I remembered most of these. I loved superhero shows. Even the old Spider-Man and Hulk weekly shows. I also remember Wonder Woman, Shazam, and The Mighty Isis. Loved them all.
I can remember taping the pilot episode of The Greatest American Hero the night it premiered on ABC. My father had gotten the family our very first VCR three months eariler for Christmas and me and my siblings each got our very own blank tape (they were 15 dollars each back then). I was eight years old and Hero quickly became my favorite show. From Robert Culp's fantastic performance as FBI Agent Bill Maxwell to creator Stephen J. Cannell's witty and wonderful scripts, The Greatest American Hero continues to entertain me even as an adult.
I liked Misfits of Science. Kevin Peter Hall also gave a memorable appearance on an episode of Night Court. Sadly, he passed away while only in his 30s.
Another one that could be on the list is The Master. Lee Van Cleef was a WWII vet who had become a master of Ninjitsu while in Japan and traveled around the country fighting crime with some punk kid he was training to be a ninja. Super campy. A young Demi Moore was in the pilot.
Yeah, I remember that too. I was a huge fan of the Christopher Reeve Superman movies as a kid, so I was eager for any Super content I could get. I distinctly remember the late Gilbert Gottfried played a villain named Knick Knack, who seemed like some kind of version of the comic book villain Toyman.
My Secret Identity- Loved this series and inspired me to keep my comic collection on my wall. Manimal- I remember being so fascinated by the repeats on Sci-Fi, that I legit got myself suspended for a week so I could watch it as it came on at noon. Street Hawk- I used to get it confused with Superforce. The Greatest American Hero- The reruns I could never pin down as it was on syndication by the time I learned about it. Superboy was a must watch after WWF's Saturday show.
My Secret Identity and Superboy ruled my Saturday afternoons. I can understand the legal issues that prevented Superboy from being repeated but I never understood why My Secret Identity fell into obscurity.
Yeah Superboy was the best series at those time It was pretty good. Still i believe the mistake of those other tv shows. Is the reason why there's alot of tv series got better. Like Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman is a great show and it also another reason why the series of Smallville was also so good😊. If producer can't figure out the wrongdoing of other's tv series & movies features . Than it's pointless to make another new shows & movies. 🤔🙄😏. So yeah it's better to learn from the past Tv series & Movies mistakes. Than you repeat that same mistakes again. Just like wise people keep saying if we seem to forget or don't know about ours history . Than We are going to repeat it again (A.k.A History repeat itself. )
Before even clicking the video I can say I remember every single one in the thumbnail. I remember on Automan where special guest was Laura Brannigan. She sang Gloria. Automan turned cursor into a guitar, and played in the band.
voyagers is the closest thing to an american Dr. Who. it had some minor similarities to the classic BBC series. the MC was a time traveler, had a time device, a companion, and in a later episode there was a renegade Voyager that had some small similarities to the master.
@monroefisher1288 it is sad, the guy had a good thing going but sadly, any kind of accident revolving fireamrs is a major blow to not only the show but to everyone in hollywood. unfortunately,, Hollywood hardly learn anything after a decade or two. he wasn't only person that died by gun related accidents or incidents on set. Brandon Lee, and that recent tragic mess on set of Rust with Alex Bauldwin.
Great video! As you can tell, I love Voyagers! I discovered it on the Sci-Fi Channel in the early 90s. The Adventures of Superboy was also my favorite Childhood TV series, and I am a big part of that fandom. It got better with every season.
Manimal - The character, played by the same actor, made a guest appearance in one episode of the show Night Man, which was also a live action superhero show. It's weird though, because Manimal had been off the air for years and was never a big a big hit.
Call me old, but I loved Automan, the Greatest American Hero and The Powers of Matthew Star. I don't think the other shows got a run here in Australia, where at the time there were a whole three TV stations. I was hoping the list would include a show called Merlin which, while maybe not exactly a superhero show, basically had all the same elements, the twist being the main character was King Arthur's magician.
I remember a show called Merlin that was about a young Merlin, Arthur, Guinevere etc. However, I don't know if it is the same one b/c it was on in the late 2000's. I love that show. It is on several streaming platforms.
@@angelag669 Not the same one. The one I was thinking of was made in the 80's and was called Mr Merlin. (Just remembered the Mr part. :P Sorry about that). It only ran for one season, and saw the everlasting Merlin living in San Fransisco as a mechanic. He took on a young apprentice after he pulls a crowbar out of a bucket of cement, revealing itself to be Excalibur. The series you are thinking about was made by the BBC, featuring a young Merling coming to terms with his powers in a land where magic is forbidden, and trying to shape a young, arrogant Arthur to be the King he is destined to be. If you watch the new series of Doctor Who, you'll see some familiar faces.
