Have they retained the same outfit for the "Daredevil" show? I'd want the original suit for "RoboCop" if another series was done. The remake one didn't work for me.
The show was odd, yes it lacked the grim and violent tone but honestly it was nice to finally see Robo doing actual police / detective work rather then just splatter every crook away. Not that i mind the splatter part! :)
This is pretty hilarious, as now we're getting a new entry in the franchise with the videogame RoboCop: Rogue City, where you, as Murphy, do police work and splatter crooks in the same game. Yes, it's basically a RoboCop simulator. Yes, you investigate crimes like in the TV show and blast away bad guys just like in the movies. It looks surprisingly great. :)
I loved this TV series. It was for kids yes, but it was suprisingly deep and i liked the actor as he got better and better during the show. Also i had a crush for the woman sidekick... i was 10 years old then. I watched the series again few years ago, still liked it.
@@tylerpemberton3134 this series was definitely aimed at older kids. There was also a cartoon and toys. Thus turning Robocop into a kid friendly franchise, not to mention the fact that if you were an 8-10 year old boy at school in the late 80s/early 90s who hadn't seen it, you probably weren't very cool. I was about 10 when I had Robocop figures. Probably saw the 1987 film when I was 8 or so. Kids were tougher back then and could understand the difference between fantasy and reality
in the ep Prime Suspect a televangelist gets in Robocop's face and Robocop scrolls down a list of respones and pauses on " lethal force " just long enough for it to be funny and show Alex J Murphy Robocop has a personality and a sense of humor
No, that's what you get when you constantly re use a great suit from the original because you don't pay to make another and only adjust it slightly. Also if it ain't broke don't fix it
No no, im talking about the series and other movies. They continued to reuse Peter Wellers original suit. Also, still dont know why Robos suit in Robocop 2 was glossy blue, anyone have any answers on why that wat
I think the new suit looks good in it's own way. It's more modernized which makes sense. Black is a nice color for him but it looks better when it's in the _classic_ colors. That being said, a Black suit RoboCop with two guns is nothing new ( _Hint: " Prime Directives "_ ) as many seem to think.
Thanks for this video dear Oliver! This TV show was my huge obsession in the 90's. I loved it as much as The X Files and Babylon 5. I know, I'm in minority with this but I don't care. I wanted to see more seasons. I became a huge Yvette Nipar and Andrea Roth fan. I do love Lisa Madigan as a character
Great job reviewing a series that has it's fair share of ups and downs...but it is far from RoboCop's worst hour. Alpha Commando is way worse, as is Prime Directives, RoboCop 3, and the remake. It had some genuinely intriguing concepts, and Richard Eden was honestly a pretty good RoboCop. The second best actor to play RoboCop since Weller. It's honestly a little bit underrated if you ask me. But that doesn't mean it's a great show or anything. It's got a lot of issues. And there are some episodes that are good and others that are just horrible. Better and more consistent writing would have done this show a lot of favors. But for what it is? It could honestly be worse. Alpha Commando is a prime example of this.
KD84Afc™ He had the movements down? If you ask me? He didn't. He was a step too slow every time. And his performance was horrid. Especially his line delivery. But that's just my opinion. It's cool if you think he did a good job.
OcpCommunications he did a better job with movements then Richard Eden, and Page Fletcher from prime directives but that's my opinion.. But no one will ever beat Peter Weller.
I just found Eden's movement sloppy or he moved to quickly, I find Burke's movements looked better but that's just me... But the absolute worst is Fletcher, he walked around like Frankenstein monster !
Being so child friendly was weird because the only reason I saw it was my grandma would record it on vhs when it was on at 1am eastern time. It was well done in some ways but also had a lot of issues. So many episodes revolve around 'how to incapacitate Robo' and well, a lot of villains are cartoon characters.
An example; I really like the idea of Diana sharing Robocop's consciousness. It serves as a constant reminder of what happens to innocent people when others do nothing. Plus, she's kind of like his own Cortana! =)
Wonderful retrospective! I have rather fond memories of this series. Yes, it was hit and miss, and had to tone down the adult violence, but I thought they made a worthy effort, even though they frequently missed the mark. I liked the Cyberpunk elements -- especially the secretary/assistant, Diana, who was turned into the omnipresent, helpful, AI. She manifested the Electronic-Goddess archetype. One subtle humorous bit that won me over, was in the pilot, and I believe used later: A warehouse was name, E. Coli Bros., Meat Packing. ^_^
Hey oliver! i don't often comment or like on youtube videos, but i can't help myself from giving you some love! i really love you're retrospective review's, they fill me with nostalgia and i can once again feel the wibe of the 1990's. Ceep em coming. much love
Stupendous job with review Oliver, extremely well researched and hugely informative. Your retrospectives totally rock and set the standard for other TH-camrs extremely high. Your output really is the benchmark in this field.
I'm always happy as a kid on christmas morning after seeing a new video pop up of Oliver in my subscription list ! :-) You really should do this as a profession Oliver! Hope your Patreon will grow bigger so you could do this full time!
Great as always. Seing a review for a TV-show makes me wonder: Might there be one for "SPACE: Above and Beyond" as well one day? It totaly fits to your channel I'm sure
Wow, I never truly heard of this series in depth like this. I find it interesting take on the character even if most fans don't. I mean I kind of liked Robocop 3 in a way.
I was always curious about this series. It seems as though they just never found a home for RoboCop after the first film (much like Highlander). I wish a director like Darren Aronofsky could be put in charge of a proper reboot. Great review as always, Oliver!
Nice little overview / retrospective . One thing I do remember about this show that I think you missed was the hand cuffs... For some strange reason they did away with actual cuffs and but metal tubes on people's fingers! Like the old finger traps. The show was full of little things like that that just confused the heck out of me.
Wow, this show looks awful. But any other reviewer would have spent thirty minutes shrieking at it. So kudos to you for looking at this turd objectively. Insightful and entertaining,
Just watched all 3 seasons on dvd, I'd only watched halfway back in the 90s when it was on TV here in OZ. Seaquest jumps the shark when Mark Harmil shows up mid-late season 2...
