Television series

Automan

Name: Automan
Genre: Action, Adventure, Science Fiction
Released: 1983
Cast: Desi Arnaz Jr., Chuck Wagner, Gerald S. O'Loughlin, Heather McNair, Robert Lansing

A 1983 ABC series about a computer-expert cop who creates Automan, a holographic crime-fighter, and Cursor, his shape-shifting digital sidekick. Wildly optimistic about technology, bursting with practical effects and neon aesthetics, it's pulp sci-fi adventure for anyone who loves the era's earnest imagination and doesn't need plot to justify the spectacle.

TVMaze rating

3.6

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you have a soft spot for early-eighties TV that takes its gadgets completely seriously, where a neon-bright cop show is built around a hologram that is really a computer program and the whole thing plays with genuine earnestness.

Skip it if you need a modern pace or grounded realism, since the plots are light, the effects show their age, and the hero's computer-generated partner is more charming as a concept than as a constant presence on screen.

What it asks of you: It asks for an hour of easy, forgiving attention per episode across a single short season of thirteen, and a willingness to enjoy a bright, unhurried look at a past era of television.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

Knight Rider1982

A cop paired with an AI partner (his car) fighting crime. Same DNA: buddy dynamic, practical effects wizardry, that specific 1980s belief that computers would save us, and one-liners delivered with absolute sincerity.

But Moves more slowly than Automan, and the relationship between man and machine never quite reaches the same playful absurdity.

Tales from the Darkside1984

Anthology series from the same year with the same practical-effects ingenuity and willingness to be weird without winking. Episodes have the same energetic, anything-goes spirit.

But Horror anthology rather than sci-fi adventure, so the tone swings darker. Uneven quality episode to episode.

The A-Team1983

Aired the same season on the same network. Weekly escapism with a ragtag team, impossible stunts, practical effects, and the same gleeful disregard for plausibility. Pure Saturday morning energy.

But Pure Saturday morning energy—if you want character development or realistic consequences, you're looking at the wrong show.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Automan

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Forbidden Planet1956

Both center the fantasy of the perfect digital partner solving crimes, but Forbidden Planet built that fantasy from literature and existential dread; Automan just wants to have fun with it.

The grandfather of all tech-enabled cop stories. A spaceman captain investigates a mystery on an alien world with an android assistant. Same template: expert + holographic/artificial helper against the unknown, swapped to sci-fi hard film.

But A serious, philosophical film from 1956 that moves at exactly its own pace. You're not getting action—you're getting ideas about power, consciousness, and the monster within, treated with real weight.

Buck Rogers in the 25th Century1979

Another '80s tech-utopian adventure series with neon sets, earnest performances, and a man-machine partnership. Same aesthetic DNA, same optimism about gadgetry solving problems.

But Can feel padded across hour-long episodes. Automan's punchy 62-minute format moves faster.

Tron1982

Film that celebrates computing in the exact same visual language—neon, grid worlds, digital logic as metaphor for action. Made the year before, it's Automan's art-house cousin.

But Deliberately abstract and visually puzzling rather than narrative-driven. May frustrate anyone wanting a traditional story.

The Incredible Hulk1977

Monster-of-the-week structure with practical effects and a hero who can't fully control his power. Same episodic adventure formula, same earnest tone, same era's optimism about special effects.

But Repetitive format can wear thin. Banner's transformation is always the same, which loses novelty fast.

Kolchak: The Night Stalker1972

A reporter investigating the impossible week after week. Like Automan, it's a procedural wrapped around a fantastic premise, and it never condescends to either the format or the idea.

But Slower pacing, no action sequences. More mystery than spectacle, so it's quieter than what you might be expecting.

Space: 19991975

A moon base dealing with weekly catastrophes. Shared earnestness about sci-fi, practical effects, episodic adventure, and that specific 1970s-80s belief that the future would be weird but manageable.

But Budget constraints show badly by modern standards. Some episodes are genuinely dull, and the premise wears thin across two seasons.

Kung Fu1972

Both are confident enough in their central premise that they can just run through variations without reinventing the wheel—the format itself is the entertainment.

A wanderer solves problems through martial arts and philosophy. Like Automan, it's a weekly adventure where the hero has a specific superpower (Automan's digital manipulation; Caine's training) that lets him solve each week's crisis differently. Same episodic joy.

But Meditative and slow-paced in ways that directly oppose Automan's frenetic energy. The point is acceptance and balance, not rescue and spectacle. Completely different vibe.