@@gestaltdude Yes I found it. Mr. Merlin from '81-'82. Bernard Hughes was Merlin. The BBC show was enjoyable and yes I did used to watch Doctor Who. They lost me with this last one. After I watched the first of the 3 new episodes w/Tenant I didn' t bother with the other 2.
@@angelag669 Having watched both Merlin and Dr Who, you may recognize Merlin as Jethro from the episode Midnight. Guinivere was a friend of Madam de Pompadour in Girl in the Firplace. And Gaius, Merlin's tutor, was Dr Constatine in The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances. And of course the voice of the dragon was provided by the War Doctor himself, John Hurt who, just to muddy the waters a little, also provided the voice of Aragorn in the 1978 animated version of The Lord of the Rings. I also found out just now that the same movie featured Legolas as voice by Anthony "C3PO" Daniels. :D
I can still remember the theme song to "The Greatest American Hero." Here's just the chorus: "Believe it or not, I'm walking on air. I never thought I could feel so free. Flying away on a wing and a prayer, who could it be? Believe it or not, it's just me."
You know, it's weird. Whenever I try to remember the _verses_ of that theme, I end up at the Reading Rainbow theme song instead. Even though I'm pretty sure they're nothing alike.
It wasn’t the time slot that killed Voyagers. Unfortunately the lead actor died in 1984. I remember when it happened. I was 12 years old. He had just started another show too called “Cover Up.”
@@shakes268 - yep. My recollection was that the gun was loaded with blanks, but there was some paper, or something in the gun / blank that hit him and killed him. So sad. :(
I remember SUPERBOY ( he was about 30 so how can he be called SUPERBOY ? ) ( FUN FACT originally it was going to be set in elementary school and then high school , it would've been what SMALLVILLE could've been about a kid getting superpowers ) MY SECRET IDENTITY MISFITS OF SCIENCE STREET HAWK VOYAGERS
Oh man, I loved Voyagers (Jon Erik-Hexum was SO hot!) The Phoenix (although the pilot definitely had a better story), and The Powers of Matthew Star (unfortunately, when they went away from the High School setting I thought it lost a lot of its heart). Misfits of Science was awesome too and ended way too soon. The Greatest American Hero really doesn't belong on this list, though. It's hardly a "forgotten" series. But my favorite of all of them was Superboy. I was a HUGE Superboy fan when I was younger. I was lucky enough to meet both actors from the show on separate occasions (John and Gerard) and they were both absolutely the sweetest guys you could ever meet. John said that if he had the chance to go back he would have done things differently but didn't elaborate. Really nice collection of shows on here!
The ONLY reason why Misfits of Science went off the air was because the actor that played Dr Billy Hayes, Dean Paul Martin, DIED in a Helicopter accident.
I did indeed see Automan when I was young, but my heart goes out with both "My Secret Identity" (( that by itself should have been a heck of a lot of comic loving kid / teens' DREAM is that show! )) as well as "The Greatest American Hero.. both situations were positively a bit of " OH IF THAT WAS **ME** Manimal had ( in my eyes) a lot of potential but was indeed limited by when it came out.. had it been done with todays tech, even if that was say, in the early 2000, it could have been even better; I, for one, would have hoped it'd have gotten a fair chance, or at least all of these shows getting a possible, updated, second chance perhaps? Street Hawk, I "thought" was supposed to be a direct competitor against Knight Rider.. at least that's how I saw it in my eyes.
"The Phoenix" had the potential of a sleeper hit with Judson Scott who made it into "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982)". It deserves a reboot with possibly Cillian Murphy in the lead.
I used to watch all these shows! My favorite were Auto Man, Misfits of Science, Street Hawk, and Greatest American Hero! On Greatest American Hero, one of the later episodes, I believe the alien he got his suit from brought him another manual. He finally figured out how the suit worked, but of course he ended up losing it again. 80’s tv was the best! I even remember the words to the theme!
I was always a superhero nerd. I have seen every one of these shows. Manimal and Automan could have been great. I watched the Greatest American Hero with my family. Voyagers was good for the history lessons but could have really delved deep into how history affects the present. Superboy was just fun. Thanks for the trot down memory lane.