I agree Richard eden was a good robocop I’m biased because I saw this series as a kid and was in love with anything robocop Loved every aspect of this series And there’s a future to this life is such a sweet song!
+Zero Cool I loved it I think it had as many as 2 or 3 seasons. I recommend you watch Tremors Bloodlines(it has issues but if you love the series....:)
+Oliver Harper Good job Harper. This got me (morbidly?) curious to check out the rest of the franchise, as I re-watched the original movie a few months ago. Probably one of my favorite sci-fi films.Also Robocop is like Jaws in that it's kinda weird to think there was an entire franchise based around the property given that the original film is far better known than everything else.
If Robocop has rediscovered some of his humanity, as you keep suggesting, then wouldn't you expect his behaviour to change somewhat? I think for a series he'd have to try and apprehend more people. If he just killed everyone all the time I think that would get boring too. You need something to mix it up. I haven't seen the show since it aired but I remember liking it. I think I'll try and check it out again.
true, but arnold didn't have to wear a heavy cumbersome suit that was difficult to move in. That's primarily why Peter Weller didn't come back for 3 or a potential sequel.
It's sad that this was the end of the Robocop. I hope one day a dedicated fan who is just as aggravated as we are on how the series went after #1 will make a robocop film that the fans have been looking for and do the character justice.
HOT take: I think this show is better than RoboCop 2 and RoboCop 3. Apparently, this show also ignored the sequels and even hired the writers of the original movie who utilized their ideas for a rejected sequel titled "The Corporate Wars" with the hologram lady character.
Thank you! I have fond memories of watching this show during syndicated broadcasts on the Sci-Fi channel as a child before I even knew what Robocop really was. I never really bothered re-watching the show because I assumed I would just find it too cheesy to get through (and based on this probably so) but this was a great look back at what went into the show and what worked and what didn't.
Robocop is a masterpiece. After that, it's down hill, but in a funny sort of trend. Robocop 2 isn't as good as the original, but at least it's not Robocop 3. Robocop 3 is really not good, but at least it's not the TV show. The TV show is garbage, but at least it's not the remake. The remake is shit. Just plain shit. On a positive note, if you watch the franchise in reverse, there is no where to go, but up!
I respectfully disagree - I think that the TV show did the best it could given its limitations, and actually managed to capture the spirit of the Robocop universe. It's the mini-series that's the worst :)
Even When I was Younger My Mom Had an Album Of Movie Soundtracks... That Is When I Learned How Important A Great Theme Song... When I Made First Video..My Son and I Created A Power Driven Theme And It Drives You Straight Thru It To The End.. Fun Stuff... 🍻🍻🍻
After watching it again i mostly agree with you. So or so as a total package the show is imo much better then many think.I came to the conclusion like you, it was a mistake to judge it after the first view from Dec 1995 to May 1996 (it run in Germany for the first time then). You simply cant compare it 1-1 with Verhoevens classic, thats not fair because it was not focused on violence. Here two things i would like to add: 1) You said the acting of the children (Sarah Campbell as Gadget) wasnt good. After seeing the episode "Mothers day" again she looks very fine to me. For her age her acting was very good imo. And Peter Costigan also did a great job as Jimmy. He gave the young Jimmy Murphy a character, in Robo 1-3 he had just seconds screen time, and in Prime Directives he was already an adult. The acting of Campbell and Costigan was imo much better as the acting from other children in movies. 2) You correctly pointed out Richard Eden spent the most time in the suit. Thats true, much longer then Peter Weller and Robert John Burke. And he had of course the most screen time as Robo from all others. When it comes to screen time: The actress who played his wife/widow in the series (Jenn Griffin as Nancy Murphy) has more screen time as any other actress who portrayed her, be it the one from RoboCop 1, 2 and 3 (Angie Bolling as Ellen Murphy), or from the Remake in 2014 (Abbie Cornish as Clara Murhpy). The Nancy Murphy character hasnt just more screen time compared to all others, she also has deeper stories about her character (the welfare thing in "Provision 22", the kidnapping and blackmail in "Heartbreakers", etc.). PS: The Episode "Heartbreakers" was the only episode who was written by a woman, a Canadian writer named Alison Lea Bingeman. And it was the only episode ever - as you pointed out - that Robo did override a directive to save his wife (changing "Uphold the law" to "Protect the innocent"). So when many Robo fans name A. Bolling as "Mrs RoboCop", i would say J. Griffin deserves that title more, or at least too. Not just because she has the most screen time compared to all others + has deeper stories about her character (the welfare thing in "Provision 22", the kidnapping and blackmail in "Heartbreakers", etc.), but also because she played in "TekWar" episode "Unkown Soldier" with William "Captain Kirk" Shatner a Cyborg herself. You can agree or disagree: When judging about violence, action and revenge + the majestic theme from Basil Poledouris, then the 1987 movie is untouchable. When judging about the family side of Murphy/Robo, there is nothing who matches this show. And i personally would have liked a 2nd season. There was much potential and possible ideas, of course like rekindling Murphys connection to his family (wife, son and parents), but also things with Charlie Lippencot and Diana "Neurobrain", and Gadget and Jimmy also got along very good. The biggest problem was simple: The die hard Robo fans compared it 1-1 with Verhoevens movie, and of course this doesnt work because of severeal and obvious reasons. One thing: Yes, RoboCop was always able to use deadly force, and the Clarence Boddicker gang only understood deadly force. But first and foremost Murphy was a Cop. And a Cop would never just shot any little 3 cent thief in pieces. You know as much a like and respect Verhoeven, and being a German i understand through history how horrible his childhood in the Netherlands was, when he witnessed first hand what the Nazis did to the dutch people, but i always had a problem when he said "Alex Murphy is like Jesus. You cant have a resurrection without a crucification"...because Jesus had no family except his mother Maria. He had no wife and son. So you cant compare the two one on one. Murphy was like a reborn Jesus but contrary to him he still loved his wife and son, and they had so much grief because of his fate. And this was the thing the producers of this show understood, + dont forget Robo was created by Miner and Neumeier, and they were involved in the show. PS: And when you read critics, most of them praise Richard Edens performance as Robo, so do i! He and Peter Weller were BY FAR the two best RoboCop actors, they moved better then Robert John Burke and not just that, they brought real emotions on the screen (i cant compare the 2014 movie with it since this Robo could run and jump, + his wife knew fromt he first moment her husband is RoboCop).
