Nostalgia can be a wonderful thing -- until it turns absolutely terrifying. Case in point: 1980s television. Sure, the decade gave us platinum-quality series like Cheers and Hill Street Blues. But it's also the decade that produced shows like these two new releases: Automan and Manimal.
What are they? Automan, Complete Series, 13 episodes on four discs and Manimal, eight episodes on three discs, from Fabulous Films
When? Now
How much? $26.99 for each
Those are pretty strange names. They're pretty strange shows and those titles should give you a fair idea of what they're about.
Automan: Walter (Desi Arnaz Jr.) is an eager young policeman and computer expert who's certain that computers hold the key to fighting crime. Using Sherlock Holmes, James Bond and a list of fantasy heroes and real-life actors, he creates an artificially intelligent program and hologram he calls Automan (Chuck Wagner). Automan, who thinks very highly of himself, is capable of observing other people and then doing what they did, but better. His sidekick is Cursor, a floating glowy thing that can create a car, helicopter or anything else, really, out of nothing. He's the perfect superhero and he helps Walter and his friend Roxanne Caldwell (Heather McNair) go after murderers, thieves and corrupt cops.
Manimal: Dapper, mysterious Jonathan Chase (Simon MacCorkindale) is, on the surface, just a criminologist and consultant for the NYPD. But he's also got a way with animals. In fact, he can become one. When he needs to hide, sneak around, attack a bad guy or just scare someone, he can turn into an animal (hawk and panther seem to be his favorites). He can also communicate with them. The only ones who know are his old Vietnam partner Ty Earl (Michael D. Roberts) and young police officer Brooke Mackenzie (Melody Anderson). Together, the three of them take on an assortment of crooks.
Both series date to 1983. In fact, Manimal premiered opposite the "Who shot J.R.?" episode of Dallas. Not exactly a great start.
Are they any good? No. No, they're not. They're fine as oddities and relics of early '80s television, but as anything else, they're painful. Poorly acted. Badly paced. Oddly plotted. And with set-ups that make you say, "Oh. Wait. What?! They put that on TV?"
It's not just that they're unbelievable. The history of television is full of series that make you wonder how they came up with that. It's that the execution is so bad.
One could get some fun watching them in a Mystery Science Theater 3000 sort of way. And they're the sort of shows that might have a small cult following, but that's about it.
Are there extras? Surprisingly, there are.
Automan has a 42-minute featurette about the series, galleries and some text-only features on the Automan story.
As for Manimal, there's an 18-minute interview with creator Glen A. Larson, production notes, biographies and image galleries.
New this week: CPO Sharkey, Best of Season 1; Doc Martin, 6 Surly Seasons + The Movies and Season 7 (Blu-ray); Family Guy, Season 13; Hannibal, Season 3; The Merv Griffin Show, Best of the '60s, '70s and '80s; Under the Dome, Season 3; The Wild Thornberrys, Complete Series.
Next week: C.S.I., Finale; Extant, Season 2; Marco Polo, Season 1; Teen Wolf, Season 5, Part 1.
Style on 12/06/2015