I knew about or watched most of these. I think The Greatest American Hero was remembered as much for its theme song as for the show itself. We had the single on a 45 record. I remember catching the premier of Once a Hero, only to wonder where it disappeared to, later. I was invited to my first ever sleepover on the same night Misfits of Science premiered, but I made sure to watch it, even though I was at someone else's house. Airing opposite Dallas was a fate no show wanted to suffer. Voyagers drove me crazy for years, because I couldn't remember the show's name and, when I would describe it to people, they had no clue what I was talking about. The episode that I always remembered, was the one where they were on the Titanic. In fact, given the age of the show, I might not have seen the regular series, but the TV movie they cobbled together out of the Titanic episode and some others, after the lead actor accidentally committed self-deletion on the set of another TV series. The main reason my "tween-age" self watched Superboy? Stacy Haiduk.
rightly said. streethawk was a talk here in India. we were in school and didnt understand the story but sure remembered the theme song and wow factor. some tyre/bike companies even copied the catch phrase for their advertisements. knight rider came around half a decade later after the boom of cable tv, but streethawk remained the original nice memory of the man, the machine,...
The theme song is truly one of the most memorable. It is basically a reworking of Tangerine Dream's Le Parc. The original piece was also used during the pilot and episodes, particularly during hyper-thrust scenes.
@@VirtualBabe29 thank you ☺️🤘🏽 i watched them both (theme and the original) just after your reply-comment. i didn't knew about the original piece. the music was same as you had said. apologies for late reply & thank you for the info. cheers 🍹☺️ 🤜💕🤛
Loved "My Secret Identity" and Superboy. I remember that the last season or 2 of Superboy were kinda dark. There was an episode where he went to an alternate reality in which that Superboy had killed Lex Luthor by cutting him right down the middle with his heat vision.
You didn't touch on the most fascinating part of "The Greatest American Hero", the alleged secret agenda of trying to "create another" John Travolta. The producers purportedly duplicated the "Welcome Back Kotter" formula of a high school remedial education class sitcom, with a comedian as the teacher (and the superhero story thrown in to "cover up" the fact that it was a duplicate", and attempted to make "Tony Villicana", played by Michael Paré, into the same sort of "breakout character" that John Travolta's "Vinnie Barbarino" was in WBK. It was horrible and forced, right down to Tony calling Mr. Hinkley "Mr. H" the way Vinnie called Mr. Kotter "Mr. K". Then, without Paré having managed all that much "breaking out" they tried to duplicate Travolta's blockbuster roles in "Grease" and "Saturday Night Fever" by thrusting Paré into some rock movies like "Eddie and the Cruisers" and "Streets of Fire". Travolta got some sci-fi like "Carrie", so Paré got "The Philadelphia Experiment" and "Moon 44". Everything Travolta did, producers determined to continue the cloning experiment cast Paré into. Neo noir detective stories, rom coms, for about ten years and a dozen box office flops. Proponents of this theory point out that no one would have been allowed to bomb as many times as Paré without someone behind the scenes saying "OK, one more. OK, one more."
🎉 retro TV greetings from coastal Mississippi. These shows are only forgotten, if never watched. I remember Automan, Voyagers, Powers of Matthew Star and Superboy❤
two conversing people in office with back window revealing long shot of bustling workers doing paperwork...general template for EVERY late 70s to mid 80s show...particularly action, nite soaps, or legal dramas.
During the 80's in France à network bought many if these show, with one every day. We discovered Knight Rider, Street Hawk, Riptide, Airwolf... can't remember the 5th one What a great time to be a kid...
My Secret Identity was the only show that gave Saved by the Bell a run for its money back in the ‘80s. Well, Out of This World, too…but not with such a dedicated fandom.
As a kid streethawk was superb, a two wheel version of Knightrider. Bring it on. As an adult, and being BIG into motorcycles, and been influenced by streethawk, the fonz, terminator, Eddie Kidd etc... Streethawk is terrible, not necessarily the program, but the bike. Kitt still looks good. Always did always will. Streethawk deserves to be used as an anchor for a boat
People really under estimate how powerful and cheap cocaone was in the 80’s. I could only imagine some of those pitch meetings. “ ok you remember toxic avenger? Ok but we make him a kids cartoon with very few changes “ and the other guys like “ hell yeah, let’s do that with super R rated Robocop too “ 😂😂
I was in my mid teens in the 80's and collected Marvel comics, so I am definitely familiar with some of these shows. I used to love The Greatest American Hero, Streethawk, Voyagers and The Phoenix. To this day I still regularly catch myself singing the theme song from Greatest American Hero.
Street Hawk was great, Misfits of Science super fun, and My Secret Identity a fun, family friendly show. All worth a watch. Pretty sure I watched all the episode of Manimal and Auto-Man as well. It bothered me that Manimal had these powers but pretty much only transformed into the same animals all the time, obviously for budget and logistical reasons but as young audience at the time this was frustrating. 😁
They ripped off the idea of Manimal and created Animophes in 1998 where 5 teenagers gain the power of being able to transform into animals. The powers of Matthew Star were ripped off when they created the book and movie, I am number four.
