Automan, Manimal, The Wizard, Wizards and Warriors, Misfits of Science, Shadow Chasers, The Phoenix, Powers of Matthew Star, Starman, Outlaws, The Highwayman
Given a choice between these and the current glut of so-called "Reality" TV shows that just showcase boring people behaving in the _worst_ possible way for attention... I'll take _these shows_ any day of the week, and Twice with reruns on Sundays. Thank you.
+Shenruss The 80's and early 90's were amazeballs, if I could go back to circa 85-89 I would in a heart beat. TV & commercials in this day and age is truly depressing.
Um, okay, why the comparison of two entirely different types of shows? Why the false equivalence? Who would ever be in a situation to make that choice? Given that ultimatum by an evil god or something, I would probably just read books. But I live in 2015, when there are more quality television shows currently than I have time to watch, and I can see many of them commercial-free, plus the best of the past, at any time of my choosing, without having to rely on the quixotic networks's schedule. Today I watched Peaky Blinders and Twin Peaks. These are the days of miracles and wonders. No one need ever see a reality show again, or even an AD for a reality show. Just don't use a TV.
***** Sigh...Killjoy much, brother? What we're saying is, even with the current crop of decent shows, they are the _exception_, NOT the norm, where there is an obvious *glut* of badly scripted sitcoms, shit retoolings of older shows, and piss poor, cheaply made "reality TV". For a generation that grew up with good and great TV, while we may appreicate the internet, it's a _damn shame_ that a still relevant form of media is becomign so passe due to the crap storm of elements that are being portrayed on it. This is why we are singing the praises of these shows past.
So glad I grew up in the 80s. A golden age for creativity and imagination on television. I remember many of these shows... Manimal, The Phoenix, Automan, Battlestar Galactica, Buck Rogers, The Six Million Dollar Man, Bionic Woman, Airwolf, and cartoons like Transformers, GI Joe and Masters of the Universe were all favorites of mine.
Yeah,maybe now when he makes the hard lefts, his passenger's face won't be smashed up onto the window (LMAO, loved that gag)...of course if he'd worn the seat belt that might have helped more..lol..
We had no time as kids to worry about nuclear threats and such, we were to busy playing outside with our actual real life friends. When we actually did come in was to enjoy our favorite shows. They really were better and simpler times. Who cares about modernity, we had what we needed and didn’t focus on what we didn’t.
+Stefan Travis Glad I wasn't a teen back then... I would'e been somewhere drunk watching Knight Rider and been more of a reckless driver than I already was in my 20s. Lmao
+Stefan Travis ... I miss the 80s so bad it physically hurts. Those were my Middle & High school years. What the hell have we done to the world since then?! The future seemed so bright. I'd gladly turn in my computer to go back to an Atari. "Now you're playing with power!" Remember that?
Loved Manimal. Used to play it with friends at school. Matthew Star ripped the sound fx from Star Wars. I watched this to see if there were any faces that went on to bigger and better things. Courtney Cox did not disappoint.
This awesome decade was where people still had original ideas, and could use their own imagination to create new tv shows, and not try to remake everything and put a weird 2020 twist in it and expect it to work. I remember of watching a few of these back then, didn’t think it was tacky then or now.
Yea, and NOT remaking,recasting and changing what made the movie the movie and still calling it its original name. I heard that. My birth year says it all :)
+jeremy oliveria even though it's still Sci-Fi Chanel now it's named simply SyFy Imagine greater they need to bring even these one time Sci-Fantasy hits of the 80s so that Sci-Fi/Fantasy fans of today can watch at least a couple of these one or two season of these mentioned shows from when we were growing up as kids in the 80s that's back in our days. better these gems for SyFy in a SyFy 80s Weekend than those silly ass,crappy reality TV Shows and even some of today's shows that have no taste or class.
I remember when the Phoenix came on. I was a kid and watched the first couple of episodes and then it just disappeared. During the 80’s and 90’s I would bring up the show to others and they had no idea what I was talking about and I was wondering if I remembered things correctly. Thankfully the growth of the internet set things straight
Chuck Wagner (Automan) actually has had a long, successful career in musical theater and New York based soaps. He freely admits his Hollywood foray was a mistake and he was cast for looks alone. He was the original Prince in Sondheim's "Into The Woods" and played Javert for four years in the touring version of "Les Miserables" This past year he played Jean Valjean in the concert version of Les Mis here in OKC.
I remember back in the 1980s , I was chosen along with some other kids in my class to be a part of a test group for a NEW show that was going to air on T.V. The show was Manimal and we wrote down our opinions of it! This brings back so many memories of that time when it happened!!