This was my first encounter with Robocop when I was in my early teens. I hadn't watched the movie by that time and I was shocked to watch the first one. But still I like the series and I do not care of the side characters or the occasional boring story.
That was very helpful! An excellent review to watch and listen too! Ill take your advice and watch those chosen episodes! Amazon Prime are showing the tv series and i love the first movie.. however thank you for saving me from watching the episodes that may have pretty much bored me to death 👍 Well Done Oliver Harper👍
Hey Oliver Harper, great retrospective review as always, did you hear, they released this show on Bluray, the Bluray here in North America sucks, but I hear their re releasing it in the UK and they actually look like their putting in some effort into remastering, cool eh? you gonna buy it? Keep on making awesome videos.
PS. an update for those who would like to know, I bought the new UK verison of Robocop the series (released by Screenbound) on blu ray for cheap on ebay (used), some people are already selling their copies, lol. And it's not very good either, it does keep the original aspect ratio 4:3, but the audio is messed up and so it the video image. Image wise, they just oversaturated colors (the colors like bleed everywhere?) and nothing really else, it's still rather washed out and things aren't sharpened or cleared up at all. They did something that really sucks too, they compressed the 22 episodes to fit on 2 discs and that's it, even though on their website they list is as being a 4 disc release, but it's not. The release is also disappointing too, I don't think they will ever properly remaster this show at all, because the source the US and Uk releases have for the show are in SD, probably from VHS tapes, I'm pretty sure it's VHS too? My guess is they couldn't find the filmed elements so their stuck with just trying to remaster old dusty vhs, SD era stuff? Oh well, it's too bad, some cult stuff we like will just be forever stuck in the SD, VHS era. Anyways, I just thought I would let fans out there know about the UK release on Bluray, sorry to say, just save your money, just watch it on youtube or Tubi for free in SD if you like.
Honestly, I loved this series when it came out, new viewers though may find it hard to get into due to it being very dated for the times, especially for television. I've always wondered if the creators of Halo were fans of the show because there are some interesting parallels between Robocop/Diana and Master Chief/Cortana.
When I was a young teen, I bought that rock soundtrack. Because I was a Robocop fan? I was, but no. Because I was such a fan of the series? I didn't even know there was a series until I saw the soundtrack, and didn't see it until a couple years ago. So why did I buy that soundtrack all those years ago? Simple. I went to buy In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida, but the shop didn't have an Iron Butterfly records for sale. The only song I wanted was In-A-GAdda-Da-Vidda, so when I discovered it was on a decade-old Robocop CD in the bargain bin, I said Hell. Why not. I like Robocop, and special ordering an Iron Butterfly CD at the time was more than twice the proce of the soundtrack album. HAHAHAHAHA. I don't think I ever listened to ANY of the other tracks. And now I have the In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida album on vinyl! I WIN!
Lol... Do the MATH Oliver? * shakes head * I loved hearing about this, I knew very little about it and I even forgot it was even a TV Show that existed once. Good job.
I’m a huge fan of the 1987 movie, but confess that I’d never watched the show. I appreciate how thorough your analysis was, and found your opinions to be very objective. Good job, thanks.
Y'know Ollie, on the Discussion part of your Channel, I'd bet you I'd make a list of stuff for you to Review. Also the Commentaries of movies I'd love to hear you, Duncan and Richard cover.
Just like Robocop 3 and Prime Directives, this was one of those things I remember hearing about and seeing articles about, but had trouble finding it. To this day I've not seen a full episode and now I'm not sure I want to.
For copyright reasons the Robocop TV show couldn't use the characters and the ED-209 from the films? That's crazy. Why couldn't the TV show of the movie property not have rights to all the characters?
Great review. By the way, when I was a teenager, I enjoyed the series. I do agree, looking back, it would of been nice to see more machines for Robocop to fight.
I truly love this series I watched on ABC 5 Philippines back in March of 1995 now TV 5. But I think Mother Day aired during the season finale of Robocop
Not a fan of the soundtrack, huh? Maybe if it were a more reasonable price? Would you . . . buy _that_ for a dollar? Thank you for going over this. I remember seeing some TV commercials (as you Brits say, "adverts") for an episode about Pudface Morgan and was bewildered about the weird time the broadcast was scheduled and also the seeming change in tone. I was also disappointed that there was no ED-209-type bot in it. Thank you for explaining those discrepancies. Regarding the cartoons by Nelvana. I think that in the USA, the offering of Nelvana with which we are most familiar is the _Beetlejuice_ animated TV series. Your mention of Newtek and Video Toaster is funny because they play an important role in a great documentary made by the comedic magicians Penn & Teller called _Tim's Vermeer_ . Tim Jenison is the inventor and engineer who co-founded Newtek. His invention, Video Toaster, made him a multimillionaire. Jenison long suspected that the reason why Vermeer's paintings are so realistic is that Vermeer used a camera-obscura-type machine to help him. To demonstrate that this theory is plausible, Jenison re-creates all the technology available in Vermeer's time to produce his own camera obscura-type machine with which he will re-create an entire Vermeer painting. Penn Jillette produced and narrated the documentary about this; he said he learned a lot of his philosophy from Jenison. So the money that the _Robocop_ series used to pay Newtek helped finance discoveries in science and art history. ;-)
Toronto Landmarks Metro Hall 0:250:5519:0629:22 Roy Thompson Hall 2:10 and 2:16 3:06 resembles the Bank of Montreal building at First Canadian Place (can't quite nail the shot, but the landscape has changed greatly in almost 30 years) 6:26 looks like it could be on either King, or Bloor streets 8:09 Harbourfront 8:38 (not 100%) looks like a wide shot of downtown, far left looks like the Canada Trust building, tall white one resembles the Bank of Montreal (BMO) building 17:03 Budweiser Stage 24:13 looks like it could be in Chinatown, near Gerard Square (mall) 25:08 one of the support columns for the Don Valley Parkway, likely on Yonge Street, south of Front Street 25:11 the defunct Gooderham-Worts Distillery/ downtown Distillery District 26:40 interior shot of Metro Hall 27:56 St. Lawrence Market
I just loved how the one villain was Cray Zee Malardo literally named Cray Zee Doctor in the crime data base. Also thought it was clever that Robo Never *Actually* shot anyone he would use his gun in interesting ways.
