Mann & Machine

I remember watching this back in the early 1990's when, aside from the Star Trek franchise, there was very little in good sci-fi on TV. This show had some good potential that, unfortunately, never got explored. The vision of the future was well done (one of the better semi-dystopian interpretations on TV since Max Headroom), and the ongoing chemistry between the two leads was pretty good. Never intended to be "the bionic woman" that one reviewer labeled it, Yancy Butler does well as the new-model robot/android, with the right touch of unintentional sexuality in a character just learning the nuances of actual human interactions (esp. between the sexes). Plus, they didn't bring on all of her artificial abilities all at once, instead developing them - and the relationship between the two leads - as they went along. (The scene where she takes out her eyes, and her partner's reaction, comes to mind as an example.) Would it have survived if they'd given it the full season to blossom? In the TV environment of the day, probably not, but it probably would have fared better today on the cable landscape.

Any time I have seen a TV series, especially one like "Mann & Machine," which I found to have some of the best irony subplots of any movie or TV series, I find out what was used as a pilot for that TV series. By viewing the pilot, I find myself even more interested in the series because things are generally revealed about the plot, or the characters or something intrinsic, that makes me want to see how it plays out in the upcoming episodes.

I have been trying to corroborate who the actors were in the pilot, and to find out the name of the pilot, which I think was a made-for-TV movie, but have had no success. I recall Craig Stevens and Gary (of Alien Nation TV series fame) as two of the main actors in the pilot. For me, this pilot allowed me to enjoy the TV series more. Does anyone recall the name of the movie?

In the future a cop gets a beautiful female robot as his partner. this is an experimental project. Detective Mann knows he is being monitored, so he has to be careful, If she were a real woman and they were not being monitored, he would fall head over heels in love with her. However he fears he would look foolish if he showed his true feelings for her. The audience was not fascinated with this and the show got poor ratings.

Put this sci-fi series in context. This ran in 1992 between Star Trek TNG season 5 and 6. Aired within weeks of Alien 3 release, months prior to Universal Soldier being in cinema. It was thrilling watching this on TV for this then 12 year old. I recently sat down to watch some lo-fi VHS recordings of this series and set my expectations to low. As of now (December 2021) this series has not (to my knowledge) been released for purchase or for streaming. After watching I was surprised at how well it holds up in terms of entertainment. The main trope here: The anti-android cop gets an android partner and over time grows a mutual respect and even affinity. My issues: There is no profound sci-fi here. The CGI is 1992 television level. The fight choreography film strategy seemed to be a shaky cam + 1.25x speed + blur effect. It's only 9 episodes. Hopefully this will eventually be released in a high fidelity format. If you want to watch a very similar series (made 20 years later) check out 'Almost Human' (2013)

Yancy Butler as the Bionic Woman? The star of Switchblade played a robotic woman of the future who fought off the bad guys... Mann & Machine was a filler show that only lasted about 9 episodes. I remember getting very excited about this show coming on (as I LOVED the Bionic Woman) but this one just couldn't measure up. It was actually yesterday (March 1, 2004) that I came across the pilot episode that I taped back in 1992...after watching it (12 years later) I see a lot of the hit show "Alias" & the motion picture "Laura Croft" mixed in it. Still, it wasn't a great show, but maybe in 2016 (12 years from now) I will watch again & give it another shot! For now I'll give it a 5 out of 10.