Automan, Manimal, The Wizard, Wizards and Warriors, Misfits of Science, Shadow Chasers, The Phoenix, Powers of Matthew Star, Starman, Outlaws, The Highwayman
Given a choice between these and the current glut of so-called "Reality" TV shows that just showcase boring people behaving in the _worst_ possible way for attention... I'll take _these shows_ any day of the week, and Twice with reruns on Sundays. Thank you.
+Shenruss The 80's and early 90's were amazeballs, if I could go back to circa 85-89 I would in a heart beat. TV & commercials in this day and age is truly depressing.
Um, okay, why the comparison of two entirely different types of shows? Why the false equivalence? Who would ever be in a situation to make that choice? Given that ultimatum by an evil god or something, I would probably just read books. But I live in 2015, when there are more quality television shows currently than I have time to watch, and I can see many of them commercial-free, plus the best of the past, at any time of my choosing, without having to rely on the quixotic networks's schedule. Today I watched Peaky Blinders and Twin Peaks. These are the days of miracles and wonders. No one need ever see a reality show again, or even an AD for a reality show. Just don't use a TV.
***** Sigh...Killjoy much, brother? What we're saying is, even with the current crop of decent shows, they are the _exception_, NOT the norm, where there is an obvious *glut* of badly scripted sitcoms, shit retoolings of older shows, and piss poor, cheaply made "reality TV". For a generation that grew up with good and great TV, while we may appreicate the internet, it's a _damn shame_ that a still relevant form of media is becomign so passe due to the crap storm of elements that are being portrayed on it. This is why we are singing the praises of these shows past.
So glad I grew up in the 80s. A golden age for creativity and imagination on television. I remember many of these shows... Manimal, The Phoenix, Automan, Battlestar Galactica, Buck Rogers, The Six Million Dollar Man, Bionic Woman, Airwolf, and cartoons like Transformers, GI Joe and Masters of the Universe were all favorites of mine.
Yeah,maybe now when he makes the hard lefts, his passenger's face won't be smashed up onto the window (LMAO, loved that gag)...of course if he'd worn the seat belt that might have helped more..lol..
We had no time as kids to worry about nuclear threats and such, we were to busy playing outside with our actual real life friends. When we actually did come in was to enjoy our favorite shows. They really were better and simpler times. Who cares about modernity, we had what we needed and didn’t focus on what we didn’t.
+Stefan Travis Glad I wasn't a teen back then... I would'e been somewhere drunk watching Knight Rider and been more of a reckless driver than I already was in my 20s. Lmao
+Stefan Travis ... I miss the 80s so bad it physically hurts. Those were my Middle & High school years. What the hell have we done to the world since then?! The future seemed so bright. I'd gladly turn in my computer to go back to an Atari. "Now you're playing with power!" Remember that?
Loved Manimal. Used to play it with friends at school. Matthew Star ripped the sound fx from Star Wars. I watched this to see if there were any faces that went on to bigger and better things. Courtney Cox did not disappoint.
This awesome decade was where people still had original ideas, and could use their own imagination to create new tv shows, and not try to remake everything and put a weird 2020 twist in it and expect it to work. I remember of watching a few of these back then, didn’t think it was tacky then or now.
Yea, and NOT remaking,recasting and changing what made the movie the movie and still calling it its original name. I heard that. My birth year says it all :)
Yeah there's not to much of interest on television for me. I wish reality could step aside or be still an option with some other stuff that doesn't get cancelled the minute out of the gate and has a high viewership of support.
Chuck Wagner (Automan) actually has had a long, successful career in musical theater and New York based soaps. He freely admits his Hollywood foray was a mistake and he was cast for looks alone. He was the original Prince in Sondheim's "Into The Woods" and played Javert for four years in the touring version of "Les Miserables" This past year he played Jean Valjean in the concert version of Les Mis here in OKC.
Damn....TV Nostalgia is something else. Makes me want to put on my old Spiderman UnderRoos, make a glass of Strawberry Quick, and lay back in a Pier 1 basket woven chair. 🕶️👍🏾
I remember back in the 1980s , I was chosen along with some other kids in my class to be a part of a test group for a NEW show that was going to air on T.V. The show was Manimal and we wrote down our opinions of it! This brings back so many memories of that time when it happened!!
I remember when the Phoenix came on. I was a kid and watched the first couple of episodes and then it just disappeared. During the 80’s and 90’s I would bring up the show to others and they had no idea what I was talking about and I was wondering if I remembered things correctly. Thankfully the growth of the internet set things straight
Wow, what a trip to memory lane. They were not tacky, they were really cool shows, way better than the "reality" shows and the stupid court shows of today.
+Turey Taino EXACTLY! Now THOSE are some tacky stupid shows to watch! They rip people off by not needing to add any special effects or cool music! They practically just grab a home camera and film real life! HAHA!! How frick'n BORING! I HATE boring reality shows! I'd rather just watch my own daily life! HAHAHA!!
LOL the problem is obviously you, because you've been watching all the wrong shows... like, forever. Game of Thrones, The Walking Dead, American Horror Story, Bones, Battlestar Galactica (new), Farscape, X-Files, Eureka, Penny Dreadful,... I can make the list a lot longer, but dude... I kinda envy you because if you seriously think there haven't been an "really cool" shows since the 80... you are in for such a treat.
Turey Taino Right on! I hate zombies and gay ass vampires! I'd love to watch a bad ass tv series of a werewolf that kills zombies and vampires though! That would be a damn good show! A single werewolf killing off tons of vampires and zombies!