Had the toy car and robocop from this series. Had no idea it was based on a tv series. Very strange to see that the car was actually very accurate to the tv show model. I used to be a bit disappointed it wasn't like what I'd seen in the film.
What I want to know is how did I never know this existed, I guess it wasn’t shown in Australia, because ai never heard of it. Just watched the first episode, the satirical tone is still there, even if over the top.
Nice job! Yvette Nipar was on an episode of the 90's Flash series as one of Barry's love interests and she also played Johnny Depp's girlfriend on the 80's series 21 Jump street. Though it may have suited her character I wouldn't have wanted her to cut her hair, I love her lushes long locks.
I vaguely remember watching a few episodes of this when I was younger, but was easily forgettable. If this was done today on HBO or Showtime with the violence and tone of the originals I think a Robocop show would be a welcome addition to the franchise.
![CAMPปลิ้น | EP.82[2/2] เมาท์มอยกับ 3 สาวเพื่อนซี้ ที่พร้อมขยี้พ่อหมีได้ทุกเมื่อ](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Wwn7WnylNtQ/mqdefault.jpg)
I feel that nowadays with TV shows like Daredevil or Gotham, a more violent RoboCop TV show would work. :)
+MotionRide It definitely would, as well as a Dredd series.
Have they retained the same outfit for the "Daredevil" show? I'd want the original suit for "RoboCop" if another series was done. The remake one didn't work for me.
MotionRide Music they did it look up robocop prime directives it might still be on amazon prime
@@Maniac536 They did it in Canada.. but you can watch all four Prime Directives on TH-cam free.
@@sumpmiffot at least Dredd had a beautiful reboot in 2012 😄
Dead or alive, you're watching this in 4:3!
this is Robocop for kids. when i was a kid, i loved it. did its job.
my dad didn't let me watch it... :`(
I grew up with the 87 and 90 movies. I watched this when I was 10 in 94 and was pissed he didn't shoot anyone!
I guess it's pretty randomly asking but do anybody know of a good place to stream newly released tv shows online?
yeah i enjoyed it as a teen
Robocop 1&2 were my childhood favorites .🙃
The show was odd, yes it lacked the grim and violent tone but honestly it was nice to finally see Robo doing actual police / detective work rather then just splatter every crook away. Not that i mind the splatter part! :)
This is pretty hilarious, as now we're getting a new entry in the franchise with the videogame RoboCop: Rogue City, where you, as Murphy, do police work and splatter crooks in the same game.
Yes, it's basically a RoboCop simulator. Yes, you investigate crimes like in the TV show and blast away bad guys just like in the movies. It looks surprisingly great. :)
I loved this TV series. It was for kids yes, but it was suprisingly deep and i liked the actor as he got better and better during the show. Also i had a crush for the woman sidekick... i was 10 years old then. I watched the series again few years ago, still liked it.
How is robo cop for kids???
Fine taste you've got, what a sexy woman
@@tylerpemberton3134 this series was definitely aimed at older kids. There was also a cartoon and toys. Thus turning Robocop into a kid friendly franchise, not to mention the fact that if you were an 8-10 year old boy at school in the late 80s/early 90s who hadn't seen it, you probably weren't very cool. I was about 10 when I had Robocop figures. Probably saw the 1987 film when I was 8 or so. Kids were tougher back then and could understand the difference between fantasy and reality
in the ep
Prime Suspect
a televangelist gets in Robocop's face and Robocop scrolls down a list of respones and pauses on
" lethal force "
just long enough for it to be funny and show
Alex J Murphy Robocop has a
personality and a sense of humor
Please do a Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles retrospective some day, now that show was something really special!
+Ryan Pliskin I second the motion! SCC was surprisingly good, and was cancelled at its most awesome moment.
That was a great show....but...it would've been even better if it never existed! 😃
Fantastic série!
To make an entertaining review about a show I would never want to see I just know that you're a skilled editor. Well done Mr.Harper.
Crazy how this suit looks better than recent movie
+Panagiotis Skartsilas That's what happens when creative people design costumes instead of the soulless marketing teams. :P
No, that's what you get when you constantly re use a great suit from the original because you don't pay to make another and only adjust it slightly. Also if it ain't broke don't fix it
The suit in the reboot is completely new...
No no, im talking about the series and other movies. They continued to reuse Peter Wellers original suit. Also, still dont know why Robos suit in Robocop 2 was glossy blue, anyone have any answers on why that wat
I think the new suit looks good in it's own way. It's more modernized which makes sense.
Black is a nice color for him but it looks better when it's in the _classic_ colors.
That being said, a Black suit RoboCop with two guns is nothing new ( _Hint: " Prime Directives "_ ) as many seem to think.
Thanks for this video dear Oliver! This TV show was my huge obsession in the 90's. I loved it as much as The X Files and Babylon 5. I know, I'm in minority with this but I don't care. I wanted to see more seasons. I became a huge Yvette Nipar and Andrea Roth fan. I do love Lisa Madigan as a character
Great job reviewing a series that has it's fair share of ups and downs...but it is far from RoboCop's worst hour. Alpha Commando is way worse, as is Prime Directives, RoboCop 3, and the remake. It had some genuinely intriguing concepts, and Richard Eden was honestly a pretty good RoboCop. The second best actor to play RoboCop since Weller.