I’d say more missed than forgotten 80’s was the decade of creativity taking a comic book approach. who cares if it’s realistic as long as it’s entertaining. had hoped for a new secret identity series or at least reunion with an adult O’Connell. Making Clark the wimpy nerd in supper boy killed that series
If "Once a Hero" had stuck around, I'd have loved to have seen a twist in the finale that after Captain Justice returns and the comic is once again a success, that we see that while "Captain Justice" is a comic in our world, that our world is also a comic in Captain Justice's world. If played right, leaving us with the uncertainty of which one is the actual real world within the television series.
While we need to revel in the amount of superhero/comic content we get these days, we can't forget what we had back then. I remember all of these shows and watched them religiously--while they were on, at least.
I remember a lot of these from the 80s. I think this channel would Garner a lot more likes if the host was less snarky and bored, with more enthusiasm. Or at least enough to seem believable that he likes the subject.
Andrew Clements did have a supersuit in one episode of My Secret Identity, but it was a dream sequence. Once A Hero actually had 7 episodes, but the last 4 were never aired. The 4th unaired episode featured Adam West as an actor who played Captain Justice on TV. As someone else said, Manimal guest starred in an episode of Night Man and teams up with him to save his daughter who also has his powers.
What about " the Man from Atlantis staring Patrick Duffy I loved that show ❤
70's show!
I kept waiting for that one
I would have loved to have seen a second season of Voyagers, Street Hawk, Misfits of Science and a full season of The Phoenix.
The Phoenix!!!!!!
I remembered most of these. I loved superhero shows. Even the old Spider-Man and Hulk weekly shows. I also remember Wonder Woman, Shazam, and The Mighty Isis. Loved them all.
Does anybody remember Misfits of Science?
I remember enjoying it as a kid
Can remember that,too. Johnny B was our favorite back then.
Loved it
@@hgwiechie hi dude how are you
Yes m.o.s. was good
Stared paul Martin
Dean Martin's son.
He was also a singer in the 60ds.
@@donaldjohnson384 hi dude how are you
Misfits of science was a good show I miss it
The greatest American hero was another good one that I missed from the 1980s
For some reason, they remind me of Marvel's New Universe teams like DP7 and Psi-Force.
Greatest American hero
Superboy
Courtney Cox was part of the cast of Misfits of Science before her role in Friends and other mediums!!!
That Greatest American Hero show has one of the best intros.
The guy still flies like an amateur even after a few seasons.
I can remember taping the pilot episode of The Greatest American Hero the night it premiered on ABC. My father had gotten the family our very first VCR three months eariler for Christmas and me and my siblings each got our very own blank tape (they were 15 dollars each back then). I was eight years old and Hero quickly became my favorite show. From Robert Culp's fantastic performance as FBI Agent Bill Maxwell to creator Stephen J. Cannell's witty and wonderful scripts, The Greatest American Hero continues to entertain me even as an adult.
Lol, I did the same thing. I used to record all kinds of shows with our first VCR but The Greatest American hero was one of my favorites!
I liked Misfits of Science. Kevin Peter Hall also gave a memorable appearance on an episode of Night Court. Sadly, he passed away while only in his 30s.
I think he also played Harry in the movie Harry and the Hendersons and I think in the TV show too
Another one that could be on the list is The Master. Lee Van Cleef was a WWII vet who had become a master of Ninjitsu while in Japan and traveled around the country fighting crime with some punk kid he was training to be a ninja. Super campy. A young Demi Moore was in the pilot.
Good choice!
Wow- I never even knew about that. I have to look that up!
Great series!
Loved that show! Ninjas were big in the 80's
Yup! Awesome!
I would remember that Superboy would air right after WWF Wrestling on Saturday afternoons. Ahh, memories!😌
Yeah, I remember that too. I was a huge fan of the Christopher Reeve Superman movies as a kid, so I was eager for any Super content I could get. I distinctly remember the late Gilbert Gottfried played a villain named Knick Knack, who seemed like some kind of version of the comic book villain Toyman.
It sure did back in the early '90s
You guys remember when Lex Luger cameoed back in his WCW days?
I Saw Automan and Street Hawk In The Superhero Land block on the Sci Fi Channel during the early 2000's
Cool shows
My Secret Identity- Loved this series and inspired me to keep my comic collection on my wall.
Manimal- I remember being so fascinated by the repeats on Sci-Fi, that I legit got myself suspended for a week so I could watch it as it came on at noon.
Street Hawk- I used to get it confused with Superforce.
The Greatest American Hero- The reruns I could never pin down as it was on syndication by the time I learned about it.
Superboy was a must watch after WWF's Saturday show.
I loved Voyagers and still do to this day.
I miss the 80's.