Yep, this was back when things actually had to have a story and you couldn't rely solely on special effects. Awesomeness that will never be again. R.I.P. the 80's.
+jeremy oliveria even though it's still Sci-Fi Chanel now it's named simply SyFy Imagine greater they need to bring even these one time Sci-Fantasy hits of the 80s so that Sci-Fi/Fantasy fans of today can watch at least a couple of these one or two season of these mentioned shows from when we were growing up as kids in the 80s that's back in our days. better these gems for SyFy in a SyFy 80s Weekend than those silly ass,crappy reality TV Shows and even some of today's shows that have no taste or class.
Oh god, I loved Misfits of Science. I was still in elementary school back then. I remember that show being on Saturday nights and I'd spend all week looking forward to it.
Me too. It was funny, humors and sometimes, digs deep into the heart. A few episodes still stick in me, like the one where a guy from a foreign land came on a canoe-like boat, carrying a small statue of his family so he could put them onto a space shuttle (which he believes will carry them to heaven).
The intros to a lot of the shows today are so short as to allow more time for the story (which I like), but the "long" intros of yesteryear are one of the things that made these shows so memorable to all of us!
Yeah you'd hear the intro for Fraggle Rock, The A-Team, McGuyver, Knight Rider, Magnum PI, Transformers, Battle of the Planets and you'd get SO EXCITED you were about to watch it!
Weird Science and Real Genius, my two favorites, there was nothing like the 80s, anyone who was a teenager living in that decade knows exactly what I'm talking about
That was absolutely amazing! So many wonderful memories from my childhood just came back to me. I seriously can not thank you enough. The one the complexity blew me away was the misfits of science, from what I remember (I could be wrong it was over 30 years ago) it was pulled after something like 4 episodes. Seeing that again was completely unexpected, I literally said no way out loud. The 80's, good times man good effing times, thank you again :)
LOL Louis Gossett Jr. watching that book on a fishing line pass his head. He was filming An Officer and a Gentleman at the same time and won an Oscar for that role.
Oh, man, I loved these shows when they were on TV. Don't remember Shadow Chasers or Outlaws, but I burst out laughing just now when I heard the premise for Outlaws. Automan was us being excited about computer animation after "Tron." David Rappaport (also from "Time Bandits") was basically the Peter Dinklage of the 80s. Misfits of Science was about as close to the X-Men as you could expect Hollywood to get back then. And of course Wizards and Warriors was a gift for any D&D-loving kid at the time.
David Rappaport was great in "Time Bandits". He was also cast as Kivas Fajo for the Star Trek next Generation episode "The Most Toys" and even filmed several scenes, but sadly he took his own life before they finished and the part eventually went to Saul Rubinek. Here's David playing his version of that character: th-cam.com/video/tvW7GkRMMS8/w-d-xo.htmlsi=vd2nQPt4HBkkfm79&t=45
Just because these series didn't "catch on" doesn't mean they were "tacky". I loved Automan, The Wizard, Starman and The Phoenix. Some of my favorite 80s shows.
I completely agree with you. I grew up on these shows and have very fond memories of my childhood . I never considered these shows tacky considering what on television now I'd take so called "tacky" anyday.
The special effects with computers may look bad, but keep in mind that in the 80's, the best computers available to the public then were 8 bit screens with only green numbers and digits, before Windows was created and before Mouses were created. So look closer at the video editing these shows used with green screens! The government always has technology 30 or 50 years before the public gets a hold of it. We just got the technology that they always had, so imagine what they have right now!
I’m 57 and I remember about half of these shows by name, and of those I probably saw a few episodes of each. I remember watching Starman because of the Jeff Bridges movie. Automan looks like it’d be fun to revisit! I bought Captain Planet on DVD recently and the graphics were great for the time and look great in 4K! The movie The Last Star Fighter looks great in 4K too!
I'm amazed that there are so many TV shows I missed in the 80s. I watched so many sci Fi movies and TV shows. The biggest was probably Battlestar Galactica in the 80s. I watched only the show with Dirk Blackpool out of all these. I think I must have been too young.
80's tv plots tended to be quite innocent and sometimes just silly but there was a charm there too. Kids don't want the complications of adult life. They want heroes and villains clearly drawn out. Nowadays kids TV seems more complex, it spends a hell of a lot of time on character development and dialogue and interrelationships, the adventure and action gets watered down for fear they might copy the violence they see. It did me no harm. Lets just let kids be kids. Do we have to pressure them and lecture them at every turn?
Sure as hell beats the complete crap genre the Kardashians started! At least they were creative then, now we get Honey Boo Boo, 90 Day Fiance, 100 different shows about little people...🙄
Born in 82, but British and not seen any of these. Thank you very much for compiling and sharing these lesser known gems (for someone like me) They are badass and make me smile
Truth is.. They where magical times in TV history that will never be repeated. If we had the opportunity to actually go back in time to the 80s we actually wouldn't watch TV so we where lucky to have witnessed what we had at that time in TV history.
I don't know about the word tacky. Definitely formulaic and paint-by-numbers, but most of them were quite fun for those of us who were the right age back then. One thing I really appreciate about this old-fashioned sort of television intro is the way the names of the regular cast members were displayed with their pictures. I wish my favorite shows would do that these days.
None of these shows are tacky. They have likeable characters, imaginative stories, creative plots, inspired props, exciting action, intelligent and witty dialog.
The 80s age of Electronic Keyboard music with electric guitars violins trumpets and psychedelic video effect neon intros to accompany low res video . Loved every minute.