It's honestly a little bit underrated if you ask me. But that doesn't mean it's a great show or anything. It's got a lot of issues. And there are some episodes that are good and others that are just horrible. Better and more consistent writing would have done this show a lot of favors. But for what it is? It could honestly be worse.
Alpha Commando is a prime example of this.
+OcpCommunications Well I believe Robert John Burke gets unfair criticism, he had the Robocop movements down perfectly just a shame it was bad movie..
KD84Afc™
He had the movements down? If you ask me? He didn't. He was a step too slow every time. And his performance was horrid. Especially his line delivery.
But that's just my opinion. It's cool if you think he did a good job.
OcpCommunications he did a better job with movements then Richard Eden, and Page Fletcher from prime directives but that's my opinion.. But no one will ever beat Peter Weller.
KD84Afc™
I thought Richard Eden was a lot better. But that's just me. And I definitely agree that no one will ever beat Weller that's for sure.
I just found Eden's movement sloppy or he moved to quickly, I find Burke's movements looked better but that's just me... But the absolute worst is Fletcher, he walked around like Frankenstein monster !
Thanks Oliver. I never miss your reviews and I'm glad I watched this one.
Cut Yvette's hair? Are you kidding? She looks gorgeous with that hair lol
+1! Love it. Not a million miles away from Lewis' hair in #2 either
Being so child friendly was weird because the only reason I saw it was my grandma would record it on vhs when it was on at 1am eastern time. It was well done in some ways but also had a lot of issues. So many episodes revolve around 'how to incapacitate Robo' and well, a lot of villains are cartoon characters.
It is an interesting thought to imagine if they could have done this show on netflixs or something similar today.
I like her long hair.
same
This she's hot as fuck
Yeah she's strikingly beautiful. Honestly I'd never cut her hair just to make it slightly more coherent with the story lol.
An example; I really like the idea of Diana sharing Robocop's consciousness. It serves as a constant reminder of what happens to innocent people when others do nothing. Plus, she's kind of like his own Cortana! =)
Wonderful retrospective! I have rather fond memories of this series. Yes, it was hit and miss, and had to tone down the adult violence, but I thought they made a worthy effort, even though they frequently missed the mark. I liked the Cyberpunk elements -- especially the secretary/assistant, Diana, who was turned into the omnipresent, helpful, AI. She manifested the Electronic-Goddess archetype.
One subtle humorous bit that won me over, was in the pilot, and I believe used later: A warehouse was name, E. Coli Bros., Meat Packing. ^_^
Hey oliver! i don't often comment or like on youtube videos, but i can't help myself from giving you some love!
i really love you're retrospective review's, they fill me with nostalgia and i can once again feel the wibe of the 1990's.
Ceep em coming. much love
How did they not own the character name rights for their own movie? At least they didn't rename him Cyborgcop.
RobotCop
Yeah that would be copyright because cyborg cop already exists in 1992
Stupendous job with review Oliver, extremely well researched and hugely informative.
Your retrospectives totally rock and set the standard for other TH-camrs extremely high.
Your output really is the benchmark in this field.
+Giedi Prime Thank you very much for your feedback.
Now, all we need is for Oliver to make for us a RoboCop: Prime Directives retrospective. Cheers!
The retrospective I didnt know I wanted! I watched EVERYTHING Robocop as a kid! Thank you!
I'm always happy as a kid on christmas morning after seeing a new video pop up of Oliver in my subscription list ! :-)
You really should do this as a profession Oliver! Hope your Patreon will grow bigger so you could do this full time!
Great as always. Seing a review for a TV-show makes me wonder: Might there be one for "SPACE: Above and Beyond" as well one day? It totaly fits to your channel I'm sure
Robocop, you don't hold that hand, you crush it!
Best line of dialogue in a review ever!
I really enjoyed this show as a kid even the end credits song
Congrats on your reviews!, i enjoy them very much, keep up the good work!, greetings from México :)
+Manuel Puente Thanks Manuel!
had no idea this existed. Great review!
Wow, I never truly heard of this series in depth like this. I find it interesting take on the character even if most fans don't. I mean I kind of liked Robocop 3 in a way.
I was always curious about this series. It seems as though they just never found a home for RoboCop after the first film (much like Highlander). I wish a director like Darren Aronofsky could be put in charge of a proper reboot. Great review as always, Oliver!
+John Curcio Thanks John!
Nice little overview / retrospective . One thing I do remember about this show that I think you missed was the hand cuffs... For some strange reason they did away with actual cuffs and but metal tubes on people's fingers! Like the old finger traps. The show was full of little things like that that just confused the heck out of me.
Jj5xfxf6
Just wanted to say great channel and love your work.
I thought it was established in Robocop 2 that his wife and son know who Robocop is? Tobi is stalking them and the wife complains about it
Wow, this show looks awful. But any other reviewer would have spent thirty minutes shrieking at it. So kudos to you for looking at this turd objectively. Insightful and entertaining,
It's not that bad. I actually quite enjoyed it.
If you want something really disappointing - Watch SeaQuest.
Season 1 - Amazing.
Season 2 - AWFUL.
H.D Beird it was ok for a tv show during it's time period
Just watched all 3 seasons on dvd, I'd only watched halfway back in the 90s when it was on TV here in OZ. Seaquest jumps the shark when Mark Harmil shows up mid-late season 2...
I remember it was very generic and really dumb at times.
awesome, as always - keep up the good work, oliver!
+TNFilms thank you!
I agree Richard eden was a good robocop
I’m biased because I saw this series as a kid and was in love with anything robocop
Loved every aspect of this series
And there’s a future to this life is such a sweet song!
Fun Fact: Dana Carvey's brother created Video Toaster and Carvey wears a VT shirt in Wayne's World 2.
I remember him wearing that shirt I always just assumed the shirt was because Garth was a nerd I didn’t know Carvey’s brother created it. Cool
hey Olivier! haven't checked outTH-cam for a while.. can't wait to dive into all the new stuff on your channel! :-)
Great review Oliver as usual,I was wondering if you'd ever review the Tremors TV show.
