Nick Cox The 1980s were full of optimistic TV action series of a kind we just don't see any more. Not that I'm against the high-quality screen writing of such shows as "24", "Buffy" or "Angel"; it's just that I miss the old popcorn dramas which were nothing if not fun and provided ample light relief from stressful schooldays. Recent releases of "The A Team", "Knight Rider" et al on DVD have brought that old pleasure back, but I'm still eagerly anticipating "Airwolf", "Street Hawk" and "Automan". The latter two lasted only one season, but they were certainly enjoyable to me and my school friends. In those days when an American TV show was cancelled it was of too little consequence to become known in the UK, so we never knew why these fun shows disappeared. "Automan" appealed to me because it seemed to be a reverse of "Tron". The hero was rather straight-laced (even compared to Christopher Reeve's Superman!), but the show had plenty of visual treats and action to satisfy kids like me. It's the humour that I would like to re-evaluate as an adult. I'm almost certain I'd enjoy seeing this again!

dougditto I remember this weak show. I had high hopes for it, as a closet fan of computers. I remember using an Apple II Plus in 7th grade math class, and we owned an original Macintosh. Computers were a slowly growing trend at the time, and few used them in any frequency. Now we all use them daily. This show ranks up there against the super-motorcycle cop show (the one that flew), "Viper", and Manimal... another in the long line of knight-rider wannabes. There is no spoiler that could be given, even if I wanted to. The show was weak, and deserved the toss into cancellation hell that it got. The slow shot, then sped-up car chase scenes were so obvious, as to be funny. This could have been so much better.

Jack Yan Yes, this was a little predictable, as one reviewer said, but it had a sense of humour that American shows seldom crack. Strangely, it was from Glen Larson, whose creations have not always stood the test of time. Yet the charm in Automan was so delicious that it was a shame that it only lasted 13 episodes.Walter Nebicher (Desi Arnaz) is a computer geek who creates a hologram called Automan (Chuck Wagner) - but the character turns out to have not only Walter's ideas for a crime-fighter, but his own soul. Turns out Automan has lived in a parallel, video-game universe (à la Tron, the big SFX hit of the early 1980s) and counts Pac-man and Donkey Kong ('He's an animal') among his friends.This improbable storyline, plus Automan's sidekick, Cursor (who has quite the eye [he must have one!] for the ladies) played for good laughs. What we do know is that the characters are not really going to develop much. Walter has a stereotypical loud cop boss with a New York accent (Gerald S. O'Loughlin) who hates him, a beautiful female police detective (Heather McNair) who fancies him, and an immediate superior (Robert Lansing) who feels he's misunderstood yet wants to make him feel valued. And the villains are similarly flat, perhaps with the exception of the suave Patrick Macnee in the première episode.For a guy who doesn't like sci-fi (and who was in his teens when this aired), it was a fine way to spoof the genre and to poke fun at the primitive nature of video games and early 1980s' computers. Additional ideas were that Walter could feed in data about human life into Automan, so he could dance like John Travolta after receiving a Beta tape with a disco flick - another opportunity for set-ups. A priceless tennis-playing scene sees Cursor replace the real ball, set up for more laughs. Sometimes the oldest gags are the best ones.Meanwhile, Automan gets stuck on everyday human problems: when asked what his (astrological) sign is, he cannot reply. Walter suggests, 'Tell him you're an Apple II.'Unlike Galactica 1980, the special effects don't look too primitive, and in its day, were very swish for TV.Automan did have the storylines of a kids' show, much like the similarly ill-fated Enos, the Dukes of Hazzard spin-off that was its contemporary. However, folks appreciated a bit of a tickle then, seeing a splash of humour in the (by then) tired genre of the one-hour-format cop show. Numerous episodes looked expensive and probably were - so the show always looked the part. Automan is a product of its era and still retains some fascination for me. Sometimes, you just need something that isn't so serious.

darren caschera Hello,I would like to say i watched each and every episode of Automan and i really loved!! the show till the network decided to remove it for some odd reason, as they did with The Greatest American Hero in which i loved alot too. The show was really cool!! I wish it would come back on TV for all to c again.. It was a different show and it was unique thats what made it special..So many great shows came on and left like it was yesterday.. I specially got a kick out of Cursor whom made the show also and made everthing for Chuck Wagner.. Bottom line is it was a great sci-fi adventure for all to watch at that time and i loved it.. So tks for reading this and whom knows the networks make sequels all the time on different shows maybe they could possibly bring back this great show, they never gave it a chance!!!!