Monday, October 8, 2007

1983-Automan


Another fantasy show cranked out by Glen A. Larson in the 80s was Automan!
Clearly inspired by Tron, Automan was a computer program that police computer programmer Walter Nebicher wrote and would manifest itself in the real world at night. So it was pretty much the reverse of Tron. An interesting concept but sorely underdeveloped as a concept and plot device. I still remember the extremely lame reasoning for his name in the pilot episode. Asked why he was named Automan, Walter responds "because you're the world's first truly automatic man." How can you argue with that logic?
Automan had a sidekick named Cursor, a free floating geometric blob of light that seemed to actually materialize into Automan, but still retain it's own form and character afterward. Cursor would materialize into vehicles for Automan and Walter to ride around in.
Occasionally Automan would absorb Walter into his physical form to protect him.
Thirteen episodes were produced.

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