Oh man, I’m just overcome with nostalgia. Manimal, Misfits of Science, and Starman were among my favorites. I’d completely forgotten about Highwaymen until I saw the intro. ❤
Thank you for creating this video! I remember watching most of these shows as a kid in the '80s. I still wish they'd release "The Highwayman" series on DVD. I was obsessed with that show, even though it got cancelled quickly. 😆
Holy crap. I remember watching Wizards and Warriors when I was about 4 or so. For literally 35 years I have wondered what was the show from the early 80's that turned into a comic book scene every time it went to commercial. Now I know! Unbelievable.
I always sought out these types of shows in the 80's when I was a kid. I tried predicting which shows would be featured in this montage before watching it. I correctly predicted 3 of them. Automan, The Phoenix, & The Powers of Matthew Star. I completely forgot about Manimal, probably because I didn't like it, even as a kid. The Misfits of Science and Starman (the series) I do remember but had totally forgotten about. All the remaining ones I don't remember at all or had never heard of. Other tacky 80's sci-fi shows I guessed would be in this montage, which are not. Otherworld, Mr. Merlin, Voyagers, & Q.E.D. (slightly more Victorian or steam punk but was a tacky quasi sci-fi). I was also going to say Beauty & the Beast but I think that one may have been early 90's. Does anyone remember Tales of the Golden Monkey? It was a wanna be Raiders'esqe TV series which attempted to cash in on the popularity of Indiana Jones at the time.
I used to watch Automan, Misfits of Science, The Powers of Matthew Star and Starman. I remember Manimal, but never watched it. I have a slight memory of The Phoenix. I never heard of the rest of the shows. Probably because I joined the Navy in '83 and missed the opportunity to see them. I wish I could see Wizards and Warriors because it had Taxi's Bobby, Zorro and Newhart's Stephanie in it
Scott Hayden, Jr: "Who are you?" Paul Forrester: "I am your father." Hayden: "Surely, you can't be serious!" Forrester: " I AM serious. And don't call me Shirley."
The coke had to be waist deep in the pitching session for Outlaws the cowboy detective Show - let's see outlaws and sheriff get swept up into 1980s and become private detective agents because...why not?
Ronin Dave I remember as a 13 yr old boy watching the intro to "Outlaws" and turning to my older sister and asking "Who the heck thought this was a good idea for a t.v. show?" I then departed to my room to watch some paint dry on the wall. It was better than watching "Manimal" or "Misfits of Science." lol
The show was actually pretty good, especially for western fans. In fact, it was reviewed quite favorably, just didn't have the ratings to sustain it. I loved it myself.
Funny you mention that, because, the 80s had the sci fi and private detective theme going on...but the tv Western had gone way out of fashion by the early 70s.
Grandizer12 I disagree. There were still a lot of westerns to be seen. The 70's was the era of the spaghetti westerns and gave us many films like A Man Called Horse, Little Big Man, The Cowboys, etc. Even more if you consider the late 60's like Once Upon a Time in the West, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and True Grit. Even tv had it's westerns still, Alias Smith and Jones, Bonanza and Gunsmoke were still running, Centennial was made. Quite a few important ones in the 80's and 90's as well. Dances with Wolves, Tombstone, Pale Rider, Silverado. I don't think the western really started to fail until 2000. The westerns made then were more independant style movies rather than popular culture films, like Appaloosa, All the Pretty Horses or 3:10 to Yuma. Obviously I like the genre. Pickings are slim right now.
Starman was the one I never missed I was glad that it had a final episode of sorts. Great interview with Robert Hayes in Starlog magazine about the kidding around behind scenes.
Greatest American Hero had 3 seasons and most people have actually watched it in syndication. Did any of these shows go past their first season? Because I have only heard of a handful of these shows and watched none of them(that I remember). I would have been pretty young when they were on the air.
That wasn't a stupid and tacky show like these. Not a single one of these is memorable at all. The only one I can even vaguely remember is Manimal, and even that is not a good memory...
gothatway09 I agree, and IMO while the show was obviously different from the film, they did a great job of creating something that could stand on its own, while continuing the story. The writing and casting were outstanding.
Ugh. I HATED Starman. I hated that show and I hated the movie even more. Took years for me to finally like anything with Jeff Bridges in it after that movie, LOL. My mom LOVED it however and so I was forced to watch it week in and week out. LOL That being said, I would pay almost anything to go back to that time and have a show like this on again. It was just a different, better time, the 80s.
Me too. I didn't know what cancelled meant and thought that was aseason and it was coming back like the other shows did. So when my dad reminded me and explained it..sadness
Bunny23723 Yeah. Just think how much better they would look, not only effects wise but also with the better TV technology. Look how fuzzy all that looks. :)
This was so awesome! I remember most of these shows when I was a kid but forgot the names of them accept for the Phoenix. What a trip down memory lane. Lol
There should be a channel where they play nothing but these kinds of tacky shows. I would watch that over any reality bullshit TV any day
+NotoriousNoe ... This is what TVLand SHOULD have been and utterly failed to be.
There are a couple of channels like that: Cozi, MeTV, Antenna TV... Hulu has a pretty good selection, too, and no commercials!
God yes!!!
I agree with this assessment
Yes... so instead of being warped by the mind-numbing fakeness of reality tv, you'd be all dazzled up by 80's cheese and weirdness. 😂
Given a choice between these and the current glut of so-called "Reality" TV shows that just showcase boring people behaving in the _worst_ possible way for attention... I'll take _these shows_ any day of the week, and Twice with reruns on Sundays. Thank you.
