RoboCop

I was recently at a used video/bookstore where I bought a video thinking it was RoboCop the movie. After further inspection on the ride home, I realized I had accidentally bought the pilot episode of the old TV series I used to watch in my earlier years. I decided on watching on it. If I didn't like it, I would bring it back and buy the movie.

I didn't.

This pilot is so stupid and outlandlishly ridiculous, that the only plausible explanation for it was that the producers were trying to recreate a RoboCop version of the old Batman show. That's the only way I can explain the campy quips, the ridiculous villains (Pudface Morgan, hah!) and the bad acting. The whole experience just felt to me like something for the kids whose mothers wouldn't allow them to see the very violent, sometimes disturbing 1988 movie. I have heard that the later TV movies and animated series were better. I certainly hope so.

I rather liked the series. I saw it as an extension of the Robocop 3 humor and a good approach for a Primetime network TV series. (A more Robocop 1- like series would fit on a HBO or other cable network and would please the Robo fan base better.) It gives a nod to the 60's Batman series in not taking itself too seriously but isn't as cartoonish as said Batman. The humour is more akin to Escape from New York (another debate for another forum)than the Three Stooges and is campy at times. Camp is an acquired taste that rarely appeals to the fans who enjoyed the gritty and bloody violence of the first 2 films. What it has going for it is that its fun, witty (the Rowdy Roddy Piper episode is a classic and I'm not just talking about the Major Market uniform either), and expanded the Robo universe in a pre-Dark Knight Returns/Spawn comic-bookish way. The writing varied but the surrounding cast and guest stars made up for it. I can show my kids this series and enjoy it with them and then share the movie series and the Prime Directives miniseries of movies with them when they're older. This is a PG Robocop series and should be judged on its own merits and not compared to the R rated movies which were created for another market altogether.

The TV series of Robocop is a very strange creature to review. On the surface, it does everything wrong. It's campy, the acting from the villains leaves a lot to be desired, and the violence has been watered down to a family-friendly level. Simply put, it shouldn't work...

But...

This has become one of my favourite TV series, that I return to once every couple of years. Why, you ask? The character. Robocop/Murphy's soul is captured in each episode. Richard Eden manages to imbue Murphy with the same sense of character that Peter Weller did in the original, despite the armour and helmet. There is a melancholy and a philosophical edge to the him, that rises above the over-the-top villains and occasional silliness.

On top of that, the series does an excellent job of continuing the satire of the original, from the Media-Break moments, to the corporate greed. Even the plotlines are rather good, poking fun at consumerism and corporate corruption. They may sometimes feel ridiculous due to the cartoon villains, but when you imagine the same stories played in a serious way, they could be quite smart and cutting.

The series also adds an excellent but sadly underused element, which is NeuroBrain, otherwise known as Diana (Andrea Roth). Her addition as a character who has undergone a similar fate to Murphy, and become a 'ghost in the machine', adds a superb twist that could have have gone so much farther. It also helps that Andrea Roth could be quite ethereal in the role.

Yvette Nipar becomes the replacement for Nancy Allen, as Robocop's partner, and does a good job of playing it straight and serious, as does Blu Mankuma as the replacement for Robert DoQui, the precinct Sergeant. Even Sarah Campbell as 'Gadget', the Sergeant's adoptive daughter, makes for an enjoyable contrast of young innocence to Murphy's tragic hero.

Then we have episodes dealing with Murphy's family, including his wife and son, and ultimately even his father, for some touching moments.

Apart from the obvious issues, I do wish that they had allowed Richard Eden to gradually loosen up in the role. All too often he is _too_ robotic, particularly in personal scenes where they should have allowed his humanity to come through a little more.

Ultimately, it's a shame the series didn't get a chance to grow. With the introduction of a side character entering cyberspace, and meeting Diana, the possibility of Murphy having another life as 'himself' in cyberspace, with Diana, was clearly an option. It would have opened up a new world of story possibilities, from allowing the actor to escape the 'suit' and be more human, to the dilemmas of juggling his real life as Robocop, when he could become addicted to spending all of his time with Diana.

Oddly enough, I do wonder if being forced to make it family-friendly was one of the things that encouraged the writers to make more of the emotional aspects of Robocop. I think people often miss the core of the character, when they only want more action and gunfire. When written well, it can have both, but it's easy to forget the substance amongst the action.

If it was ever remade, they could recycle much of Robocop the Series and, for the most part, they would only need to de-camp the villains. The stories, characters and emotions are all there. Where it shines is in its heart and soul, if you allow yourself to scratch below the de-fanged surface.

Although there is more than one way RoboCop could have been adapted for television, this is a very good way to do it. Although movie director Verhoeven's touch is missing on the series, the original writers Miner and Neumeier return (at least for the pilot) to put Robocop back on track. The content is somewhat toned down over the original movie (both because of its conversion to television and because it is aimed at a younger audience), but the spirit of the original is in most ways preserved: the satire, personal drama (mostly regarding Alex Murphy/Robocop), and the good-guy vs. bad-guy action. The drama regarding Murphy is expanded on, as we get more exposure to his memories and to his family, and there is added a character, in the form of Delta City's new brain, who shares in many ways Murphy's plight. Ultimately, the television series comes off closer to the original movie than either of the two theatrical sequels.

The television series does take a slightly different spin than the movie, but ultimately it works out for the best. Robocop here is more of a comic book superhero, but not necessarily in a bad way. He is superhuman both physically and morally, and yet we remain sympathetic to his plight throughout. He is someone we really want to root for. (Personally, I think RoboCop makes the most interesting superhero since Batman.) The villains are more comic-bookish as well, but they do not seem out of place given the change in tone. The series can be serious and yet be silly in an almost Batman-like way at times, without the two ever seeming at odds with each other. Also changed is the tone; the series moralizes more, and has cut the graphic violence of the original. It is sort of RoboCop with more of a conscience.

In addition to its other virtues, the series adds surprisingly high production value and more than tolerable acting (Richard Eden especially does an interesting job as Robocop - very mechanical, quite appropriate). For fans of RoboCop or of comic-book-style action shows like Batman and Superman or hardcore sci-fi fans this is a must see. For anyone willing to experience something out of the ordinary, this is very good viewing. It is a shame it only made it one season, I would have loved to see more.

Low-key series version of the blockbuster film does much with its far more modest resources. The story is much the same, but the satirical elements and personal stories are done more stylishly here; they take up some of the slack left by the absence of much of the large-scale violence and futuristic hardware (necessitated by the lower budget inherent in syndicated television). The cast is surprisingly strong: Yvette Nipar as lead cop Madigan and Andrea Roth as Diana/Neurobrain are both highly charismatic. Richard Eden does a fine job but is largely wasted. Emmy-nominated on "Santa Barbara," here he is stuck playing a machine with little opportunity to show even the slightest bit of emotion. The satirical elements of the show are particularly strong; I have some feeling "Robocop" would be much more successful had it been produced in 2001 or 2002 rather than 1994. Unfortunately, only one season of episodes was produced.