Automan

*Automan*
Automan
	Walter Nebicher (Desi Arnaz, Jr.); and Automan (Chuck Wagner)
Created by	Glen A. Larson
Starring	Desi Arnaz, Jr.; Chuck Wagner; Heather McNair; Robert Lansing; Gerald S. O'Loughlin
Composers	Stu Phillips (1.1, 1.3, 1.4, 1.7); Billy Hinsche; Peter T. Meyers (1.10, 1.11, 1.12); Ken Harrison (1.6, 1.8); Morton Stevens (1.5, 1.9); J.A.C. Redford (1.13)
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	13 (1 unaired)
Production
Executive producers	Glen A. Larson; Larry Brody
Producers	Donald Kushner; Peter Locke
Running time	50 minutes
Production companies	20th Century Fox Television; The Kushner-Locke Company; Glen A. Larson Productions
Original release
Network	ABC
Release	December 15, 1983 –; April 2, 1984

Automan is an American science fiction superhero television series produced by Glen A. Larson. It aired for only 12 episodes (although 13 were made) on ABC between 1983 and 1984.

Synopsis

Automan (the "Automatic Man") follows the adventures of a police officer and computer programmer named Walter Nebicher (Desi Arnaz, Jr.), who had created an artificially intelligent crime fighting program that generated a hologram (Chuck Wagner) able to leave the computer world and fight crime.^[1]

While in the real world, Automan posed as a government agent by the name of "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. During the "merges" only Automan's form, a head atop a glowing body of circuit panels and lights, could be seen.

Cursor was his sidekick, a floating, shifting polyhedron which could "draw" and generate physical objects as needed. Cursor could only "draw" one object at a time. Exceptions to this included conventional clothing to hide Automan's unusual glowing body and various vehicles with glowing blue piping. The most common forms taken were a car (Auto Car), plane, and helicopter, all of which could defy the laws of physics such as making a 90 degree turn.

Automan featured the use of a Lamborghini Countach as transport. When driving, Automan could turn his car at 90 degree angles. Automan was unaffected, but his passengers were generally thrown around in the vehicle.

The show also starred Robert Lansing as Lieutenant Jack Curtis and Gerald S. O'Loughlin as Captain of Detectives E. G. Boyd, Walter's superiors. Both believed that Automan was a friend of Walter's 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.

Features

The show had used several visual effects. The costume itself had reflective plates stuck on it to give the holographic appearance, with a specific lighting system in place.

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 black with strips of reflective tape stuck on them. The Autocar was a Lamborghini Countach LP400, which was capable of turning in 90-degree angles and overtaking merely by strafing, rather than turning. The Autochopper was apparently a modified Bell Jetranger capable of landing anywhere. The show also featured a futuristic airplane and motorcycle, while other episodes featured a distinctive handgun and a guitar. As with Automan's costumes, Cursor could also create replicas of ordinary vehicles and appliances as a disguise.

Another prominent feature of Automan was to wrap himself around Walter as a means of protection. Being a 'perfect' [1] hologram, Automan was invulnerable, and could use it to protect Walter, and appear as one person, but given Walter's interactions with Automan, he would inadvertently end up speaking in two voices. Automan could also manipulate computer records and transactions.

However, 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.

Influences

Automan was inspired by Steven Lisberger's film Tron, which had come out a year earlier. In order not to seem to be plagiarizing Tron, Glen A. Larson involved Donald Kushner, who had been an operating producer of Tron, and his partner, Peter Locke, as operating producers of Automan.

Although similar in appearance, the special effects used to create the Automan look were completely different from the hand-painted effects used in Tron. Automan cinematographer Charles "Chuck" Barbee reports that what they actually did was use reflective material and portable projectors, though the end result looks simply like some kind of blue/green screen chromakey overlay.

