Matthew Star

{Its hard to remember specifics about this show, but all i know is two things. I loved this show when i was younger, and NO ONE ELSE remembers it! Every sci fi geek I ask looks at me like i have two heads when i mention the name Matthew Star.}

I'm so with you chad. I'm so happy to be reading these comments and know that I am no longer alone. I was beginning to think I dreamt the damn show! LOL. I do hope someone will release it on DVD sooner or later. I'm sure they will. Just earlier in the year I was thinking the same for the Bionic Woman starring Lindsey Wagner and "viola" what did I just buy last month? The entire 3 seasons on DVD. So there is hope my powered friends. Be Patient! It will come! LOL

I remember watching this show every week when it was new. Since I've never seen it in syndication or repeats since then, I now remember very little about it. Louis Gossett Jr. played a strong mentor-type role. The title character's powers evolved as he matured. I'd watch this show again if it were ever aired on TV again.

i too recall this show with nostalgia. recently i watched "alive" (for about the tenth time) and the actor portraying "tin tin" looked like someone i remembered from a childhood TV show of mine. it took a few moments to recollect, and i didn't have it quite right as i searched IMDb for "matthew powers." eventually i found the right title to the show, and name of the character, and the name of the actor, peter barton. as a young kid during the (brief!) run of that show, i was rapt with attention, and it made an indelible impression on me, obviously. it's gotta be that that whole thing we have as kids - feeling and fantasizing that we have fantastic powers.

Hundreds of shows have come and gone, but Matthew Star remains my favorite. The acting by the cast (especially Peter Barton, considering the fact he was around 26 playing a 16 year old) is superb and the original story lines up until the point mid-season when the show was revamped (at the network's request, I'm presuming) are fantastic.

The idea that as if growing up on Earth isn't hard enough, Matthew Star was expected to lead a planet of people to freedom some day, was inspired. There are great emotional scenes when you realize that despite being a prince with special powers, Matthew was humble and very unsure of himself at times.

My big regrets are that the show ended so abruptly and that the show isn't available on DVD to be enjoyed by our new generation of Sci-Fi fans (hint, hint). I sure would have looked forward to Season 2: The Return to Quadris!

... it is much bigger and grander in my memory than it actually is. I guess its power, at least in my case, is in its nostagia, so YMMV.

Peter Barton stars as Matthew Star, a normal-looking high-school age teen who is secretly a fugitive prince from a distant planet. Lou Gossett Jr co-stars as Walt, also an alien, who has acted as Matthew's guardian on Earth, where the boy has lived most of his life. Being part of the alien royal family, Matthew has various super powers, such as telekinesis and limited telepathy. Matthew just wants to live the life of a normal Earth teen, spending time with his high school sweetheart Pam (series regular Amy Steel), while Walt goes undercover as a science teacher at the school Matthew attends. Matthew and Walt have to deal with assorted troubles from the mundane (drag-racing teens, trouble on the football team) to the extraordinary (alien bounty hunters, inquisitive scientists).

At the half-season mark, the series underwent a soft reboot, with the high school setting eventually dropped, and Amy Steel being dropped from the cast. Matthew and Walt are now working for the government, in the person of skeptical contact James Karen. They are assigned missions searching for valuable technology, stopping terrorists, or fighting other sundry crimes. Matthew also exhibits a bunch of new powers, such as being able to project an astral body version of himself that can walk through walls; shoot laser blasts from his hands; and even transforming items with a wave of his hand.

The series has a reputation as one of the worst science fiction shows in television history. I was prepared for worse than it is, but it's still not good. The stories range from silly to stupid, and there's a lot of early-80's network cheese on display (plenty of laughing freeze-frames to close out episodes). Barton and Steel (who had both starred in different Friday the 13th movies) are blandly pretty, while accomplished pro Gossett is definitely slumming (he was appearing in this when he won his Best Supporting Actor Oscar for An Officer and a Gentleman). The producers included Harve Bennett who had worked on Star Trek (Leonard Nimoy directs an episode, and Walter Koenig wrote one), and Bruce Lansbury, brother of Angela Lansbury. Bruce's daughter/Angela's niece Felicia Lansbury appears in one of the last episodes.