AUTOMAN

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frank_knight
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AUTOMAN

Post by frank_knight » Mon Jan 15, 2007 12:49 pm

...a TV network actually went through and put this pilot out on the air!!!

It would have been up agains Knight Rider, Airwolf, A-Team ect ect...

Thoughts??

Well..it did happen. Heres the intro to the pilot. Awfull

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQb1ZD9W8_c&eurl
"I am the voice of Knight Industries Two Thousands, microprocessor.... K.I.T.T. for easy reference, KITT if you prefer."

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Post by nice plate » Mon Jan 15, 2007 2:54 pm

wow that looks really really bad :lol:

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Post by TurbomanKnight » Mon Jan 15, 2007 3:08 pm

That show looks terrible...
Anti-Ford. 'Nuff Said.

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Post by snafu » Mon Jan 15, 2007 3:41 pm

People are singing its praises in the "comments" section but I think it has a dorky theme song, a bunch of no-name actors, and a lousy premise.
Gimme KR in any language over this stuff....
I looked at the next video and they had Laura Branigan on the show. She would have been great on KR.
(geez- did you see the HOT PINK lapels on that guy's suit?)
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Post by Michael Pajaro » Mon Jan 15, 2007 6:52 pm

Ah, you younglings :)

It was more than a pilot. It was a regular series for at least half a season.

Yes, it's true, Automan is VERY dated now. And even when it was brand new it wasn't a great show. But you have to understand, at the time TRON was the coolest movie around (they used computer graphics in a movie! Wow!) and Automan was TV's reply.

Say what you will, but a car making 90-degree turns was, and still is, pretty awesome.

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Post by Lost Knight » Mon Jan 15, 2007 7:39 pm

Ah, '80s cheese at its best. Somehow I missed that one as a child, but I'm sure I would have found it appealing at the time.
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Post by snafu » Mon Jan 15, 2007 8:44 pm

I blame my brothers for corrupting me into KR, TMNT and other stuff. I can usually bore other people at school to death over 80's music and television discussion.
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Post by Lyn » Mon Jan 15, 2007 9:12 pm

I actually saw the show, and I found it interesting at the time, since I was a teenager at the time.
Now, however, I'm not sure if I would enjoy a show like that or not.....

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Post by FuzzieDice » Mon Jan 15, 2007 10:43 pm

I vaguely remember this. I think it was one of those that we passed on after like the first show or something as a dud. Sure TRON was big then, but I wasn't too thrilled about it back then so this wasn't really something all that cool to me either.

Funny, in the 80s it was a BIG BIG era for the Video Game market (which I think started the whole TRON thing anyway). We had an Atari 2600, and a ColecoVision. Man, I miss those days! LOL!

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Post by 89IROCNDoug » Tue Jan 16, 2007 1:50 am

I still have a recording of the Automan pilot show.

While the show is very cheesy and has plenty of bad acting, I still find it entertaining - I just recorded it to DVD not too long ago.

The guy on the show that changes from being a bad guy to helping out the good guys after seeing Automan is hilarious to me!

The short-lived show wasn't as good as KR but it was still entertaining to me.

By the way, the Commodore 64 was an awesome gaming machine in the 80s!!! :D
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Post by Knight Rider Archive » Tue Jan 16, 2007 4:08 am

I can't believe it hasn't been mentioned yet, but Automan was a Glen Larson show (actually the first he put together *after* Knight Rider!!!

There is another Knight Rider connection too -- Heather McNair costarred in Automan; she played Fran in "Junk Yard Dog".

Arden Villa also made an appearance in one episode.
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Post by frank_knight » Tue Jan 16, 2007 10:07 am

Sorry I wasn't clear in m,y initial post, but yes this was a short lived T.V. Show by Glenn A. Larson. Why he did this show is not clear to me haha. KR certainly was such a huge hit, why mess with that formula and try a TRON type of show? I'm too young to remember TRON, but it really didn't catch on with me. Anyhow, my friend sent me the youtube link so I figured id post it. Hope you all enjoyed it!
"I am the voice of Knight Industries Two Thousands, microprocessor.... K.I.T.T. for easy reference, KITT if you prefer."

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Post by trissybabes » Tue Jan 16, 2007 12:23 pm

"Automan" was shot back to back with "Manimal" - the other dodgy series from that time, which starred Simon MacCorkindale as a Doctor who could morph into animals.

If you look carefully, you see several scenes that are the same in both series!

Both were TERRIBLE and mercifully cancelled very quickly but still remembered fondly today.

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Post by AtariKnight » Thu Jan 18, 2007 10:32 pm

Speaking about forgotten 80's shows........What about "The Higwayman", Which was also created by Glen Larson?

Image


The show comprised of a feature length movie (1987) and a single season(1988) and the basis, Was about A group of futuristc US Marshalls, Using special High-Tech trucks, To solve crimes and general mysteries.....Think Knight rider meets Mad Max?


It also has a bigger Australian connection, Wih Ex-Australian Rules Football player and General Aussie icon Mark "Jacko" Jackon As Jetto.......Though he's most well known, For the old Energiser batteries ads, Where he shouts "OI"! :D
Last edited by AtariKnight on Tue Jan 23, 2007 3:35 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Post by snafu » Thu Jan 18, 2007 11:24 pm

AtariKnight wrote:Speaking about forgotten 80's shows........What about "The Higwayman", Which was also created by Glen Larson?

Image

Whoa... what the heck is that? A Trans-Am front with a helicopter cockpit all Frankensteined onto... a semi rig?
I had no idea Glen Larson made all this other stuff.
*runs off to Google*
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Post by TurbomanKnight » Fri Jan 19, 2007 12:33 am

Anti-Ford. 'Nuff Said.

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Post by nice plate » Sat Jan 20, 2007 8:33 am

knight rider is cheesy but well these other programmes look very poor indeed

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Post by Scott Kirkessner » Sat Jan 20, 2007 10:43 am

If you want a cool but not so cool connection, G. Gordon Liddy (indicted over Watergate, then became an actor in the 80's) starred in the pilot of the Highwayman, and then about 10 years later, he starred in a very similar cable-syndicated series called 18 Wheels of Justice

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awww!

Post by ThunderChild » Fri Feb 09, 2007 7:15 pm

Aw c'mon guys! that's my childhood you're knockin'! :wink:

I remember them all, from the eyes of a kid. and btw, I still have a Automan action figure!
:oops:

I do agree though, like Battle of the planets (G-force), watching it NOW would be a true letdown.

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Post by Drewstang » Fri Feb 09, 2007 8:54 pm

I remember the Highwayman truck. I always thought it was related to KITT somehow because of the front end and the conceiled helicopter.

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