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Jun 29, 2021 23 tweets 8 min read Read on X
Today in pulp... some short-lived '80s hi-tech action heroes. These people aren't Knight Rider or Airwolf: they're the other guys!

Let's start with Automan.
Launched in 1983 Automan was Glen A. Larson's attempt to cash in on both the computer games craze and Disney's stylish movie Tron.

Neither of which were in good shape by 1983...
Automan starred Desi Arnaz, Jr. as a police computer whizz who created a holographic detective (played by Chuck Wagner) who sadly could only fight crime at night, due to the huge amounts of electricity needed to make him appear.
Helped by 'hilarious' sidekick Cursor, Automan could hack into any computer system. Given it was 1983 the encryption protection he had to overcome was probably pretty minimal.
Automan had a fabulous glowing costume like Tron, made of highly reflective material by 3M and buffed up in post-production using chromakey.
He also had a Lamborghini Countach that could turn at 90 degree angles, plus a helicopter and also a guitar, all created by Cursor's holographic wizardry.
Alas not even a guest appearance by Laura Brannigan could save Automan from being cancelled after only 12 episodes.

Still, it cared better than Glen A. Larson's other action series...
Manimal, launched in 1983, starred Simon MacCorkindale as Dr Jonathan Chase, an explorer and zoologist with an amazing secret power!
Chase, for reasons not really explained, could change himself into any animal through the power of his mind. Usually he turned into a hawk or a panther, but technically nothing was off-limits.
Although Dr Chase used his shape-shifting powers to fight crime nothing could defeat the terrible ratings the series endured. It was paused after four episodes and cancelled after eight. A Will Ferrell movie reboot is apparently in the works.
Misfits of Science managed to last a little longer. Launched with a TV movie in 1985 it was a goofy X-Men kind of programme that never really found its footing.
Dean Paul Martin (son of Dean Martin) played Dr. Billy Hayes, head of the Humanidyne Institute who was "looking for a few good heroes ready to have a blast!"
His team of super-powered misfits included rock star Johnny B, who gained the power of electricity after he electrocuted himself on stage, and Elvin "El" Lincoln who could shrink himself to 11 inches tall by pressing the back of his neck.
The show is best remembered for featuring a young Courteney Cox as troubled telekinetic teen Gloria Dinallo. She was like Stephen King's Carrie, except with more jokes.
Misfits of Science squeezed out an impressive 16 episodes before the series was canned due to poor ratings in 1986. Not even Monica Geller could save it.
At this point we must spare a thought for Blue Thunder, the 1984 TV spin-off from the under-rated Roy Scheider movie of the same name.

On paper it looked like a winner...
James Farentino played police pilot Frank Chaney who, with his heavily moustachioed team, fought bad guys with their cool helicopter gunship Blue Thunder!
Blue Thunder was actually a French Aérospatiale Gazelle with some fancy fittings, and whilst it was pretty fast it did however have one glaring fault...
... it wasn't Airwolf! CBS's rival 'copter show had better plots and a better theme tune. Blue Thunder knew it was beaten and the show was cancelled after eleven episodes.
Street Hawk was kinda like Airwolf but on a motorbike. Launched in 1985 it had a cool theme tune by Tangerine Dream and starred Rex Smith as police officer and amateur dirt-bike racer Jesse Mach.
Street Hawk was shrouded in mystery. To the press he was a dangerous vigilante, but in reality Mach was working for a secret government outfit trying to rid the streets of crime.
The Street Hawk bike was based on the Honda XR500, which alas couldn't really do 300mph using 'hyperthrust'. The series similarly underperformed: it was cancelled after only 13 episodes.
Shows that last the shortest time linger longest in our memories. Maybe it's the sense of what could have been if only the cursed networks had given them a secind series! Whatever it is, short-lived '80s action TV shows - Twitter salutes YOU!

Play our song Dr. Sanchez...

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More from @PulpLibrarian

Jun 29
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The Voice of the House, by Margaret Erskine (an Inspector Finch Gothic Mystery). Ace Gothic, 1973.

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Jun 27
Today in pulp I look back at the publishing phenomenon of gamebooks: novels in which YOU are the hero!

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Gamebooks are a simple but addictive concept: you control the narrative. At the end of each section of the story you are offered a choice of outcomes, and based on that you turn to the page indicated to see what happens next. Image
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Jun 18
Time for a pulp countdown now, and today it's my top 10 public relations campaigns! Image
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Jun 15
You know what I haven't done in a while? Bad book covers!

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Ooh you little lyre... Guardian Angels, by Joseph Citro. Zebra Books, 1988. Image
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May 11
He was the terror of London; a demonic figure with glowing eyes and fiery breath who could leap ten feet high. The penny dreadfuls of the time wrote up his exploits in lurid terms. But who was he really?

Today I look at one of the earliest pulp legends: Spring-Heeled Jack! Image
London has always attracted ghosts, and in the 19th Century they increasingly left their haunted houses and graveyards and began to wader the capital's streets.

But one apparition caught the Victorian public attention more than most... Image
In October 1837 a 'leaping character' with a look of the Devil began to prey on Londoners. Often he would leap high into the air and land in front of a carriage, causing it to crash. It would then flee with a high-pitched laugh.

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May 5
Today in pulp I look back at New Zealand's home-grow microcomputer, the 1981 Poly-1!

Press any key to continue... Image
The Poly-1 was developed in 1980 by two electronics engineering teachers at Wellington Polytechnic, Neil Scott and Paul Bryant, who wanted to create a computer for use in New Zealand schools. Education Minister Merv Wellington liked the idea and gave it the green light. Image
Backed by government finances, and in partnership with Progeni Computers, Polycorp was formed in 1980 to began work on the prototype for the official Kiwi school computer.

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