"Thumbs UP!" Excellent comment!
+Shenruss The 80's and early 90's were amazeballs, if I could go back to circa 85-89 I would in a heart beat. TV & commercials in this day and age is truly depressing.
Testify, _Testify_ my dude!
Um, okay, why the comparison of two entirely different types of shows? Why the false equivalence? Who would ever be in a situation to make that choice? Given that ultimatum by an evil god or something, I would probably just read books. But I live in 2015, when there are more quality television shows currently than I have time to watch, and I can see many of them commercial-free, plus the best of the past, at any time of my choosing, without having to rely on the quixotic networks's schedule. Today I watched Peaky Blinders and Twin Peaks. These are the days of miracles and wonders. No one need ever see a reality show again, or even an AD for a reality show. Just don't use a TV.
***** Sigh...Killjoy much, brother? What we're saying is, even with the current crop of decent shows, they are the _exception_, NOT the norm, where there is an obvious *glut* of badly scripted sitcoms, shit retoolings of older shows, and piss poor, cheaply made "reality TV". For a generation that grew up with good and great TV, while we may appreicate the internet, it's a _damn shame_ that a still relevant form of media is becomign so passe due to the crap storm of elements that are being portrayed on it. This is why we are singing the praises of these shows past.
So glad I grew up in the 80s. A golden age for creativity and imagination on television. I remember many of these shows... Manimal, The Phoenix, Automan, Battlestar Galactica, Buck Rogers, The Six Million Dollar Man, Bionic Woman, Airwolf, and cartoons like Transformers, GI Joe and Masters of the Universe were all favorites of mine.
In an age endless "reality" shows I would love to see some of these revisited. Imagine Automan done now but still set in 80s.
I’m on board!
Or 'Manimal' lol
Automan was before its time. Has the potential to be fantastic if made today.
I could picture both in the same show.
Yeah,maybe now when he makes the hard lefts, his passenger's face won't be smashed up onto the window (LMAO, loved that gag)...of course if he'd worn the seat belt that might have helped more..lol..
The 80's what a amazing decade!!! Sorry kids you missed out!
Saturday morning cartoons was the best thing about the 80s as a kid.
I know right!
Born '76 , 90 were better
Chidi Akara me a 2000s kid. we had Minecraft not fortnite
@Chidi Akara a point
Man... there should be a TV channel that plays all these shows 24/7!
Agreed
The 80’s was so magical, if only we had their powers now 💥👾👨🏻🎤🦄🤖🤠
The 80’s were just the best. Simpler times... Better times.
Better toys too
Notice how most everything was "outer space" based?
Some of these, if not most I have no memory of, but man, we had such high hopes..
You get 2 peckers up for your comment.😎
Yeah, the recessions and constant threat of nuclear annihilation were the best.
We had no time as kids to worry about nuclear threats and such, we were to busy playing outside with our actual real life friends. When we actually did come in was to enjoy our favorite shows. They really were better and simpler times. Who cares about modernity, we had what we needed and didn’t focus on what we didn’t.
I'm still proud to say that I was an extra in "The Highwayman" series. (Filmed all over Phoenix, AZ.) :)
Mikey_Suze Four will you ever be able to wash off the smell of cheese? Lol
Really? I grew up in Phx. I never knew it was filmed there. However, i was a kid back then.
What are you, 90?
Coooooool!
Applause!!
Oh god I want to be a teenager in the 80s again.
Might not mess it up this time.
+Stefan Travis Me too, Stefan, me too...
+Stefan Travis Amen. If I could, I'd live my whole life from 1970 to 1989, and then restart at the beginning again. Those were the best decades IMO.
+Stefan Travis Glad I wasn't a teen back then... I would'e been somewhere drunk watching Knight Rider and been more of a reckless driver than I already was in my 20s. Lmao
+Stefan Travis ... I miss the 80s so bad it physically hurts. Those were my Middle & High school years. What the hell have we done to the world since then?! The future seemed so bright. I'd gladly turn in my computer to go back to an Atari. "Now you're playing with power!" Remember that?
mee too
Loved Manimal. Used to play it with friends at school. Matthew Star ripped the sound fx from Star Wars. I watched this to see if there were any faces that went on to bigger and better things. Courtney Cox did not disappoint.
The Matthew Star story sounds exactly like the movie "I Am Number Four" from like 10 years ago. Maybe it inspired it.
Kevin Peter Hall played The Predator in the first movie
I think I recognized maybe two other names and/or faces from all these. I was surprised to see Lou Gossett Jr. in the intro for such a tacky show!
Max Wright became the dad in Another Science Fantasy show...
A.L.F.
@@shannonbrown309Lou paid his dues that's for sure😂
This awesome decade was where people still had original ideas, and could use their own imagination to create new tv shows, and not try to remake everything and put a weird 2020 twist in it and expect it to work. I remember of watching a few of these back then, didn’t think it was tacky then or now.
LOL. Must be great living your life in nostalgia
The disco episode of Automan though ...
nothing is original about any idea in these videos, stop being a boomer. Literally the first one is a tron ripoff
Yea, and NOT remaking,recasting and changing what made the movie the movie and still calling it its original name. I heard that. My birth year says it all :)
@@kanaric How does someone stop being a boomer if they are, I'm guessing, literally that age? The same will happen to you before you know it.
MeTV needs to put some of these on their Sci-Fi Saturday Night schedule. I like Wonder Woman, but she needs a break.
