Automan is a short-lived American superhero television series produced by Glen A. Larson. It aired for 12 episodes (although 13 were made) on ABC between 1983 and 1984. It consciously emulates the visual stylistics of the Walt Disney Pictures live-action film Tron, in the context of a superhero TV series. The series was later shown in reruns on the Sci-Fi Channel.
Automan (the "Automatic Man") follows the adventures of a police officer and computer programmer named Walter Nebicher (Desi Arnaz Jr.), who has created an artificially intelligent crimefighting computer program that generated a hologram (played by Chuck Wagner) able to leave the computer world at night and fight crime.[1]
While in the tangible world (in other words, the "real world" of this television series; not the aforementioned "computer world" from which Automan originates in this TV series, where he had met such luminaries as "Donkey Kong"), Automan posed as a government agent, Otto J. Mann. This was a secret to all except Walter's close associate, Roxanne Caldwell (Heather McNair).
Nebicher could merge with Automan to become one being, sharing consciousness and skills, while retaining Automan's invulnerability.
Cursor was his sidekick, a floating, shifting polyhedron which could "draw" and generate physical objects as needed. The most common forms taken were an automobile (the Autocar), an airplane, and a helicopter (the Autochopper), all of which could defy the laws of physics.
The show also starred Robert Lansing as Lieutenant Jack Curtis and Gerald S. O'Loughlin as Captain of Detectives E. G. Boyd, both Walter's superiors. Both believed Automan was a friend of Walter from the FBI. Captain Boyd, a technophobe who had no use for computers, often held up Lieutenant Curtis as the kind of cop he was convinced was the ideal for police – an ideal to which he believed Walter could never rise.
The Automan costume appeared to glow on screen due to its retroreflective sheeting designed by 3M. The fabric was made up of tiny reflective balls, and it was able to reflect nearly 100 percent of the light shone at it (the technique had been used several years earlier for the Kryptonian costumes in Superman). The costume also had highly polished plates attached to it to provide the holographic appearance, all enhanced in post-production through chromakey effects.
The Autocar and Autochopper were the most common vehicles created for transport. Each vehicle would appear or disappear as a sequence of wireframes drawn by Cursor, and were engineered by the special effects team using black props with strips of reflective tape stuck on them. The Autocar was a "brought to life" in the fictional world of the television series by the special effects (FX) team using a real life Lamborghini Countach LP400 as a model. In the fictional world of the television series, the Autocar had capabilities beyond real world physics, such as being capable of making 90-degree turns without losing control and overtaking merely by strafing (moving sideways), rather than turning. However, human passengers not properly secured in their seats would often be thrown around inside with the momentum from the sudden position change. The FX team's Autochopper was based on a real life Bell Jetranger. The fictional Autochopper, unlike real helicopters, had capabilities no real world helcopter has, such as landing anywhere. The show also featured a futuristic airplane and motorcycle, while other episodes featured a distinctive handgun and a guitar.
Another prominent feature of the fictional Automan was the ability to "wrap himself" around Walter as a means of protecting him. They would appear as one person, but because Walter was inside Automan, he would inadvertently end up speaking in two voices.
Despite Automan's many fictional powers, he also had his weaknesses. Automan's excessive use of electricity would often mean he would suffer from power shortage during the daytime, so he was rarely active in sunlight.
Automan was put in the Monday 8 PM ET timeslot where it competed with the popular Scarecrow and Mrs. King as well as TV's Bloopers & Practical Jokes. Because of poor ratings (13.6) and expensive special effects, Automan was canceled after twelve of its thirteen episodes had aired.
On October 1, 2012, Fabulous Films released the complete series on DVD in the UK.[4] This was the first DVD release of the series anywhere in the world.
On August 18, 2015, the show was released on DVD in Australia as a four disc set through Madman Entertainment.
On November 10, 2015, Shout! Factory released the complete series on DVD in Region 1 for the very first time.[5] The 4-disc set featured all 13 episodes of the series as well as bonus features.
Automan merchandise was released, mostly in the UK. An action figure, Halloween costume, toy Autocar, Commodore 64 video game and novelization of the pilot episode are among some of the many releases. In the US, the Ja-Ru company released a number of toys based on the show, designed to be sold in supermarkets. Such items included toy print sets, money sets, and binoculars.