Doesn't it make you both annoyed and wistful to realise you had it great after the fact?
yes 80s were the best @@jimmyboydonald6578
same here no phones
My Secret Identity and Superboy ruled my Saturday afternoons. I can understand the legal issues that prevented Superboy from being repeated but I never understood why My Secret Identity fell into obscurity.
This reminded me of The Sentinel, starring Richard Burgi in the late 1990s.
Yeah Superboy was the best series at those time
It was pretty good.
Still i believe the mistake of those other tv shows.
Is the reason why there's alot of tv series got better.
Like Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman is a great show and it also another reason why the series of Smallville was also so good😊.
If producer can't figure out the wrongdoing of other's tv series & movies features . Than it's pointless to make another new shows & movies. 🤔🙄😏.
So yeah it's better to learn from the past Tv series & Movies mistakes. Than you repeat that same mistakes again.
Just like wise people keep saying if we seem to forget or don't know about ours history .
Than We are going to repeat it again
(A.k.A History repeat itself. )
🤨
Before even clicking the video I can say I remember every single one in the thumbnail. I remember on Automan where special guest was Laura Brannigan. She sang Gloria. Automan turned cursor into a guitar, and played in the band.
I have the Automan DVD set and watched all of them recently.
voyagers is the closest thing to an american Dr. Who. it had some minor similarities to the classic BBC series. the MC was a time traveler, had a time device, a companion, and in a later episode there was a renegade Voyager that had some small similarities to the master.
Loved that show
@monroefisher1288 it is sad, the guy had a good thing going but sadly, any kind of accident revolving fireamrs is a major blow to not only the show but to everyone in hollywood. unfortunately,, Hollywood hardly learn anything after a decade or two. he wasn't only person that died by gun related accidents or incidents on set. Brandon Lee, and that recent tragic mess on set of Rust with Alex Bauldwin.
Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future, The Visitors or Max Headroom could have also been added to this list.
Captain Power and the Soldiers Of The Future! It's been a good 25 years since I watched that show. "Power on!"
Loved Max Headroom!!!
Do you mean the original V series, with the reptile aliens that looked human in their red space suits.
@@madamesproeteMax Headroom was one I would've liked on this list too. I loved that show as a young teen at the time.
@@mrfixit7433 No, I meant this Czech science fiction TV series from 1983, which is about a utopia in the year 2484.
Great video! As you can tell, I love Voyagers! I discovered it on the Sci-Fi Channel in the early 90s. The Adventures of Superboy was also my favorite Childhood TV series, and I am a big part of that fandom. It got better with every season.
Manimal - The character, played by the same actor, made a guest appearance in one episode of the show Night Man, which was also a live action superhero show. It's weird though, because Manimal had been off the air for years and was never a big a big hit.
IIRC Nightman was another Glen Larsen show...
The Larsenverse😎
I remember Lightning Force, that played in a power block w/Streethawk and Superboy.
Call me old, but I loved Automan, the Greatest American Hero and The Powers of Matthew Star. I don't think the other shows got a run here in Australia, where at the time there were a whole three TV stations. I was hoping the list would include a show called Merlin which, while maybe not exactly a superhero show, basically had all the same elements, the twist being the main character was King Arthur's magician.
I remember a show called Merlin that was about a young Merlin, Arthur, Guinevere etc. However, I don't know if it is the same one b/c it was on in the late 2000's. I love that show. It is on several streaming platforms.
@@angelag669 Not the same one. The one I was thinking of was made in the 80's and was called Mr Merlin. (Just remembered the Mr part. :P Sorry about that). It only ran for one season, and saw the everlasting Merlin living in San Fransisco as a mechanic. He took on a young apprentice after he pulls a crowbar out of a bucket of cement, revealing itself to be Excalibur. The series you are thinking about was made by the BBC, featuring a young Merling coming to terms with his powers in a land where magic is forbidden, and trying to shape a young, arrogant Arthur to be the King he is destined to be. If you watch the new series of Doctor Who, you'll see some familiar faces.
@@gestaltdude Yes I found it. Mr. Merlin from '81-'82. Bernard Hughes was Merlin. The BBC show was enjoyable and yes I did used to watch Doctor Who. They lost me with this last one. After I watched the first of the 3 new episodes w/Tenant I didn' t bother with the other 2.
@@angelag669 Having watched both Merlin and Dr Who, you may recognize Merlin as Jethro from the episode Midnight. Guinivere was a friend of Madam de Pompadour in Girl in the Firplace. And Gaius, Merlin's tutor, was Dr Constatine in The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances. And of course the voice of the dragon was provided by the War Doctor himself, John Hurt who, just to muddy the waters a little, also provided the voice of Aragorn in the 1978 animated version of The Lord of the Rings. I also found out just now that the same movie featured Legolas as voice by Anthony "C3PO" Daniels. :D
Me too
I can still remember the theme song to "The Greatest American Hero." Here's just the chorus: "Believe it or not, I'm walking on air. I never thought I could feel so free. Flying away on a wing and a prayer, who could it be? Believe it or not, it's just me."