Say what you want, but the 80's had some fucking amazing music.
70's were much better for tv shows
"The Highwayman": Tim Russ as "D.C. Montana" really made me laugh! Tuvok meets D.C. Fontana! 🖖😂
No wonder he auditioned so hard for Star Trek! It was destiny!
I'd never heard of him before TNG. Wild to see him in earlier stuff.
THANK YOU. After all these years, I still haven't watched most of ST:V, and I couldn't figure out where I knew the name "Tim Russ".
Tacky? TACKY? How dare you? Compared to things like Jersey Shore, The "Krap"dashians? This stuff is tv gold!
You haven't left 2007, but that's ok.
Yeah there's not to much of interest on television for me. I wish reality could step aside or be still an option with some other stuff that doesn't get cancelled the minute out of the gate and has a high viewership of support.
God bless you....
@@Tracymmo Stick to your golden bachelor! Haha!
The Wizard was awesome. I was truly sad when David Rappaport killed himself. He was a gifted actor, and one of my favorite Time Bandits.
that show mever got a fair chance, he was awesome
The little man killed himself?? That's really sad. Poor guy.
He had bad depression, he went into the woods and shot himself in the chest on his son's 14th birthday..
Oh my that's horrible. The poor boy.
yea...his life was cut short
Chuck Wagner (Automan) actually has had a long, successful career in musical theater and New York based soaps. He freely admits his Hollywood foray was a mistake and he was cast for looks alone. He was the original Prince in Sondheim's "Into The Woods" and played Javert for four years in the touring version of "Les Miserables" This past year he played Jean Valjean in the concert version of Les Mis here in OKC.
I was anywhere between 5-14 when these shows came out and I remember loving Misfits of Science and Automan.
Paul Ruffin I remember just a few. Misfits of Science, Manimal, Wizard! Auto man. The others must have been at times I couldn’t watch tv.
Me too
Def watched those along with Starman, too bad Automan didn’t last past S1 😡
Damn....TV Nostalgia is something else. Makes me want to put on my old Spiderman UnderRoos, make a glass of Strawberry Quick, and lay back in a Pier 1 basket woven chair.
🕶️👍🏾
Right??!!
Tacky? You mean awesome!
Amen!
I'm with you Mikvance!
man the mountains outside of LA must've been full of production crews filming cheezy scifi shows.
A statement more true than any of us may ever really know.
I remember back in the 1980s , I was chosen along with some other kids in my class to be a part of a test group for a NEW show that was going to air on T.V. The show was Manimal and we wrote down our opinions of it! This brings back so many memories of that time when it happened!!
City?
I remember when the Phoenix came on. I was a kid and watched the first couple of episodes and then it just disappeared. During the 80’s and 90’s I would bring up the show to others and they had no idea what I was talking about and I was wondering if I remembered things correctly. Thankfully the growth of the internet set things straight
Oh the 80s...how i miss you😂
Wow, what a trip to memory lane. They were not tacky, they were really cool shows, way better than the "reality" shows and the stupid court shows of today.
+Turey Taino EXACTLY! Now THOSE are some tacky stupid shows to watch! They rip people off by not needing to add any special effects or cool music! They practically just grab a home camera and film real life! HAHA!! How frick'n BORING! I HATE boring reality shows! I'd rather just watch my own daily life! HAHAHA!!
LOL the problem is obviously you, because you've been watching all the wrong shows... like, forever.
Game of Thrones, The Walking Dead, American Horror Story, Bones, Battlestar Galactica (new), Farscape, X-Files, Eureka, Penny Dreadful,... I can make the list a lot longer, but dude... I kinda envy you because if you seriously think there haven't been an "really cool" shows since the 80... you are in for such a treat.
Walking dead comes first.
CLASSIC I hate everything that has to do with zombies.
Turey Taino Right on! I hate zombies and gay ass vampires! I'd love to watch a bad ass tv series of a werewolf that kills zombies and vampires though! That would be a damn good show! A single werewolf killing off tons of vampires and zombies!
I’ll never forgive you for causing me to recall MANIMAL.
Yep, this was back when things actually had to have a story and you couldn't rely solely on special effects. Awesomeness that will never be again. R.I.P. the 80's.
No matter how stupid the entire concept was.
Every single one of these shows were utter crap.
@@mrgault100 Clearly you weren't around to actually watch them, troll.
@@celticlass8573 Actually I was, ignorant cunt.
As a teenager of the 80's, I agree. I realized it at the time and avoided them. Watching this just made my stomach turn. @@mrgault100
They need to put all these shows on the Sci Fi channel
+jeremy oliveria even though it's still Sci-Fi Chanel now it's named simply SyFy Imagine greater they need to bring even these one time Sci-Fantasy hits of the 80s so that Sci-Fi/Fantasy fans of today can watch at least a couple of these one or two season of these mentioned shows from when we were growing up as kids in the 80s that's back in our days. better these gems for SyFy in a SyFy 80s Weekend than those silly ass,crappy reality TV Shows and even some of today's shows that have no taste or class.
and put MST3K back on the air
I agree
+Alfred Feliciano They did. Back in the 90s.
+Evan Jackson Some of them in the clip above still have the Sci-Fi logo in the corner, lol.
Man, I'm having a nostalgia attack.
...AND IT HURTS!!
Sorry. But as good as some of the concepts were, the execution was more of an execution; you know, killing the show?
It's amazing how good a lot of these shows look.
Oh god, I loved Misfits of Science. I was still in elementary school back then. I remember that show being on Saturday nights and I'd spend all week looking forward to it.
