1984: AUTOMAN: THE NOVEL (Target Books)

From 1984: the one-and-only novelization spun-off from Glen Larson's short-lived (but, like MANIMAL, fondly remembered) adventure show AUTOMAN.

This is another of Target Book's attempts to expand their range by signing licensing deals for various US adventure shows.

Amazingly, Larson doesn't attempt to claim credit (unlike the BATTLESTAR book range) for being co-author of the novel.  Clearly his deal with 20th Century Fox wasn't quite as generous in the credit department as the deal he'd brokered at Universal (which saw him take credit for anything that might bring in additional monies on top of the show itself). 

The preposterous show swiped its inspiration and visual style from TRON (1982), which itself owed a visual debt to the conclusion of Britain's BREAKING GLASS (1980).  It ran between December 1983 and the following April, clocking-up only thirteen episodes including the feature-length pilot (adapted herein).  The BBC premiered the pilot on 12 May 1984 and aired the final episode at the end of August. 

GLEN A. LARSON 1937-2014

It's not been widely reported here in the UK but GLEN LARSON, TV Super Producer and Show Runner, died of cancer at the weekend.  He was 77.

The name probably needs no introduction but, to recap, he was the Hollywood producer that brought us the STAR AGE small (and big) screen juggernauts BATTLESTAR GALACTICA and BUCK ROGERS IN THE 25th CENTURY as well as lesser SF shows MANIMAL, AUTOMAN, THE HIGHWAYMAN, NIGHT MAN and GALACTICA 1980.

His wider body of work included QUINCY M.E, McCLOUD, THE SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN (he produced the second and third TV movies and although his vision of a super-powered James Bond didn't continue, their success ensured the long-running ABC series), THE HARDY BOYS AND NANCY DREW MYSTERIES, BJ AND THE BEAR and its spin-off THE MISADVENTURES OF SHERIFF LOBO, BATTLES, the pilot for MAGNUM P.I, THE FALL GUY, KNIGHT RIDER, COVER UP, MASQUERADE and many more.

Not all his show's were a success (the much derided MANIMAL only clocked-up six episodes before being dumped) and many were rightly lambasted for being rather-too-obvious knock-offs of successful feature films but they were always great fun and were Star Age essentials.

I'm planning to do more on the man and his work but... in the meantime... here's a compilation of some very memorable title sequences. 

1985 - BEEB ISSUE 1 (Polystyle)

BEEB was the blink-and-you-missed-it (beginning in January 1985) attempt by publisher Polystyle (who'd recently put the long-terminal TV COMIC out of its prolonged misery) to build a rival to LOOK-IN by - sensibly enough - pulling together a look-alike built around BBC properties.

Beeb (of course, the nickname for the corporation) ticked all the boxes with gushing TV, sports and music coverage, all pegged (wherever possible) to BBC shows likely to appeal to kids (as the cover below shows, that inevitably included BLUE PETER and SATURDAY SUPERSTORE).  It's sobering to think that Janet Ellis was considered enough of a draw to prominently feature on the first cover.  

The comic strips included THE FAMILY NESS, ONE BY ONE (groan), TRIPODS (notoriously, the show that managed to make the occupation of Earth by giant alien war machines seem dull), BANANAMAN (already appearing in DC Thompson's NUTTY but winning a slot here by virtue of the Goodies-voiced cartoon)  and - from the States - the (only) comic strip adaptation of Glen Larson's short-lived AUTOMAN (somehow overlooked in the merchandise gallery on the recent DVD release).  

Beeb closed - without warning - a few months later.  I thought it lasted a mere 12 weeks although online sources quote twenty.  LOOK-IN, launched back in January 1971, barely noticed and soldiered on until 1994.

The BBC didn't make the same mistake again: its next venture into the teens-and-under market, FAST FORWARD (1989-95) was published in-house by BBC Magazines and benefited (until the rules changed) from heavy on-air promotion (Fast-fast-Forward) in the critical junction between the official end of CBBC and the beginning of NEIGHBOURS.