For the melody, consult George's answering-machine greeting on Seinfeld.
You know, it's weird. Whenever I try to remember the _verses_ of that theme, I end up at the Reading Rainbow theme song instead. Even though I'm pretty sure they're nothing alike.
Did he say “Ralph Hinkey” ? I thought The Greatest American Hero was Ralph Hinkley ?
His name was Hinkley. They also briefly changed it to "Handley" on the show because of an assasination attempt on president Reagan.
I used to watch The Greatest American Hero, Manimal, Automan, Misfits of Science and Voyagers. I vaguely remember Street Hawk.
It wasn’t the time slot that killed Voyagers. Unfortunately the lead actor died in 1984. I remember when it happened. I was 12 years old.
He had just started another show too called “Cover Up.”
I was a kid but I remember the story that he was playing russian roulette with a revolver and shot himself.
@@shakes268 - yep. My recollection was that the gun was loaded with blanks, but there was some paper, or something in the gun / blank that hit him and killed him. So sad. :(
Me too. I was so sad, it was one of my favorite shows ever.
I wonder if the idea of "Manimal" gave birth to the book series, "Animorphs"?
Very possible.
I remember
SUPERBOY
( he was about 30
so how can he be called
SUPERBOY ? )
( FUN FACT
originally it was going to be
set in elementary school
and then high school ,
it would've been what
SMALLVILLE
could've been about
a kid getting superpowers )
MY SECRET IDENTITY
MISFITS OF SCIENCE
STREET HAWK
VOYAGERS
Oh man, I loved Voyagers (Jon Erik-Hexum was SO hot!) The Phoenix (although the pilot definitely had a better story), and The Powers of Matthew Star (unfortunately, when they went away from the High School setting I thought it lost a lot of its heart). Misfits of Science was awesome too and ended way too soon. The Greatest American Hero really doesn't belong on this list, though. It's hardly a "forgotten" series. But my favorite of all of them was Superboy. I was a HUGE Superboy fan when I was younger. I was lucky enough to meet both actors from the show on separate occasions (John and Gerard) and they were both absolutely the sweetest guys you could ever meet. John said that if he had the chance to go back he would have done things differently but didn't elaborate. Really nice collection of shows on here!
I watched Superboy during its run from 1988-92. Not bad. I rewatched it in 2023 in Tubi( for a few episodes).
The ONLY reason why Misfits of Science went off the air was because the actor that played Dr Billy Hayes, Dean Paul Martin, DIED in a Helicopter accident.
Remember beauty and the beast, with hell boys Ron pearlman, and Linda Hamilton, those where the days, good memories ✌️🇮🇪✌️
I did indeed see Automan when I was young, but my heart goes out with both "My Secret Identity" (( that by itself should have been a heck of a lot of comic loving kid / teens' DREAM is that show! )) as well as "The Greatest American Hero.. both situations were positively a bit of " OH IF THAT WAS **ME**
Manimal had ( in my eyes) a lot of potential but was indeed limited by when it came out.. had it been done with todays tech, even if that was say, in the early 2000, it could have been even better; I, for one, would have hoped it'd have gotten a fair chance, or at least all of these shows getting a possible, updated, second chance perhaps?
Street Hawk, I "thought" was supposed to be a direct competitor against Knight Rider.. at least that's how I saw it in my eyes.
Another 80's short lived series that was ahead of it's time. IMO was Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future.
My Secret Identity & Superboy were my shows
How about Starman (carried on from the Jeff Bridges movie) and "Hard Time on Planet Earth"?
logans run
Yes.
Automan was way way ahead of its time a true AI show
All 80s gems. Courtney Cox's first acting job before Springsteen video.
Actually, she did the Springsteen video first in 1984. Misfits was in 1985.
@@johnmock7128 They filmed the video in 84, but it came after the show premiered in 85.
All Superhero Shows from the 90s!
Not 90s shows.
There were very few in the 90s. Most of em were cheapo syndicated series.
It's just the power of reruns... I watched I love Lucy in the 90s .. it was clearly before my time.
Street hawh was amazing
"The Phoenix" had the potential of a sleeper hit with Judson Scott who made it into "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982)". It deserves a reboot with possibly Cillian Murphy in the lead.
It's typical that you left out MANTIS!
The PHOENIX was the best on this list! I really think they could do a remake on this!