LOL Louis Gossett Jr. watching that book on a fishing line pass his head. He was filming An Officer and a Gentleman at the same time and won an Oscar for that role.
Just because these series didn't "catch on" doesn't mean they were "tacky". I loved Automan, The Wizard, Starman and The Phoenix. Some of my favorite 80s shows.
I completely agree with you. I grew up on these shows and have very fond memories of my childhood . I never considered these shows tacky considering what on television now I'd take so called "tacky" anyday.
00:00 Automan 01:05 Manimal 02:03 The Wizard 03:04 Wizards and Warriors 04:04 Misfits of Science 05:25 Shadow Chasers 06:50 The Phoenix 08:10 Powers of Matthew Star 09:39 Starman 11:03 Outlaws 12:44 The Highwayman
The special effects with computers may look bad, but keep in mind that in the 80's, the best computers available to the public then were 8 bit screens with only green numbers and digits, before Windows was created and before Mouses were created. So look closer at the video editing these shows used with green screens! The government always has technology 30 or 50 years before the public gets a hold of it. We just got the technology that they always had, so imagine what they have right now!
Damn....TV Nostalgia is something else. Makes me want to put on my old Spiderman UnderRoos, make a glass of Strawberry Quick, and lay back in a Pier 1 basket woven chair. 🕶️👍🏾
Oh god, I loved Misfits of Science. I was still in elementary school back then. I remember that show being on Saturday nights and I'd spend all week looking forward to it.
Me too. It was funny, humors and sometimes, digs deep into the heart. A few episodes still stick in me, like the one where a guy from a foreign land came on a canoe-like boat, carrying a small statue of his family so he could put them onto a space shuttle (which he believes will carry them to heaven).
That was absolutely amazing! So many wonderful memories from my childhood just came back to me. I seriously can not thank you enough. The one the complexity blew me away was the misfits of science, from what I remember (I could be wrong it was over 30 years ago) it was pulled after something like 4 episodes. Seeing that again was completely unexpected, I literally said no way out loud. The 80's, good times man good effing times, thank you again :)
The intros to a lot of the shows today are so short as to allow more time for the story (which I like), but the "long" intros of yesteryear are one of the things that made these shows so memorable to all of us!
Yeah you'd hear the intro for Fraggle Rock, The A-Team, McGuyver, Knight Rider, Magnum PI, Transformers, Battle of the Planets and you'd get SO EXCITED you were about to watch it!
Born in 82, but British and not seen any of these. Thank you very much for compiling and sharing these lesser known gems (for someone like me) They are badass and make me smile
Yep, this was back when things actually had to have a story and you couldn't rely solely on special effects. Awesomeness that will never be again. R.I.P. the 80's.
Yeah there's not to much of interest on television for me. I wish reality could step aside or be still an option with some other stuff that doesn't get cancelled the minute out of the gate and has a high viewership of support.
Weird Science and Real Genius, my two favorites, there was nothing like the 80s, anyone who was a teenager living in that decade knows exactly what I'm talking about
Wow, what a trip to memory lane. They were not tacky, they were really cool shows, way better than the "reality" shows and the stupid court shows of today.
+Turey Taino EXACTLY! Now THOSE are some tacky stupid shows to watch! They rip people off by not needing to add any special effects or cool music! They practically just grab a home camera and film real life! HAHA!! How frick'n BORING! I HATE boring reality shows! I'd rather just watch my own daily life! HAHAHA!!
LOL the problem is obviously you, because you've been watching all the wrong shows... like, forever. Game of Thrones, The Walking Dead, American Horror Story, Bones, Battlestar Galactica (new), Farscape, X-Files, Eureka, Penny Dreadful,... I can make the list a lot longer, but dude... I kinda envy you because if you seriously think there haven't been an "really cool" shows since the 80... you are in for such a treat.
Turey Taino Right on! I hate zombies and gay ass vampires! I'd love to watch a bad ass tv series of a werewolf that kills zombies and vampires though! That would be a damn good show! A single werewolf killing off tons of vampires and zombies!
Oh, man, I loved these shows when they were on TV. Don't remember Shadow Chasers or Outlaws, but I burst out laughing just now when I heard the premise for Outlaws. Automan was us being excited about computer animation after "Tron." David Rappaport (also from "Time Bandits") was basically the Peter Dinklage of the 80s. Misfits of Science was about as close to the X-Men as you could expect Hollywood to get back then. And of course Wizards and Warriors was a gift for any D&D-loving kid at the time.