Me too. It was funny, humors and sometimes, digs deep into the heart. A few episodes still stick in me, like the one where a guy from a foreign land came on a canoe-like boat, carrying a small statue of his family so he could put them onto a space shuttle (which he believes will carry them to heaven).
Courtney’s first show! :) ❤
@@GobiSubramaniam❤️
I think you mean AMAZINGLY FUN & COOL 80s SCI-FI/FANTASY TV
I think you nailed it.
The intros to a lot of the shows today are so short as to allow more time for the story (which I like), but the "long" intros of yesteryear are one of the things that made these shows so memorable to all of us!
Yeah you'd hear the intro for Fraggle Rock, The A-Team, McGuyver, Knight Rider, Magnum PI, Transformers, Battle of the Planets and you'd get SO EXCITED you were about to watch it!
I do miss extended intros, they were the ultimate ad for the show that was coming up. They brought all the hype.
Tacky? Like hell! Thats was a great decade to be alive. Wish I could find a way back to the 80s
Man, I've always loved the Misfits of Science theme. So fantastically '80s.
The Starman theme is so much incredible...One of the best I've ever heard in series. It reminds me of the Legend of Zelda theme.
I think the most surprising was seeing Courtney Cox in "Misfits of Science"! Holy crap! Who knew?
I knew!
That is the show I know her from.
when ı was reading your text ı see courtney cox😂😂😂😂
Did she go on to do anything else after this show?
I did not know. I don't think she wants to be remember for that part!
Fantastic trip down memory lane. I remember Manimal, Misfits of Science and my All-time favorite Starman.😊❤
I love some of these shows and others somehow escaped my notice. There are several in this line up I'd never heard of.
I loved some of these shows! My most 3 favorites were Starman, Phoenix, and Manimal! 80's tv was awesome!
Weird Science and Real Genius, my two favorites, there was nothing like the 80s, anyone who was a teenager living in that decade knows exactly what I'm talking about
Did you ever see the Weird Science TV series on USA Network? was mid 90's.
Real Genius! Throwback lol 🤘🏻
That was absolutely amazing! So many wonderful memories from my childhood just came back to me. I seriously can not thank you enough. The one the complexity blew me away was the misfits of science, from what I remember (I could be wrong it was over 30 years ago) it was pulled after something like 4 episodes. Seeing that again was completely unexpected, I literally said no way out loud. The 80's, good times man good effing times, thank you again :)
LOL Louis Gossett Jr. watching that book on a fishing line pass his head. He was filming An Officer and a Gentleman at the same time and won an Oscar for that role.
man technology in the 80's was so advanced! and full of neon everywhere.
Oh, man, I loved these shows when they were on TV. Don't remember Shadow Chasers or Outlaws, but I burst out laughing just now when I heard the premise for Outlaws. Automan was us being excited about computer animation after "Tron." David Rappaport (also from "Time Bandits") was basically the Peter Dinklage of the 80s. Misfits of Science was about as close to the X-Men as you could expect Hollywood to get back then. And of course Wizards and Warriors was a gift for any D&D-loving kid at the time.
I remember most of them except Maninal.
For the Sci fi & fantasy enthusiasts these shows was as good as it got back when. I remember loving automan, wizards & warriors, & manimal.
@Trygvar13 yeah mccorkindale was deep into plans to resurrect it, but sadly he died :(
David Rappaport was great in "Time Bandits". He was also cast as Kivas Fajo for the Star Trek next Generation episode "The Most Toys" and even filmed several scenes, but sadly he took his own life before they finished and the part eventually went to Saul Rubinek. Here's David playing his version of that character: th-cam.com/video/tvW7GkRMMS8/w-d-xo.htmlsi=vd2nQPt4HBkkfm79&t=45
I don't remember Shadow Chasers, but I do remember Outlaws. It had a good pilot. When it turned into a "P.I." show, I went, "Oh, c'mon!"
Just because these series didn't "catch on" doesn't mean they were "tacky". I loved Automan, The Wizard, Starman and The Phoenix. Some of my favorite 80s shows.
I completely agree with you. I grew up on these shows and have very fond memories of my childhood . I never considered these shows tacky considering what on television now I'd take so called "tacky" anyday.
@@carmenprimm7498 , same here. So many current TV series are really tacky.
These were some of the most entertaining shows of my childhood. No regrets. Only fantastic memories.
00:00 Automan
01:05 Manimal
02:03 The Wizard
03:04 Wizards and Warriors
04:04 Misfits of Science
05:25 Shadow Chasers
06:50 The Phoenix
08:10 Powers of Matthew Star
09:39 Starman
11:03 Outlaws
12:44 The Highwayman
The special effects with computers may look bad, but keep in mind that in the 80's, the best computers available to the public then were 8 bit screens with only green numbers and digits, before Windows was created and before Mouses were created.
So look closer at the video editing these shows used with green screens! The government always has technology 30 or 50 years before the public gets a hold of it. We just got the technology that they always had, so imagine what they have right now!
No V or other world?
@@dangc8315 I guess he doesn't consider them "tacky."
So much diversity!
Bring back Manimal!
Dude. Hats off to you for this sick montage. I was expecting Voyagers to be in there.
I’m 57 and I remember about half of these shows by name, and of those I probably saw a few episodes of each. I remember watching Starman because of the Jeff Bridges movie. Automan looks like it’d be fun to revisit! I bought Captain Planet on DVD recently and the graphics were great for the time and look great in 4K! The movie The Last Star Fighter looks great in 4K too!