Misfits of science and my secret identity were my childhood. Loved them together with Captain power
I used to watch all these shows! My favorite were Auto Man, Misfits of Science, Street Hawk, and Greatest American Hero! On Greatest American Hero, one of the later episodes, I believe the alien he got his suit from brought him another manual. He finally figured out how the suit worked, but of course he ended up losing it again. 80’s tv was the best! I even remember the words to the theme!
I was always a superhero nerd. I have seen every one of these shows. Manimal and Automan could have been great. I watched the Greatest American Hero with my family. Voyagers was good for the history lessons but could have really delved deep into how history affects the present. Superboy was just fun. Thanks for the trot down memory lane.
I knew about or watched most of these.
I think The Greatest American Hero was remembered as much for its theme song as for the show itself. We had the single on a 45 record.
I remember catching the premier of Once a Hero, only to wonder where it disappeared to, later.
I was invited to my first ever sleepover on the same night Misfits of Science premiered, but I made sure to watch it, even though I was at someone else's house. Airing opposite Dallas was a fate no show wanted to suffer.
Voyagers drove me crazy for years, because I couldn't remember the show's name and, when I would describe it to people, they had no clue what I was talking about. The episode that I always remembered, was the one where they were on the Titanic. In fact, given the age of the show, I might not have seen the regular series, but the TV movie they cobbled together out of the Titanic episode and some others, after the lead actor accidentally committed self-deletion on the set of another TV series.
The main reason my "tween-age" self watched Superboy? Stacy Haiduk.
Misfits of Science was a huge success; it just didn't have the viewers. I loved that show.
rightly said.
streethawk was a talk here in India. we were in school and didnt understand the story but sure remembered the theme song and wow factor.
some tyre/bike companies even copied the catch phrase for their advertisements.
knight rider came around half a decade later after the boom of cable tv, but streethawk remained the original nice memory of the man, the machine,...
The theme song is truly one of the most memorable. It is basically a reworking of Tangerine Dream's Le Parc. The original piece was also used during the pilot and episodes, particularly during hyper-thrust scenes.
@@VirtualBabe29
thank you ☺️🤘🏽
i watched them both (theme and the original) just after your reply-comment. i didn't knew about the original piece.
the music was same as you had said.
apologies for late reply & thank you for the info.
cheers 🍹☺️ 🤜💕🤛
Loved "My Secret Identity" and Superboy. I remember that the last season or 2 of Superboy were kinda dark. There was an episode where he went to an alternate reality in which that Superboy had killed Lex Luthor by cutting him right down the middle with his heat vision.
Auto Man and Street Hawk were 2 of my favorites as a kid.
You didn't touch on the most fascinating part of "The Greatest American Hero", the alleged secret agenda of trying to "create another" John Travolta. The producers purportedly duplicated the "Welcome Back Kotter" formula of a high school remedial education class sitcom, with a comedian as the teacher (and the superhero story thrown in to "cover up" the fact that it was a duplicate", and attempted to make "Tony Villicana", played by Michael Paré, into the same sort of "breakout character" that John Travolta's "Vinnie Barbarino" was in WBK. It was horrible and forced, right down to Tony calling Mr. Hinkley "Mr. H" the way Vinnie called Mr. Kotter "Mr. K".
Then, without Paré having managed all that much "breaking out" they tried to duplicate Travolta's blockbuster roles in "Grease" and "Saturday Night Fever" by thrusting Paré into some rock movies like "Eddie and the Cruisers" and "Streets of Fire". Travolta got some sci-fi like "Carrie", so Paré got "The Philadelphia Experiment" and "Moon 44". Everything Travolta did, producers determined to continue the cloning experiment cast Paré into. Neo noir detective stories, rom coms, for about ten years and a dozen box office flops.
Proponents of this theory point out that no one would have been allowed to bomb as many times as Paré without someone behind the scenes saying "OK, one more. OK, one more."
🎉 retro TV greetings from coastal Mississippi. These shows are only forgotten, if never watched. I remember Automan, Voyagers, Powers of Matthew Star and Superboy❤
two conversing people in office with back window revealing long shot of bustling workers doing paperwork...general template for EVERY late 70s to mid 80s show...particularly action, nite soaps, or legal dramas.
During the 80's in France à network bought many if these show, with one every day. We discovered Knight Rider, Street Hawk, Riptide, Airwolf... can't remember the 5th one
What a great time to be a kid...
My Secret Identity was the only show that gave Saved by the Bell a run for its money back in the ‘80s. Well, Out of This World, too…but not with such a dedicated fandom.
As a kid streethawk was superb, a two wheel version of Knightrider. Bring it on.
As an adult, and being BIG into motorcycles, and been influenced by streethawk, the fonz, terminator, Eddie Kidd etc...