+Sebastian Fitzpatrick Christ I didn't know there was a Tremors series! lol
+Oliver Harper its not that good, it re run over here in sweden many years ago
+Zero Cool
I loved it I think it had as many as 2 or 3 seasons. I recommend you watch Tremors Bloodlines(it has issues but if you love the series....:)
+Oliver Harper Good job Harper. This got me (morbidly?) curious to check out the rest of the franchise, as I re-watched the original movie a few months ago. Probably one of my favorite sci-fi films.Also Robocop is like Jaws in that it's kinda weird to think there was an entire franchise based around the property given that the original film is far better known than everything else.
+Oliver Harper Christopher Lloyd is in the Tremors series I think.
If Robocop has rediscovered some of his humanity, as you keep suggesting, then wouldn't you expect his behaviour to change somewhat? I think for a series he'd have to try and apprehend more people. If he just killed everyone all the time I think that would get boring too. You need something to mix it up.
I haven't seen the show since it aired but I remember liking it. I think I'll try and check it out again.
Exactly my thoughts too! Sure, it was pretty cheesy, but it had some good ideas! =)
"Miss-a-soog-a"
I love you Oliver.
+TheBRWith500Ping did I say it right? lol probably not.
It was a valiant effort.
Having someone other than Peter Weller play as Robocop is like having someone other than Arnold Schwarzenegger play as terminator.
true, but arnold didn't have to wear a heavy cumbersome suit that was difficult to move in. That's primarily why Peter Weller didn't come back for 3 or a potential sequel.
@@SammyRenardActually he didn’t return due to an obligation to another project.
Good review as always bro.
Just a selfish suggestion - but how about a review for 1990's Nightbreed - awesome cult film.
Yvette Nipar was great on 21 Jump Street and she had an appearance on Freddy's Nightmares
Hey, did you see Doctor Mordrid (1992) or Ski Patrol (1990)? Yvette was great there as well
It's sad that this was the end of the Robocop. I hope one day a dedicated fan who is just as aggravated as we are on how the series went after #1 will make a robocop film that the fans have been looking for and do the character justice.
+Charlie Channel It wasn't REALLY the end...they made that ghastly Prime Directives TV movie thing...it was VERY hard to watch...
+Charlie Channel Yeah, believe it or not it got worse with Prime Directives.
Killeric Longstar good news! The director of District 9 just signed a deal to direct a sequel to the original Robocop : Robocop Returns.
If Netflix mad a Robocop tv series that was actually decent with a budget, I would watch the Fk out of it.
HOT take: I think this show is better than RoboCop 2 and RoboCop 3. Apparently, this show also ignored the sequels and even hired the writers of the original movie who utilized their ideas for a rejected sequel titled "The Corporate Wars" with the hologram lady character.
“Services robocop in the basement “
Thank you! I have fond memories of watching this show during syndicated broadcasts on the Sci-Fi channel as a child before I even knew what Robocop really was. I never really bothered re-watching the show because I assumed I would just find it too cheesy to get through (and based on this probably so) but this was a great look back at what went into the show and what worked and what didn't.
Robocop is a masterpiece. After that, it's down hill, but in a funny sort of trend.
Robocop 2 isn't as good as the original, but at least it's not Robocop 3.
Robocop 3 is really not good, but at least it's not the TV show.
The TV show is garbage, but at least it's not the remake.
The remake is shit. Just plain shit.
On a positive note, if you watch the franchise in reverse, there is no where to go, but up!
Which TV show? there were two
The remake is better than 2,3 and tv shows. It’s the second best robocop movie, especially the first half, but that’s not saying much.
I respectfully disagree - I think that the TV show did the best it could given its limitations, and actually managed to capture the spirit of the Robocop universe.
It's the mini-series that's the worst :)
Jan Strzelecki But Robocable is the one redeeming quality lol, i'm sure you know what i'm getting at too.
@@Lava91point0 Well, I liked the actor - I think he was convincing both as the young officer Cable, and his older self.
I remember being gutted at this when I was 10
"Its rubbish dad, he doesn't kill anyone."
10 year olds love violence and death. Well at least I did
I thought's exactly! I was 10 when this was released and I was like crap turn it off. He never shot anyone!
What's wrong with her long hair?
Maybe something to do with practicality...how does she go about fighting crime in the streets with long hair like that?
Maybe he likes bald women
If she's a beat cop, and they all wear those riot helmets all the time, wouldn't that be kind of annoying dealing with the helmet and the hair?
Even When I was Younger My Mom Had an Album Of Movie Soundtracks... That Is When I Learned How Important A Great Theme Song... When I Made First Video..My Son and I Created A Power Driven Theme And It Drives You Straight Thru It To The End.. Fun Stuff... 🍻🍻🍻
I watched this growing up and I loved it. I still do, it's really cheesy and fun.
I remember enjoying this series. Total cheese, overacting, and camp - but I loved it.
Technically it followed the same outline like GET SMART and THE BATMAN TV SERIES from the Sixties
Same. I think they made it as well as they could given a TV budget and PG-13 rating.
That OCP logo in this show was an eyesore.
Remember later on Si-Fi network, it was a mini series called Robocop: Prime Directives starting Page Flecther as Robocop😉
After watching it again i mostly agree with you. So or so as a total package the show is imo much better then many think.I came to the conclusion like you, it was a mistake to judge it after the first view from Dec 1995 to May 1996 (it run in Germany for the first time then). You simply cant compare it 1-1 with Verhoevens classic, thats not fair because it was not focused on violence.
Here two things i would like to add:
1) You said the acting of the children (Sarah Campbell as Gadget) wasnt good. After seeing the episode "Mothers day" again she looks very fine to me. For her age her acting was very good imo. And Peter Costigan also did a great job as Jimmy. He gave the young Jimmy Murphy a character, in Robo 1-3 he had just seconds screen time, and in Prime Directives he was already an adult.
The acting of Campbell and Costigan was imo much better as the acting from other children in movies.
2) You correctly pointed out Richard Eden spent the most time in the suit. Thats true, much longer then Peter Weller and Robert John Burke. And he had of course the most screen time as Robo from all others.
