Automan

No one should be embarrassed to admit they liked this show. Look at how many people here gave it positive reviews. I can't remember much more than how cool that car was and Automan's suit, how wild it was! I liked the cast a lot. I also remembered that it starred Desi Arnaz Jr. and that I was bummed when it was canceled. They never gave it a chance. It takes a little time to develop a following and this show and "The Flash" would have done well had they not yanked them off the air so soon. I kind of remember that the theme song was very good also, but can't remember much about it. You can vote to see it, and other shows, on DVD at: TVShowsOnDVD.com.

Yes, this was a little predictable, as one reviewer said, but it had a sense of humour that American shows seldom crack. Strangely, it was from Glen Larson, whose creations have not always stood the test of time. Yet the charm in Automan was so delicious that it was a shame that it only lasted 13 episodes.

Walter Nebicher (Desi Arnaz) is a computer geek who creates a hologram called Automan (Chuck Wagner) - but the character turns out to have not only Walter's ideas for a crime-fighter, but his own soul. Turns out Automan has lived in a parallel, video-game universe (à la Tron, the big SFX hit of the early 1980s) and counts Pac-man and Donkey Kong ('He's an animal') among his friends.

This improbable storyline, plus Automan's sidekick, Cursor (who has quite the eye [he must have one!] for the ladies) played for good laughs. What we do know is that the characters are not really going to develop much. Walter has a stereotypical loud cop boss with a New York accent (Gerald S. O'Loughlin) who hates him, a beautiful female police detective (Heather McNair) who fancies him, and an immediate superior (Robert Lansing) who feels he's misunderstood yet wants to make him feel valued. And the villains are similarly flat, perhaps with the exception of the suave Patrick Macnee in the première episode.

For a guy who doesn't like sci-fi (and who was in his teens when this aired), it was a fine way to spoof the genre and to poke fun at the primitive nature of video games and early 1980s' computers. Additional ideas were that Walter could feed in data about human life into Automan, so he could dance like John Travolta after receiving a Beta tape with a disco flick - another opportunity for set-ups. A priceless tennis-playing scene sees Cursor replace the real ball, set up for more laughs. Sometimes the oldest gags are the best ones.

Meanwhile, Automan gets stuck on everyday human problems: when asked what his (astrological) sign is, he cannot reply. Walter suggests, 'Tell him you're an Apple II.'

Unlike Galactica 1980, the special effects don't look too primitive, and in its day, were very swish for TV.

Automan did have the storylines of a kids' show, much like the similarly ill-fated Enos, the Dukes of Hazzard spin-off that was its contemporary. However, folks appreciated a bit of a tickle then, seeing a splash of humour in the (by then) tired genre of the one-hour-format cop show. Numerous episodes looked expensive and probably were - so the show always looked the part. Automan is a product of its era and still retains some fascination for me. Sometimes, you just need something that isn't so serious.

For some odd reason, I actually liked this show. I was only 16yr when it aired, but I loved the special effects. This show really seems like something Disney would make. It was a little bit of Tron with low-budget comedy crime fighter thrown in. The two things I remember the most is the title song and the auto-car. The song had a catchy tune that I still hum now and then. The car would get created by "Cursor", Automan's sidekick and it was very cool how it was done. Cursor would start drawing the lines of the car and then pick up speed as he drew the rest. It would make some electrical sound while Cursor drew it. Like Automan, the car was a glowing neon light blue. When automan drove it, it steered like the motorcycles in TRON. It would make sharp turns left or right and Desi Jr's character would get slammed against the door window. The show was just fun to watch back then. The main thing that killed it was the writing. The villains weren't anything special and each story really didn't draw you in and make you want to come back. The comedy aspect of the show was decent. It also was expensive to make each episode and because it didn't draw a big audience, they really didn't make much money off of it. I still would love to see this on DVD just for nostalgic purposes.

I'm somewhat embarrassed to admit this but I loved Automan. Like a lot of things from the 80s I think we are amazed with what things appealed to us back then. An episode of Friends summed it up when college aged Ross and Chandler turn up to thanksgiving dressed as if they were from Miami Vice. Yes this series typified 80s style in many ways and because of that has not stood the test of time. I can't see them repeating it in the UK because 14-15 year-olds will think it is stupid.

Anyway the show is about an LA cop(Arnaz jr) who has an expertise in computers. With his computer equipment he creates Automan(Wagner) and the flashing 'cursor' who makes the cars, boats, guitars or whatever Automan needs at the time. The two of them go after the big bad criminals and get them. Only two people know about Automan, his creator and another cop, an attractive female who never quite becomes anyone's love interest. There are lots of good driving scenes, likable characters and fairly good Sci-fi effects but most of all it has charisma. Unfortunately it is also a silly idea that never quite explains itself and is so corny the phrase corny could be replaced by the word Automan.

If you see it for the first time now you will probably be shocked at how bad it was. If you remember it from the first time round you will probably have that old familiar feeling which you might describe as comfortable.

OK, at the mid-70s you have to recognize how the American TV shows became more and more interested in the idea of being "super" more than ever. After the phase of the cowboy shows, the espionage ones, then the mysteries' solvers, we came to the point of a man, or a woman, who's part human and part machine, or that person who got superpowers anyway. It's very well known matter in the old comics, but from the 1970s in TV, the revelation, or the revolution, began.

Remember titles like: (The Six Million Dollar Man - 1974), (The Invisible Man - 1975), (The Bionic Woman - 1976), (Gemini Man - 1976) and (Wonder Woman - 1976). At the same time, another kind became in fashion: the Buddy-shows like (Switch - 1975), (Starsky and Hutch - 1975), (CHiPs - 1977), (The Hardy Boys-Nancy Drew Mysteries - 1977). So, why not to gather the 2 successful elements, "The Superhuman" and "The 2 Buddies Team", in one sci-fi / action show.

They already married them in (Future Cop - 1977); a short-lived TV show about a veteran patrol officer who gets an android for a partner. After more prosperous ones, like (The Greatest American Hero - 1981) and (The Powers of Matthew Star - 1982), there was the big hit (Knight Rider - 1982) where an ex-policeman is in the company of a talking supercar to achieve justice. And right in the next year, (Automan) has been born.

It was such a smart and funny idea. Read its tagline: "A computer generated superhero and his human creator fight crime in their city".. this is music to my ear! Imagine a talking computer, in the form of a brawny good man, with a comic human partner, in action all the time; this has endless ironies.

If you watched it as a kid, you'd never forget it. The whole azure image of (Chuck Wagner) as (Automan) is something that sticks in your memory forever. And sure its formula speaks cleverly to the child in you, unlike the most of nowadays' shows I suppose. As an adult, I just hated points like the unneeded striptease of the title character at one episode, which was obviously inserted to have more viewers, however in cheap and embarrassing way!

Ohhh, the 1980s is gone, so most of the childish innocent fun too. You'd think that the makers of these shows were great children themselves. I believe watching CSI today makes you cherish these oldies much, and discover the secret of them being real classics for reasons other than the nostalgic feel.

Unfortunately, (Automan) lasted for only 13 episodes; I won't say that 13 is the most ill-fated number for many canceled shows, but let's say that many good things come in 13 such as: (A Man Called Hawk - 1989), (The Lone Gunmen - 2001), (Pepper Dennis - 2006) and (Automan). My best regards to the nice azure robot, its makers, and their time.