Automan

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Automan

Walter Nebicher (Desi Arnaz, Jr.)
and Automan (Chuck Wagner).
Format Science Fiction, Superhero
Created by Glen A. Larson
Written by Sam Egan (4 eps)
Douglas Heyes, Jr. (3 eps)
Larry Brody (2 eps)
Directed by Kim Manners (4 eps)
Winrich Kolbe (3 eps)
Lee H. Katzin (1 ep)
Starring Desi Arnaz, Jr.
Chuck Wagner
Heather McNair
Robert Lansing
Gerald S. O'Loughlin
Composer(s) Stu Phillips
Country of origin Flag of the United States United States
Language(s) English
No. of episodes 13
Production
Executive
producer(s)		 Glen A. Larson
Larry Brody
Producer(s) Donald Kushner
Peter Locke
Running time 50 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel ABC
Original run December 15, 1983 – April 2, 1984
External links
IMDb profile
TV.com summary

Automan is an American, science fiction, superhero, television series produced by Glen A. Larson. It aired for only 12 episodes (although 13 were made) on ABC between 1983 and 1984. The series was loosely, and unofficially, based on the ground-breaking 1982 film Tron.

Contents

[edit] Synopsis

Automan (the "Automatic Man") followed the adventures of a police officer and computer programmer named Walter Nebicher (Desi Arnaz, Jr.), who had created an artificially intelligent crime fighting program that generated a hologram (Chuck Wagner) able to leave the computer world and enter reality to help fight crime.

While in the real world, Automan posed as a government agent who helped Walter by the name of "Otto J. Mann". This was a secret to all the regular characters, except Walter's close associate, Roxanne Caldwell (Heather McNair).

Nebicher could merge with Automan to become one being, sharing both consciousness and skills, while retaining Automan's invulnerability to such things as gunshots and explosions. During the "merges" only Automan's form, a human head atop a glowing body made of circuit patterns and flickering light, could be seen.

Automan had a sidekick named Cursor, a free-floating, glowing, shifting polyhedron-shaped, mote of energy which could three-dimensionally "draw" and generate physical objects as they are needed, generally becoming the object in the process. Cursor could not become another object until dissolving the current object (usually a reversal of the "drawing" effect) and reassuming "his" normal form. Exceptions to this included the fabrication of more conventional outer clothing to hide Automan's unusual body appearance, and a variable dark colored vehicle lined in glowing blue piping. Jokingly referred to as the "Auto Mobile" in one of its earliest appearances, the most common forms taken were a car, a plane, and a helicopter, all of which could defy the laws of physics (such as making a 90-degree-angle turn).

Cursor could make the vehicle appear or, by making contact with it, cause it to change from one form into another, such as shifting from a car into a helicopter, and could then detach in order to perform other tasks. Cursor could create vehicles with a more conventional appearance but could not then separate from them as he did the unusual-looking forms without the object dissolving. It is also notable that Cursor was always the first to appear from a computer, after which he immediately "created" Automan's physical body. Automan and Cursor were generally only able to become corporeal at night, since they needed a large amount of power to run.

Automan was the only TV program to feature the use of a Lamborghini Countach as transport; the Auto Mobile's most common form was such a car. When driving, Automan turned his car at 90 degree angles (a result of Nebicher's programming). Automan was unaffected, but his passengers were generally knocked from one side of the car to the other.

The show also starred Robert Lansing and Gerald S. O'Loughlin, Walter's superiors who believed that Automan was a friend of Walter's from the FBI.

[edit] Influences

Automan was inspired by the film Tron, which had come out a year earlier. Although similar in appearance, the special effects used to create the Automan look were completely different from the hand-painted effects used by Tron. Automan cinematographer Charles "Chuck" Barbee reports that what they actually did was use reflective material and portable projectors, though the end result looks simply like some kind of blue/green screen chromakey overlay.

[edit] Cast

[edit] Episodes

No. Episode Title Director Writer Original Airdate
1 "Automan" Lee H. Katzin Glen A. Larson December 15, 1983
2 "Staying Alive While Running a High Flashdance Fever" Winrich Kolbe Glen A. Larson December 22, 1983
3 "The Great Pretender" Kim Manners Sam Egan December 29, 1983
4 "Ships in the Night" Bob Claver Parke Perine January 5, 1984
5 "Unreasonable Facsimile" Winrich Kolbe Sam Egan January 12, 1984
6 "Flashes and Ashes" Kim Manners Douglas Heyes, Jr. January 19, 1984
7 "The Biggest Game in Town" Winrich Kolbe Larry Brody, Shel Willens January 26, 1984
8 "Renegade Run" Allen Baron Larry Brody, Douglas Heyes, Jr. March 5, 1984
9 "Murder MTV" Bruce Seth Green Douglas Heyes, Jr., Guerdon Trueblood March 12, 1984
10 "Murder, Take One" Kim Manners Sam Egan March 19, 1984
11 "Zippers" Alan Crosland David Garber, Bruce Kalish March 26, 1984
12 "Death By Design" Gil Bettman Sam Egan April 2, 1984
13 "Club Ten" Kim Manners Michael S. Baser, Kim Weiskopf Unaired*

* "Club Ten" has aired on The Sci-Fi Channel, and on BBC1 and Bravo in the UK.

[edit] External links