I'm amazed that there are so many TV shows I missed in the 80s. I watched so many sci Fi movies and TV shows. The biggest was probably Battlestar Galactica in the 80s. I watched only the show with Dirk Blackpool out of all these. I think I must have been too young.
damn i miss the 80s
+RAPH FELIX I have chest pains from the nostalgia
Me too.
Don't panic. It's probably just gas...
The 80s was the best. The decade the music was fun, we never took ourselves seriously, and midgets could make a career out of acting.
***** Name another.
Wulf Hervé Villechaize
Gentle Persuader That makes my point...
sportster1988 or wrestling.
Peter Dinklage is about the most successful midget actor besides Billy Barty & Tattoo from Fantasy Island.
I remember watching the pilot for "The Phoenix" and and finding it a fascinating and compelling premise and also being disappointed with is short run
Boy do I love this stuff! Everyone is aging along with me!!
These all look so cool! The Phoenix really looks amazing
The Manimal & Phoenix were Very Interesting Shows.
Two of my favourites.
Manimal sucked ass
Two of my favorite shows.
Was phoenix like one or two episodes? Loved them both.
The Phoenix was definitely my favorite from this time period.
80's tv plots tended to be quite innocent and sometimes just silly but there was a charm there too. Kids don't want the complications of adult life. They want heroes and villains clearly drawn out. Nowadays kids TV seems more complex, it spends a hell of a lot of time on character development and dialogue and interrelationships, the adventure and action gets watered down for fear they might copy the violence they see. It did me no harm. Lets just let kids be kids. Do we have to pressure them and lecture them at every turn?
I am so happy to have experienced the 80s while growing up.
Did you get AIDS?
It may be tacky by todays standards but back then it was great! Depending on how old you were.
Sure as hell beats the complete crap genre the Kardashians started! At least they were creative then, now we get Honey Boo Boo, 90 Day Fiance, 100 different shows about little people...🙄
@@Administrator_O-5 You need to watch a decent channel to find decent TV.
@@Tracymmo that used to be the SciFi channel, until they became Syfy & the WWE Network
Born in 82, but British and not seen any of these. Thank you very much for compiling and sharing these lesser known gems (for someone like me) They are badass and make me smile
Truth is.. They where magical times in TV history that will never be repeated. If we had the opportunity to actually go back in time to the 80s we actually wouldn't watch TV so we where lucky to have witnessed what we had at that time in TV history.
I don't know about the word tacky. Definitely formulaic and paint-by-numbers, but most of them were quite fun for those of us who were the right age back then.
One thing I really appreciate about this old-fashioned sort of television intro is the way the names of the regular cast members were displayed with their pictures. I wish my favorite shows would do that these days.
None of these shows are tacky. They have likeable characters, imaginative stories, creative plots, inspired props, exciting action, intelligent and witty dialog.
"Co-Starring Jacko as Jetto" -- that always cracked me up!
I especially remember Jacko from his Energizer battery commercials. "It'll surprise ya!"
Desi Arnaz, Jr. . . Dean Paul Martin. . . the genes got pretty watered-down.
I like Melody Anderson so much, I wish she had made major stardom. She was in all kinds of slightly successful projects and she always killed
MANIMALS would be cool to remake now with the special effects they could do :D
The 80s age of Electronic Keyboard music with electric guitars violins trumpets and psychedelic video effect neon intros to accompany low res video . Loved every minute.
How are these shows “tacky” when compared to the excrement of the “reality” shows now?
You're comparing apples to oranges, my friend...
I think he's comparing pizza to raw sewage. (The pizza being the 80s shows.)
heres a tip...more than one kind of thing can be terrible
Mr Vampire I almost shot myself during The Bachelor! 👎🏻
Thank you, I was thinking the same thing; plain old jealousy lol
I really liked most of these shows, when I was a kid. Automan got me interested in technology in the 5th grade, Manimal got me interested in Zoology.
Tacky? I loved almost all of these shows!!! lol
Never heard of some of these shows, but "Starman" was one of my favorites. Loved me some Robert Hayes!!!
Oh man, I’m just overcome with nostalgia. Manimal, Misfits of Science, and Starman were among my favorites. I’d completely forgotten about Highwaymen until I saw the intro. ❤
These were a great season of shows. The 2000s would be lucky to have any good tv shows.
I was crazy about The Phoenix
i LOVED Misfits of Science! one of the first shows i can remember seeing as a kid. i was soooo hooked during its short running.
One can see why teens like me, back then, read comics and went to the mall as much as possible. Thank god for MTV.
Thank you for creating this video! I remember watching most of these shows as a kid in the '80s. I still wish they'd release "The Highwayman" series on DVD. I was obsessed with that show, even though it got cancelled quickly. 😆
Holy crap. I remember watching Wizards and Warriors when I was about 4 or so. For literally 35 years I have wondered what was the show from the early 80's that turned into a comic book scene every time it went to commercial. Now I know! Unbelievable.
Automan tacky? Why I never! Good day sir! :D
I always sought out these types of shows in the 80's when I was a kid. I tried predicting which shows would be featured in this montage before watching it. I correctly predicted 3 of them. Automan, The Phoenix, & The Powers of Matthew Star. I completely forgot about Manimal, probably because I didn't like it, even as a kid. The Misfits of Science and Starman (the series) I do remember but had totally forgotten about. All the remaining ones I don't remember at all or had never heard of. Other tacky 80's sci-fi shows I guessed would be in this montage, which are not. Otherworld, Mr. Merlin, Voyagers, & Q.E.D. (slightly more Victorian or steam punk but was a tacky quasi sci-fi). I was also going to say Beauty & the Beast but I think that one may have been early 90's. Does anyone remember Tales of the Golden Monkey? It was a wanna be Raiders'esqe TV series which attempted to cash in on the popularity of Indiana Jones at the time.