David Rappaport was great in "Time Bandits". He was also cast as Kivas Fajo for the Star Trek next Generation episode "The Most Toys" and even filmed several scenes, but sadly he took his own life before they finished and the part eventually went to Saul Rubinek. Here's David playing his version of that character: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-tvW7GkRMMS8.htmlsi=vd2nQPt4HBkkfm79&t=45
I don't know about the word tacky. Definitely formulaic and paint-by-numbers, but most of them were quite fun for those of us who were the right age back then. One thing I really appreciate about this old-fashioned sort of television intro is the way the names of the regular cast members were displayed with their pictures. I wish my favorite shows would do that these days.
I'm amazed that there are so many TV shows I missed in the 80s. I watched so many sci Fi movies and TV shows. The biggest was probably Battlestar Galactica in the 80s. I watched only the show with Dirk Blackpool out of all these. I think I must have been too young.
None of these shows are tacky. They have likeable characters, imaginative stories, creative plots, inspired props, exciting action, intelligent and witty dialog.
I’m 57 and I remember about half of these shows by name, and of those I probably saw a few episodes of each. I remember watching Starman because of the Jeff Bridges movie. Automan looks like it’d be fun to revisit! I bought Captain Planet on DVD recently and the graphics were great for the time and look great in 4K! The movie The Last Star Fighter looks great in 4K too!
The 80s age of Electronic Keyboard music with electric guitars violins trumpets and psychedelic video effect neon intros to accompany low res video . Loved every minute.
80's tv plots tended to be quite innocent and sometimes just silly but there was a charm there too. Kids don't want the complications of adult life. They want heroes and villains clearly drawn out. Nowadays kids TV seems more complex, it spends a hell of a lot of time on character development and dialogue and interrelationships, the adventure and action gets watered down for fear they might copy the violence they see. It did me no harm. Lets just let kids be kids. Do we have to pressure them and lecture them at every turn?
Sure as hell beats the complete crap genre the Kardashians started! At least they were creative then, now we get Honey Boo Boo, 90 Day Fiance, 100 different shows about little people...🙄
Truth is.. They where magical times in TV history that will never be repeated. If we had the opportunity to actually go back in time to the 80s we actually wouldn't watch TV so we where lucky to have witnessed what we had at that time in TV history.
Holy crap. I remember watching Wizards and Warriors when I was about 4 or so. For literally 35 years I have wondered what was the show from the early 80's that turned into a comic book scene every time it went to commercial. Now I know! Unbelievable.
Oh man, I’m just overcome with nostalgia. Manimal, Misfits of Science, and Starman were among my favorites. I’d completely forgotten about Highwaymen until I saw the intro. ❤
Me too. I didn't know what cancelled meant and thought that was aseason and it was coming back like the other shows did. So when my dad reminded me and explained it..sadness
Thank you for creating this video! I remember watching most of these shows as a kid in the '80s. I still wish they'd release "The Highwayman" series on DVD. I was obsessed with that show, even though it got cancelled quickly. 😆
gothatway09 I agree, and IMO while the show was obviously different from the film, they did a great job of creating something that could stand on its own, while continuing the story. The writing and casting were outstanding.
Ugh. I HATED Starman. I hated that show and I hated the movie even more. Took years for me to finally like anything with Jeff Bridges in it after that movie, LOL. My mom LOVED it however and so I was forced to watch it week in and week out. LOL That being said, I would pay almost anything to go back to that time and have a show like this on again. It was just a different, better time, the 80s.
I used to watch Automan, Misfits of Science, The Powers of Matthew Star and Starman. I remember Manimal, but never watched it. I have a slight memory of The Phoenix. I never heard of the rest of the shows. Probably because I joined the Navy in '83 and missed the opportunity to see them. I wish I could see Wizards and Warriors because it had Taxi's Bobby, Zorro and Newhart's Stephanie in it
They should take a lineup of these shows, and for one day, replace all the lineups of reality shows that are out there, and see what happens as a result. Imagine: Outlaws vs. Kardashians, or The Real Housewives of Wherever vs. The Misfits of Science.
The drama behind the scenes of "The Highwayman" was a lot more interesting than the show itself. Stars Sam Jones and Jacko - the Aussie rules footballer turned battery pitchman - quarreled throughout the filming and threw hands at least once.
Bunny23723 Yeah. Just think how much better they would look, not only effects wise but also with the better TV technology. Look how fuzzy all that looks. :)
Starman was the one I never missed I was glad that it had a final episode of sorts. Great interview with Robert Hayes in Starlog magazine about the kidding around behind scenes.
