain Nice: This is a democracy .... we can arrest anyone we want. With Buck Henry behind the wheel, this could've been the best show ever, at the time. Still, it had it's moments. Worth a watch!

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!

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 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.