Streethawk is terrible, not necessarily the program, but the bike. Kitt still looks good. Always did always will. Streethawk deserves to be used as an anchor for a boat
I Live in England. I Remember Watching Automan, Manimal ,KnightRider The A Team and Streethawk
People really under estimate how powerful and cheap cocaone was in the 80’s. I could only imagine some of those pitch meetings. “ ok you remember toxic avenger? Ok but we make him a kids cartoon with very few changes “ and the other guys like “ hell yeah, let’s do that with super R rated Robocop too “ 😂😂
I was in my mid teens in the 80's and collected Marvel comics, so I am definitely familiar with some of these shows. I used to love The Greatest American Hero, Streethawk, Voyagers and The Phoenix. To this day I still regularly catch myself singing the theme song from Greatest American Hero.
I love Misfits of Science, Whiz kids, Street Hawk and Superboy( John Haymes)
Street Hawk was great, Misfits of Science super fun, and My Secret Identity a fun, family friendly show. All worth a watch.
Pretty sure I watched all the episode of Manimal and Auto-Man as well. It bothered me that Manimal had these powers but pretty much only transformed into the same animals all the time, obviously for budget and logistical reasons but as young audience at the time this was frustrating. 😁
One of my favorites that didn't last long in the 80s was TUCKER'S WITCH.
Recalled Manimal but not really a fan.
#5, #7, #11
Never heard of that
Familiar with the rest
And love them.
They ripped off the idea of Manimal and created Animophes in 1998 where 5 teenagers gain the power of being able to transform into animals. The powers of Matthew Star were ripped off when they created the book and movie, I am number four.
I’d say more missed than forgotten 80’s was the decade of creativity taking a comic book approach. who cares if it’s realistic as long as it’s entertaining. had hoped for a new secret identity series or at least reunion with an adult O’Connell. Making Clark the wimpy nerd in supper boy killed that series
The Greatest American Hero
I used to imitate that by crashing on a the sofa 🤣
Good thing I didn't jump off a building
If "Once a Hero" had stuck around, I'd have loved to have seen a twist in the finale that after Captain Justice returns and the comic is once again a success, that we see that while "Captain Justice" is a comic in our world, that our world is also a comic in Captain Justice's world. If played right, leaving us with the uncertainty of which one is the actual real world within the television series.
Would like to see an updated Greatest American Hero was the best and Matthew Star now..anything Super was great back then!!
SABLE was in the wrong time slot. John Eric Hexum's life ended to soon.
Saw most of these when they aired. And Ralph "Hinky"? C'mon man!
While we need to revel in the amount of superhero/comic content we get these days, we can't forget what we had back then. I remember all of these shows and watched them religiously--while they were on, at least.
Voyagers! Thank you, I have been dying to remember what the title of that show was called for months.
Voyager and Quantum leap..
Yeap, no internet but we have those to know about world history 😂
I was a teenager in the 80's and the only shows I remember from this are Superboy and Greatest American Hero.
OMG of course Stan Winston did the effects for Manimal🤦🏾♂️
I remember a lot of these from the 80s. I think this channel would Garner a lot more likes if the host was less snarky and bored, with more enthusiasm. Or at least enough to seem believable that he likes the subject.
I see Automan in the thumbnail, I wonder if The Phoenix is in here too??? oh! i remember Manimal too!!!!
The Greatest American Hero's name is Ralph Hinkley not Ralph Hinkie.
Misfits of science was great. It could probably have a good run these days.
I watched Superboy. Sherman Howard was great as Lex Luthor.
Gosh, I remember ALL OF THESE!!!
Remember captain powers and future soldiers. Its canadian i think
Does anyone know about super Force or captain power and the soldiers of the future? I thought those two would be on this list
The TV Show Voyagers needs a remake. Time travel sci-fi are great TV...
you Forgot That 1989 TV Show' Hard Time on Planet Earth...
Automan, Misfits of Science and Manimal were all canceled too soon IMO.
Misfits of science had all the 80s were.
Loved from France
Andrew Clements did have a supersuit in one episode of My Secret Identity, but it was a dream sequence.
Once A Hero actually had 7 episodes, but the last 4 were never aired.
The 4th unaired episode featured Adam West as an actor who played Captain Justice on TV.
As someone else said, Manimal guest starred in an episode of Night Man and teams up with him to save his daughter who also has his powers.
I agree... someone should pick up your idea about that subplot
Captain justice seems like the idea was partially used for beetle borgs
For me, the excellent "Stingray" was missing.
Song of the day:
Believe it or not I'm walkin' on air...
Captain Power. Way way way ahead of its time. They also put way more effort into it that they needed to.
I forgot about sable
I loved Misfits of Science and wish it had gone longer.
"Mid-season" aka "tv graveyard!"
Best part of Superboy was Stacy Haiduk.