When it comes to screen time:
The actress who played his wife/widow in the series (Jenn Griffin as Nancy Murphy) has more screen time as any other actress who portrayed her, be it the one from RoboCop 1, 2 and 3 (Angie Bolling as Ellen Murphy), or from the Remake in 2014 (Abbie Cornish as Clara Murhpy).
The Nancy Murphy character hasnt just more screen time compared to all others, she also has deeper stories about her character (the welfare thing in "Provision 22", the kidnapping and blackmail in "Heartbreakers", etc.).
PS: The Episode "Heartbreakers" was the only episode who was written by a woman, a Canadian writer named Alison Lea Bingeman. And it was the only episode ever - as you pointed out - that Robo did override a directive to save his wife (changing "Uphold the law" to "Protect the innocent").
So when many Robo fans name A. Bolling as "Mrs RoboCop", i would say J. Griffin deserves that title more, or at least too.
Not just because she has the most screen time compared to all others + has deeper stories about her character (the welfare thing in "Provision 22", the kidnapping and blackmail in "Heartbreakers", etc.), but also because she played in "TekWar" episode "Unkown Soldier" with William "Captain Kirk" Shatner a Cyborg herself.
You can agree or disagree: When judging about violence, action and revenge + the majestic theme from Basil Poledouris, then the 1987 movie is untouchable.
When judging about the family side of Murphy/Robo, there is nothing who matches this show. And i personally would have liked a 2nd season. There was much potential and possible ideas, of course like rekindling Murphys connection to his family (wife, son and parents), but also things with Charlie Lippencot and Diana "Neurobrain", and Gadget and Jimmy also got along very good.
The biggest problem was simple: The die hard Robo fans compared it 1-1 with Verhoevens movie, and of course this doesnt work because of severeal and obvious reasons.
One thing: Yes, RoboCop was always able to use deadly force, and the Clarence Boddicker gang only understood deadly force. But first and foremost Murphy was a Cop. And a Cop would never just shot any little 3 cent thief in pieces.
You know as much a like and respect Verhoeven, and being a German i understand through history how horrible his childhood in the Netherlands was, when he witnessed first hand what the Nazis did to the dutch people, but i always had a problem when he said "Alex Murphy is like Jesus. You cant have a resurrection without a crucification"...because Jesus had no family except his mother Maria. He had no wife and son.
So you cant compare the two one on one.
Murphy was like a reborn Jesus but contrary to him he still loved his wife and son, and they had so much grief because of his fate.
And this was the thing the producers of this show understood, + dont forget Robo was created by Miner and Neumeier, and they were involved in the show.
PS: And when you read critics, most of them praise Richard Edens performance as Robo, so do i! He and Peter Weller were BY FAR the two best RoboCop actors, they moved better then Robert John Burke and not just that, they brought real emotions on the screen (i cant compare the 2014 movie with it since this Robo could run and jump, + his wife knew fromt he first moment her husband is RoboCop).
i would love to see you review the tv movie Robocop : Prime Directives
Oh lord ... what a mess !
The tone in the right place but the execution is awful, never cast a midget to play robocop, a 5ft2 robocop doesn't look good on screen.
This was my first encounter with Robocop when I was in my early teens. I hadn't watched the movie by that time and I was shocked to watch the first one. But still I like the series and I do not care of the side characters or the occasional boring story.
I seem to remember - later in the series - that Murphy's son was now grown up and an junior executive at OCP.
Thank You Tubi
The "Human Factor" is a favourite episode of mine, too.
That was very helpful! An excellent review to watch and listen too! Ill take your advice and watch those chosen episodes!
Amazon Prime are showing the tv series and i love the first movie.. however thank you for saving me from watching the episodes that may have pretty much bored me to death 👍
Well Done Oliver Harper👍
Hey Oliver Harper, great retrospective review as always, did you hear, they released this show on Bluray, the Bluray here in North America sucks, but I hear their re releasing it in the UK and they actually look like their putting in some effort into remastering, cool eh? you gonna buy it? Keep on making awesome videos.
PS. an update for those who would like to know, I bought the new UK verison of Robocop the series (released by Screenbound) on blu ray for cheap on ebay (used), some people are already selling their copies, lol. And it's not very good either, it does keep the original aspect ratio 4:3, but the audio is messed up and so it the video image. Image wise, they just oversaturated colors (the colors like bleed everywhere?) and nothing really else, it's still rather washed out and things aren't sharpened or cleared up at all. They did something that really sucks too, they compressed the 22 episodes to fit on 2 discs and that's it, even though on their website they list is as being a 4 disc release, but it's not. The release is also disappointing too, I don't think they will ever properly remaster this show at all, because the source the US and Uk releases have for the show are in SD, probably from VHS tapes, I'm pretty sure it's VHS too? My guess is they couldn't find the filmed elements so their stuck with just trying to remaster old dusty vhs, SD era stuff? Oh well, it's too bad, some cult stuff we like will just be forever stuck in the SD, VHS era. Anyways, I just thought I would let fans out there know about the UK release on Bluray, sorry to say, just save your money, just watch it on youtube or Tubi for free in SD if you like.
Honestly, I loved this series when it came out, new viewers though may find it hard to get into due to it being very dated for the times, especially for television. I've always wondered if the creators of Halo were fans of the show because there are some interesting parallels between Robocop/Diana and Master Chief/Cortana.
I stopped paying attention to Robocop after Robocop 2. Your docs are helpful for filling in the blanks.
I'd still rather have this playing in the background than coronation street
William Ray Morgan
Pudface
looks like Freddy Krueger
Andrew Blanchard looks like the yellow bastard from sin city now
Can you do the Robocop Prime Directives.
The awesome power of DA BOAAMBS!
Yeah I wouldn't mind that. The later day serials were cheesy too but had enough edge that they were more watchable than this series.
Talia al Ghul your move
When I was a young teen, I bought that rock soundtrack. Because I was a Robocop fan? I was, but no. Because I was such a fan of the series? I didn't even know there was a series until I saw the soundtrack, and didn't see it until a couple years ago.
