Video: Automan Titles

Despite being a child of the '80s in love with TRON, this Glen A. Larson-produced series called "Automan" went completely under my radar. Too bad, since it had a high dosage of my favorite things in life: synth-heavy theme tunes, glowing faux wireframe special effects around Lamborghini Countach, Desi "Little Ricky" Arnaz, Jr., and a sentient perverted sidekick flipping up the skirts of blonde starlets with hair teased high. (I'm talking about the flying "Cursor" character, not Little Ricky.)

From the Wikipedia entry:

Automan was inspired by the film Tron, which had come out a year earlier. Although similar in appearance, the special effects used to create the Automan look were completely different from the hand-painted effects used by 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.

(Thanks, Shadowkeeper!)

[#1 posted by Minvaren , October 29, 2007 1:07 PM]

The best part of the series...

Automan could summon the Autocar (with the bold exclamation "Cursor! The Autocar!" IIRC). The car cornered at intersections in split-second right angle turns. So you'd see the human inside the car go "WHOOF" as they were thrown into the door, then a "THUD" as they slid back down into the seat a second later. This was generally followed with a comment like, "Do you ALWAYS have to do that?"

Ah, memories.

[#2 posted by pupdog , October 29, 2007 1:55 PM]

Even better MINVARIN was when Automan tried to 'correct' the 90 degree instant turns, and instead employed a series of lesser-angles. I can still remember the chik-chik-chik the car made going around a corner, 10 or 15 degrees at a time...

[#3 posted by Anonymous , October 29, 2007 1:58 PM]

Man. I've been trying to remember what the hell this show was called for years. I seem to remember a special issue of "ENTER Magazine" (later folded into 3-2-1 Contact) that was all about the new high-tech shows of the season, and if I recall correctly, they featured Automan, Misfits of Science, and others.

[#4 posted by Argy , October 29, 2007 2:18 PM]

Well, it was his programmer's fault for making him turn like pac-man, and since the programmer was the the one going "THUD" most of the time, no harm done, eh? But that title sequence brings back memories ... oh no, it's morning and people are turning on their coffee-makers and .... [sputter ... fade]

[#5 posted by gregjsmith , October 29, 2007 9:08 PM]

It looks cheesy now, but I liked the wireframe look of the car. I thought of simulating the effect on my car with this stuff http://www.e-lite.com/flatlite.htm

[#6 posted by caipirina , October 30, 2007 5:58 AM]

and video gone already :(

[#7 posted by Skwid , October 30, 2007 7:48 AM]

Ah, Automan! Perennial also-ran in 80s "do you remember?" show discussions, alongside Misfits of Science, Friday the 13th, and the Punky Brewster cartoon. Me, I loved the show, and remember it fondly. I think we need a DVD release, m'self.

[#8 posted by Ape Lad , October 30, 2007 8:51 AM]

I also loved that show. Manimal too. May they rest in peace.

[#9 posted by frankiez , October 30, 2007 1:55 PM]

Even tought it was a really short series, Automan has been pretty succesfull in Italy back then!
I loved "Cursor" since this character looked like to one in Tron.

[#10 posted by Anonymous , October 30, 2007 6:12 PM]

Oh man! I never missed an episode when it first aired. My favorite is the one with special guest star Laura Branigan: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHRi5MPmkCk