I need something quick and easy to try to get back on schedule and Amazon MGM provided that by announcing a new RoboCop series by Amazon MGM, presumably either for Amazon Prime or MGM+. I’d be surprised if it ends up a Tubi original. Now my connection to this franchise is a bit off. I actually liked the remake better because it fit more into my wheelhouse even though it lacked the humorous commentary of the original. As time has gone on and the reimaginings out of Hollywood have gone out of control I’m a lot harsher to such things as I was back when I wrote that review, but it didn’t have the violence, focused on Murphy as a character and his family, and he does look good in black. The sequels were okay and you’ll see later why I’m less harsh to RoboCop 3 than most others. I’m not a diehard fan but I do enjoy the movies.
I also liked…two of the TV shows produced, two animated and two live-action for a total of four. As per usual I’m going to use their intros to discuss the show, because I like talking about intros and this is a franchise review. Plus I’ve had an intro drought lately so even though I did an intro article recently, here’s one more.
I’m not really sure what else to add so this is going to look very short on the homepage. Sorry about that. So let’s jump into the history of RoboCop’s TV trips to Old Detroit and Delta City.
RoboCop (Marvel Action Universe)
Yeah, that’s a weak intro. Produced as part of the original Marvel Action Universe block, RoboCop was the final show in the trilogy anthology, preceded by time-edited (and Stan Lee narration removed–the scum) Spider-Man & His Amazing Friends reruns and Dino Riders, with the final installment of the season not being a RoboCop episode but the famous X-Men pilot Pryde Of The X-Men, which inspired the popular arcade game.
This came out before the second movie. Being syndicated they could get away with acknowledging Alex Murphy’s origin, though in as close to a kid-friendly manner as possible. I imagine some parent had a fit seeing the bad guys essentially aim guns at the audience, this being a kids show. I was too old to make a judgement on that, but I was a kid when I saw the first time Batman’s origin was translated outside the comics and I was okay.
The show itself was also weak. Kids don’t care about social humor so there was little of it in the show. Kids can only handle so much violence, so this show leaned more towards action. Marvel also produced a comic series at the time, which may be why they got the cartoon, but with only one show and a final week replacement actually showing Marvel characters, why was this block called Marvel Action Universe? The second one, a rework of the Marvel Action Hour and the only season of Iron Man and Fantastic Four worth watching from that period, had the right idea. They took Bob Norton out of the series, and Bodicker didn’t die so they could have him show up again, plus the final episode (if memory serves) tried to introduce new characters as the toyline added the Ultra Police. The show ultimately lasted one season as the first Marvel Action Universe died.
RoboCop: The Series
To me this syndicated live-action take on Murphy is underappreciated because nobody really talks about it. Maybe it’s because it spun off from RoboCop 3 and maintained a similar tone, but the humor was still there. The little girl from that movie returns here, as the adopted daughter of police captain, Lewis isn’t Murphy’s partner but she does show up to help, and the Old Man from OCP is a regular character. They also introduce a woman whose brain was tied to Delta City’s computer network to help run it, and she also helps RoboCop out. Even his wife and son pop up every now and then, which was nice.
The villains were sometimes a bit more campy. The recurring villain, Pudface Morgan, was right out of Dick Tracy. (I’m guessing you can tell who he was in the intro from the name.) One of the more fun episodes guest-starred Rowdy Roddy Piper as a scientist taking over the show’s OCP mascot, Commander Cash, to prove someone at OCP stole his subliminal report technique planned to sneak information to US spies and troops to sell crap to kids. Sounds like the type of stuff that happens at OCP.
The show also had a cool outro theme.
Doing a music video version was an odd choice. Another is just RoboCop driving through the city. The full version of the music video is here (unless it went down) if you’re curious. It’s a really good song.
RoboCop: Alpha Commando
This could have been the best intro if it wasn’t for it going “Ro..bo..cop” throughout, ruining some darn good music. That’s funny because it’s the worst of the two cartoons. I’d call it the worse RoboCop TV series to date but Prime Directives exists, which only had a title card so I can ignore it. The first episode of that comic adaptation was so boring I couldn’t finish the first episode. Which is less time than it took me to watch RoboCop: Alpha Commando.
Don’t let the cool animation fool you. A bulkier RoboCop hides all his Inspector Gadget gimmicks. He also quipped like Spider-Man while the only other two characters of note, the scientist who found and upgraded him and the cop who worked with him, were named after the first movie’s creators. It would be a nice nod in a better show. It almost feels like an insult here. While the other intros went for exposition this just shows off how cool they thought their take on RoboCop was, and it’s a great con job. It also lacked the social commentary humor of the time, but unlike the Marvel show didn’t give us much to work with. It also went for more of a superhero vibe than Marvel, which is funny. Cyborgs and mutants showed up in the previous versions on occasion but they were full on supervillains here and all over the place from what I saw.
Now, will Amazon MGM give their new show a cool intro? I have my doubts. I just hope it’s more like RoboCop: The Series and less like Alpha Commando, but given that the new version doesn’t even have a version of Alex Murphy and his background we’ll be lucky if it’s Alpha Commando quality. I don’t think we need a “Rings Of Power” version of RoboCop, but would we be surprised at this point if it was?
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