Blackstar (TV series)
Premiering in 1981, Blackstar was a sword and sorcery epic, probably inspired at least in part, by the immense popularity of the 1980s Thundarr, the Barbarian.
Originally conceived as an African American character, CBS decided that audiences were not quite ready for this and imposed this and a number of additional changes to the initial concept.
John Blackstar was an astronaut who had been "swept through a black hole" and stranded on the planet Sagar, where magic and sword and sorcery still ruled the day. Together with his allies, the Trobbits (overly cute dwarfish types), Klone (a shape-shifting elfin companion) and a sorceress named Mara, Blackstar battled the cruel Overlord, a ruthless Ming-like oppressor, who ruled by the might of the Powersword, one half of the Powerstar, an immensely powerful weapon. Fortunately, Blackstar possessed its other half, the Starsword, which kept the Overlord and his dark minions in check.
Blackstar was Filmation's second fantasy epic, the first being tucked neatly in as a segment of Tarzan and The Super 7, The Freedom Force. Blackstar would earn a large cult following, largely in part to its influence on a later Filmation fantasy epic with an enormous following, He-Man and the Masters of the Universe.
