Automan (1983-84)

Automan (1983-84)

Dirs. Various | 13 episodes, approx 50 mins each.

Wikipedia describes Automan as a 'superhero' TV Series. I'm not going to argue against that classification — for one specific reason, that I'll get to below — but it's kind of misleading. I see it more as a science-fiction buddy cop show from prolific series creator / producer Glen A. Larsen.

The first half of the duo is police officer and skilled computer programmer Walter Nebicher (Desi Arnaz Jr.). The other half is the titular Automan (Chuck Wagner), a sophisticated Artificial Intelligence program created by Walter that can exist in the real world for finite periods of time as a 3D hologram in a cosplay Tron (1982) suit from the neck down.

Automan (short for Automatic Man) does go it alone in the field sometimes, but he and Walter pair up often enough to meet the 'buddy-cop' standard.

Perhaps the most interesting thing about the concept is that part of the A.I.'s training involved old movies, among other things, and at any time he can take on the traits of movie characters; e.g., in one episode he busts out a John Travolta dance from Saturday Night Fever (1977), while in another he takes inspiration from Brando in The Godfather (1972). It's fictional A.I. model plagiarism decades before it became a reality.

Automan has his own little helper. Named Cursor, it's a floating polyhedron with a teenager attitude that could generate physical objects from vector line shapes. The car on the cover art above is one such example. After the vehicle was drawn in 3D space, Automan could use it to drive around in. (Incidentally, the car took corners just like the light cycles in Tron.) It's a hologram driving a hologram. That makes sense. What didn't make sense, however, was that Walter could ride in it, too. But that's not even the dumbest thing about the series.

That would be Walter and Auto merging into one being. Walter can hop inside Auto's holographic shell, allowing him to go wherever the hologram can go, including walking through walls and having bullets pass through him. I suspect that's what gets it the superhero label on Wiki. It's certainly the only way to 'explain' away a complete break in the laws of physics as and when an episode needs it. (Walter's body isn't visible, but corporeality shouldn't cease to apply just because it's surrounded by a digital glamour.) An adherence to real world logic isn't something that I expect to see maintained in 80s TV, but the application of its opposite in the Automan series raised my eyebrow an inch or two and may stretch the limits of even the most lenient fan.

Recurring secondary charters include Jack Curtis (Robert Lansing), a police lieutenant who doesn't understand computers but grants Walter some leeway in his pursuits because he sometimes gets favourable results, and Roxanne Caldwell (Heather McNair), the token office lady / love interest with the prettiest eyes and an understanding personality. Guest actors included the likes of Patrick Macnee, Ed Lauter, John Vernon, and Richard Lynch.

- Roxanne and Walter | Beauty and the Geek -

I was excited going into the series. I even donned the extra-thick Nostalgia Goggles to try and get some joy from it, but it didn't hold up to my memory of it. It lasted just 13 episodes before being cancelled. Wiki reports that ratings were so low in the US that they didn't even air the final episode at the time, which was a shitty thing to do to fans that had tuned-in and supported it up to that point, so I'm happy to say that it's included on The Complete Series DVD collection.