Misfits of Science

Misfits of Science
Genre Serial drama
Science-fiction
Created by James D. Parriott
Starring Dean Paul Martin
Kevin Peter Hall
Mark Thomas Miller
Courteney Cox
Jennifer Holmes
Max Wright
Mickey Jones
Country of origin United States
Language(s) English
No. of seasons 1
No. of episodes 16 (List of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s) James D. Parriott
Running time 60 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel NBC
Original run October 4, 1985 (1985-10-04) – February 21, 1986 (1986-02-21)

Misfits of Science is an American superhero fantasy television series that aired on NBC from October 1985 to February 1986. It featured a cast of super-powered humans and their madcap adventures. A double-length pilot and 15 additional episodes were created; however one episode was yet to be broadcast when the show was cancelled due to low ratings (following fierce competition from CBS's Top 10 hit Dallas).

In France, the series was known as Superminds, and in Germany as Die Spezialisten unterwegs (The Specialists on Their Way).

The name 'Misfits of Science' (and other conceptual ideas) was the brainchild of the then president of NBC Entertainment, Brandon Tartikoff.[1]

Contents

Cast and characters

Episodes

# Title Directed by Written by Original air date Production
code
1 "Deep Freeze" James D. Parriott James D. Parriott October 4, 1985 (1985-10-04) 83516
90 minutes series pilot: Billy and El, scientists for the Human Investigation Team, put together a team of super-powered individuals to deal with a secret government project to create a neutron bomb. Larry Linville and Edward Winter (actor) guest star 
2 "Your Place or Mayan?" Alan J. Levi Donald Todd October 18, 1985 (1985-10-18) 60803
On behalf of a dead friend of Billy's, an archaeologist, the Misfits set out to prove the existence of buried Mayan treasure beneath Beverly Hills. 
3 "Guess What's Coming to Dinner?" Burt Brinckerhoff Morrie Ruvinsky October 25, 1985 (1985-10-25) 60802
A friend of the Misfits claims to have made contact with aliens from Mars. Problems arise when the authorities try to prevent him from continuing his contact. 
4 "Lost Link" Christopher Leitch Mark Jones November 1, 1985 (1985-11-01) 60806
A primitive in a loin cloth comes ashore at Venice Beach and no one knows who he is — in fact it's believed he may be a caveman. It turns out that the man, "Link," is in fact an Aborigine from a lost tribe in New Guinea and the Misfits help him to set free the soul of his deceased child by placing a small totem aboard the space shuttle. 
5 "Sort of Looking for Gina" Jeffrey Hayden Michael Cassutt November 8, 1985 (1985-11-08) 60804
Johnny's efforts to get a date with an attractive woman, Gina, go amiss when it turns out she's involved with crooks and the Misfits have to mastermind a bank robbery to help her out. 
6 "Sonar… and Yet So Far" Burt Brinckerhoff Donald Todd November 15, 1985 (1985-11-15) 60807
A marine biologist and friend of Billy's who works with dolphins believes they can talk, making him the target of drug smugglers who need the help of his dolphin friends to recover a sunken cache of cocaine. 
7 "Steer Crazy" John Tracy James D. Parriott November 29, 1985 (1985-11-29) 60801
Three senior citizens end up with super-powers from irradiated hamburgers, and the Misfits have to both help them out and restrain them from injuring themselves. 
8 "Fumble on the One" Bob Sweeney Blaze Forrester December 6, 1985 (1985-12-06) 60811
The Misfits have to help Brick Tyler, a part-bionic CIA agent who has managed to lose the "football" — the briefcase that the President carries that can activate nuclear war. 
9 "Twin Engines" Burt Brinckerhoff Story by: Tim Kring
Teleplay by: Donald Todd
December 13, 1985 (1985-12-13) 60808
Johnny's friend Lonnie begins having premonitions of danger, but it turns out in fact he's linked to his previously-unknown twin Dwayne, a motorcycle racer, and the Misfits have to help them both out. 
10 "Grand Theft Bunny" Michael Switzer Pamela Norris December 27, 1985 (1985-12-27) 60810
The bad guys manipulate the Misfits into helping them unleash a plague on Los Angeles with the aid of a contaminated bunny rabbit. 
11 "Grand Elusion" Bernard McEveety Morrie Ruvinsky January 10, 1986 (1986-01-10) 60812
Billy recruits the gang to help a fellow scientist's daughter defect when she and her father tour America as part of a Russian girl's gymnast team. The gang takes the place of the magician hired to perform for the tour thanks to a judicious use of super powers, but the daughter refuses to leave without her father. Complicating matter, the KGB minder Galenkov has sworn to make sure the scientist Nikolai never gets away. The Misfits have to pull off an elaborate bait-and-switch to make sure that both Nikolai and Tatyana manage to escape. 
12 "Once Upon a Night" Barbara Peeters Linda Campanelli & M.M. Shelly Moore January 17, 1986 (1986-01-17) 60813
Gloria's pen pal Jae is the object of a hunt by unknown assailants. 
13 "Center of Attention" Burt Brinckerhoff Sara Parriott January 31, 1986 (1986-01-31) 60817
El goes undercover as an incredibly talented basketball player (with some help from Gloria) to expose a crooked owner who is having his players throw their games. 
14 "Against All Oz" Michael Switzer Morrie Ruvinsky February 7, 1986 (1986-02-07) 60819
In this somewhat bizarre episode, Billy tries to break a record for staying awake and finds himself in an alternate reality where everyone he knows is there but in different jobs and with different personalities. 
15 "The Avenging Angel" Bernard McEveety Dan Distefano February 21, 1986 (1986-02-21) 60816
Gloria helps out an aspiring pro wrestler with the use of her telekinetic powers without telling him; the wrestler, Milt, soon decides he does have super powers and Gloria needs to keep helping him out when he decides to go after crooks trying to sell him protection. 
16 "Three Days of the Blender" Michael Switzer Donald Todd N/A 60814
When a blender is accidentally delivered to Billy, he ends up getting arrested as a spy and Stetmeyer gets targeted by the FBI. 

DVD releases

On January 25, 2008, the series was released in Germany as a five-disc DVD box set (Region 2) with all episodes (including the final episode, which was originally unaired on NBC but broadcast in Germany) with both English and German soundtracks and German subtitles.

References

External links