Cast

Desi Arnaz, Jr. - Walter Nebicher
Chuck Wagner - Automan / Otto J. Mann
Robert Lansing - Lieutenant Jack Curtis
Gerald S. O'Loughlin - Police Captain E. G. Boyd
Heather McNair - Roxanne Caldwell

Episodes

№	Episode title	Director	Writer(s)	Original air date
1	"Automan"	Lee H. Katzin	Glen A. Larson	December 15, 1983
Walter Nebicher is a young police officer who wants desperately to get out on the streets and experience some action. Unfortunately, his superior Captain Boyd has assigned Nebicher to a desk job where he can utilize his skills as a computer expert.
2	"Staying Alive While Running a High Flashdance Fever"	Winrich Kolbe	Glen A. Larson	December 22, 1983
Walter and Automan investigate a judge that appears to be corrupt and involved with the mob. This episode's title references the films Staying Alive, Flashdance and Saturday Night Fever.
3	"The Great Pretender"	Kim Manners	Sam Egan	December 29, 1983
When a truck load of paper the government uses to print money is hijacked, Automan, with the help of Cursor, poses as a rich criminal competing to undermine the existing network of a known criminal dealing in counterfeit money.
4	"Ships in the Night"	Bob Claver	Parke Perine	January 5, 1984
Walter and Auto fly to San Cristobal to investigate the disappearances of Americans. They discover a man, aided by the local authorities, that lures investors in order to kill them and take their money.
5	"Unreasonable Facsimile"	Winrich Kolbe	Sam Egan	January 12, 1984
Automan and Walter attempt to solve the murder of a businessman and the crash of a police helicopter. Automan begins acting peculiar after watching soap-operas on television.
6	"Flashes and Ashes"	Kim Manners	Douglas Heyes, Jr.	January 19, 1984
Walter's friend and fellow cop Frank Cooney is killed during the theft of police weaponry. But when the Internal Affairs agent believes Frank was involved, Walter is suspended when he and Auto interfere trying to prove his friend's innocence.
7	"The Biggest Game in Town"	Winrich Kolbe	Larry Brody, Shel Willens	January 26, 1984
Automan and Walter attend a computer game convention where they must track down Ronald Tilson, a computer genius who has programmed computers to cause disasters that will kill people unless he gets ten million dollars.
8	"Renegade Run"	Allen Baron	Larry Brody, Douglas Heyes, Jr.	March 5, 1984
When Walter investigates a crooked sheriff who is using illegal immigrants for manual labor, he and a friend are put in jail. Automan teams up with a motorcycle gang to free him.
9	"Murder MTV"	Bruce Seth Green	Douglas Heyes, Jr., Guerdon Trueblood	March 12, 1984
Walter and Automan investigate an apparent attempt to kill the members of an all-girl band called Sweet Kicks. But their investigation is hampered when the father of one of the girls seeks assistance from a crime syndicate. This episode's title references MTV.
10	"Murder, Take One"	Kim Manners	Sam Egan	March 19, 1984
Former movie star Veronica Everly is a suspect in the murder of gossip columnist Ray Gillette. However, when Automan discovers that a Hollywood producer had a greater motive for murder, he goes undercover as an actor to catch the real killer.
11	"Zippers"	Alan Crosland	David Garber, Bruce Kalish	March 26, 1984
Automan goes undercover as an erotic dancer in a ladies-only strip club.
12	"Death by Design"	Gil Bettman	Sam Egan	April 2, 1984
When a ruthless crime syndicate kills one of Jack's best friends, Automan poses as a vigilante cop by the name of Mad Dog who is out for justice.
13	"Club Ten"	Kim Manners	Michael S. Baser, Kim Weiskopf	Unaired *
The exclusive Club Ten resort is a center for diamond smuggling. When Laura Ferguson stumbles on this secret she manages to put out an SOS call to her old friend Roxanne before being taken prisoner. Roxanne, Walter and Automan are soon on the trail of the missing Laura, unaware they themselves are being trailed...