Loved Tales of the Gold Monkey.
I used to watch Automan, Misfits of Science, The Powers of Matthew Star and Starman. I remember Manimal, but never watched it. I have a slight memory of The Phoenix. I never heard of the rest of the shows. Probably because I joined the Navy in '83 and missed the opportunity to see them. I wish I could see Wizards and Warriors because it had Taxi's Bobby, Zorro and Newhart's Stephanie in it
Scott Hayden, Jr: "Who are you?"
Paul Forrester: "I am your father."
Hayden: "Surely, you can't be serious!"
Forrester: " I AM serious. And don't call me Shirley."
Hahhaha! That's what I was thinking! ♡
The coke had to be waist deep in the pitching session for Outlaws the cowboy detective Show - let's see outlaws and sheriff get swept up into 1980s and become private detective agents because...why not?
Ronin Dave I remember as a 13 yr old boy watching the intro to "Outlaws" and turning to my older sister and asking "Who the heck thought this was a good idea for a t.v. show?" I then departed to my room to watch some paint dry on the wall. It was better than watching "Manimal" or "Misfits of Science." lol
The show was actually pretty good, especially for western fans. In fact, it was reviewed quite favorably, just didn't have the ratings to sustain it.
I loved it myself.
Also it is maybe where the realisator from Cowboys and Aliens took it's idea from Outlaws i guess ? who knows
Funny you mention that, because, the 80s had the sci fi and private detective theme going on...but the tv Western had gone way out of fashion by the early 70s.
Grandizer12 I disagree. There were still a lot of westerns to be seen. The 70's was the era of the spaghetti westerns and gave us many films like A Man Called Horse, Little Big Man, The Cowboys, etc. Even more if you consider the late 60's like Once Upon a Time in the West, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and True Grit. Even tv had it's westerns still, Alias Smith and Jones, Bonanza and Gunsmoke were still running, Centennial was made. Quite a few important ones in the 80's and 90's as well. Dances with Wolves, Tombstone, Pale Rider, Silverado. I don't think the western really started to fail until 2000. The westerns made then were more independant style movies rather than popular culture films, like Appaloosa, All the Pretty Horses or 3:10 to Yuma. Obviously I like the genre. Pickings are slim right now.
Gotta love those high tech 80s computers lol. 😅😂 I remember those were so cool to a 10 year year old...me lol. What memories.
Starman was the one I never missed
I was glad that it had a final episode of sorts. Great interview with Robert Hayes in Starlog magazine about the kidding around behind scenes.
How could they leave out "Greatest American Hero"?
Just for the song alone!
Greatest American Hero had 3 seasons and most people have actually watched it in syndication. Did any of these shows go past their first season? Because I have only heard of a handful of these shows and watched none of them(that I remember). I would have been pretty young when they were on the air.
True.
That should be the most popular one 😂
That wasn't a stupid and tacky show like these. Not a single one of these is memorable at all. The only one I can even vaguely remember is Manimal, and even that is not a good memory...
Starman was actually quite good. I wish they had been able to continue that series or at least end it.
gothatway09
I agree, and IMO while the show was obviously different from the film, they did a great job of creating something that could stand on its own, while continuing the story. The writing and casting were outstanding.
hi
Ugh. I HATED Starman. I hated that show and I hated the movie even more. Took years for me to finally like anything with Jeff Bridges in it after that movie, LOL.
My mom LOVED it however and so I was forced to watch it week in and week out. LOL
That being said, I would pay almost anything to go back to that time and have a show like this on again. It was just a different, better time, the 80s.
Starman directed by John Carpenter an excellent film if you have a hart.
CWillPPS I loved Starman the movie.
I remember getting upset when they canceled The Phoenix as a kid..
Me too. I didn't know what cancelled meant and thought that was aseason and it was coming back like the other shows did. So when my dad reminded me and explained it..sadness
Way more t&a in the Automan intro than I ever would have anticipated
How did we go from this to all the trashy reality shows? How?
I think it's money. Cheaper and easier to produce, product placement
lackofsupervision I know that. I just don't know why people watch it and keep watching it.
Beats me. I would prefer watching this than today's junk TV shows.
Bunny23723 Yeah. Just think how much better they would look, not only effects wise but also with the better TV technology. Look how fuzzy all that looks. :)
Chris McWilliams Only needs to be digitally remastered.
14:04
"CO-STARRING JACKO AS JETTO"
What?
Somehow I expected Max Headroom to be in there 😂
It's literally a list of my most of favorite childhood shows.
the phonix. I remember thinking it was cool that he was also Khans right hand man in Star Trek II
Im not shure, but i mean, he had a Role in a Episode of Star Trek-The Next Generation (First Season).
yes you are correct. as well as being in Wrath of Khan. He was also in one episode of TNG
I don't remember. I just remember him and this other guy were on drugs
I do think it was a 1st or 2nd season episode. check out his imbd bio. it's probably in there.
anytime
The 80's were the best times EVER!
"tacky" At least the shows of the 80's had fun and heart. Something totally lost on TV today.
This was so awesome! I remember most of these shows when I was a kid but forgot the names of them accept for the Phoenix. What a trip down memory lane. Lol