So why did I buy that soundtrack all those years ago? Simple. I went to buy In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida, but the shop didn't have an Iron Butterfly records for sale. The only song I wanted was In-A-GAdda-Da-Vidda, so when I discovered it was on a decade-old Robocop CD in the bargain bin, I said Hell. Why not. I like Robocop, and special ordering an Iron Butterfly CD at the time was more than twice the proce of the soundtrack album. HAHAHAHAHA. I don't think I ever listened to ANY of the other tracks. And now I have the In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida album on vinyl! I WIN!
Fun trivia, Colin from No such thing as a bad movie podcast and RLM guest regular got his first fx job working on this show
Lol... Do the MATH Oliver? * shakes head *
I loved hearing about this, I knew very little about it and I even forgot it was even a TV Show that existed once. Good job.
Robocop does his job as a PEACE OFFICER... and people complain that there's not enough police violence lolol
I’m a huge fan of the 1987 movie, but confess that I’d never watched the show. I appreciate how thorough your analysis was, and found your opinions to be very objective. Good job, thanks.
Y'know Ollie, on the Discussion part of your Channel, I'd bet you I'd make a list of stuff for you to Review. Also the Commentaries of movies I'd love to hear you, Duncan and Richard cover.
Just like Robocop 3 and Prime Directives, this was one of those things I remember hearing about and seeing articles about, but had trouble finding it. To this day I've not seen a full episode and now I'm not sure I want to.
Robocop 1 - "Lose the arm." Robocop The Series - "Lose the balls"
For copyright reasons the Robocop TV show couldn't use the characters and the ED-209 from the films? That's crazy. Why couldn't the TV show of the movie property not have rights to all the characters?
I guess ED-209 was actually owned *more* by the effects studio and less by the movie studio.
At least Gadget was just a kid, not a Wonderkin like the girl in RoboCop to. Actually think I prefer that.
Does anyone else remember Prime Directives? I always thought that was pretty good, it did its job, certainly wasn’t a masterpiece.
Great review. By the way, when I was a teenager, I enjoyed the series. I do agree, looking back, it would of been nice to see more machines for Robocop to fight.
I truly love this series I watched on ABC 5 Philippines back in March of 1995 now TV 5. But I think Mother Day aired during the season finale of Robocop
How did I not know about this?!
Not a fan of the soundtrack, huh? Maybe if it were a more reasonable price? Would you . . . buy _that_ for a dollar?
Thank you for going over this. I remember seeing some TV commercials (as you Brits say, "adverts") for an episode about Pudface Morgan and was bewildered about the weird time the broadcast was scheduled and also the seeming change in tone. I was also disappointed that there was no ED-209-type bot in it. Thank you for explaining those discrepancies.
Regarding the cartoons by Nelvana. I think that in the USA, the offering of Nelvana with which we are most familiar is the _Beetlejuice_ animated TV series.
Your mention of Newtek and Video Toaster is funny because they play an important role in a great documentary made by the comedic magicians Penn & Teller called _Tim's Vermeer_ . Tim Jenison is the inventor and engineer who co-founded Newtek. His invention, Video Toaster, made him a multimillionaire. Jenison long suspected that the reason why Vermeer's paintings are so realistic is that Vermeer used a camera-obscura-type machine to help him. To demonstrate that this theory is plausible, Jenison re-creates all the technology available in Vermeer's time to produce his own camera obscura-type machine with which he will re-create an entire Vermeer painting. Penn Jillette produced and narrated the documentary about this; he said he learned a lot of his philosophy from Jenison. So the money that the _Robocop_ series used to pay Newtek helped finance discoveries in science and art history. ;-)
Toronto Landmarks
Metro Hall 0:25 0:55 19:06 29:22
Roy Thompson Hall 2:10 and 2:16
3:06 resembles the Bank of Montreal building at First Canadian Place (can't quite nail the shot, but the landscape has changed greatly in almost 30 years)
6:26 looks like it could be on either King, or Bloor streets
8:09 Harbourfront
8:38 (not 100%) looks like a wide shot of downtown, far left looks like the Canada Trust building, tall white one resembles the Bank of Montreal (BMO) building
17:03 Budweiser Stage
24:13 looks like it could be in Chinatown, near Gerard Square (mall)
25:08 one of the support columns for the Don Valley Parkway, likely on Yonge Street, south of Front Street
25:11 the defunct Gooderham-Worts Distillery/ downtown Distillery District
26:40 interior shot of Metro Hall
27:56 St. Lawrence Market
I just loved how the one villain was Cray Zee Malardo literally named Cray Zee Doctor in the crime data base. Also thought it was clever that Robo Never *Actually* shot anyone he would use his gun in interesting ways.
I would never like a Robocop series for modern audiences, that's for sure. Just make it like the original movie.
Had the toy car and robocop from this series. Had no idea it was based on a tv series. Very strange to see that the car was actually very accurate to the tv show model. I used to be a bit disappointed it wasn't like what I'd seen in the film.
I loved that show an still have a lot of its toys today.
This felt like a 'Scooby-Doo' version of RoboCop.
-I love it!
What I want to know is how did I never know this existed, I guess it wasn’t shown in Australia, because ai never heard of it. Just watched the first episode, the satirical tone is still there, even if over the top.
I remember liking this show quite a bit
Did no one get the "they live" reference in the commander cash ep?
i always love watching your retrospectives man. keep it up!
Nice job! Yvette Nipar was on an episode of the 90's Flash series as one of Barry's love interests and she also played Johnny Depp's girlfriend on the 80's series 21 Jump street. Though it may have suited her character I wouldn't have wanted her to cut her hair, I love her lushes long locks.
I vaguely remember watching a few episodes of this when I was younger, but was easily forgettable. If this was done today on HBO or Showtime with the violence and tone of the originals I think a Robocop show would be a welcome addition to the franchise.
When I saw the odd episode of this as a kid I remember Pudface reminding me of Freddy Krueger as well.
I'd never thought about it before but now you think of it...