ALL SCI-FI

[Bud Brewster]

Veteran police officer Earnest Borgnine is chosen to field test the first android policeman, who looks like a blandly handsome young man (Michael Shannon), and behaves like a naive alien tourist (with cliched humor involving social mistakes made because of ignorance).

Borgnine hates the android at first because it lacks the "heart and soul which every good cop needs". In the climax the android demonstrates self-sacrifice by saving Borgnine at the expense of its own life, thereby proving its "humanity".

All in all, not badly done, but not exceptional. It became a short-lived series. Directed by Jud Taylor. Co-starring John Amos, John Larch, Herbert Nelson, Ronnie Clair Edwards.
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[Bud Brewster]

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Good old YouTube has the pilot and all six of the episodes in this short-lived series, and the picture quality is better most of the videos we see for these old series.

Click on the link below for the pilot and you'll find all six of the regular episodes listed on the right. I downloaded all seven videos with SaveFrom.net for YouTube in under five minutes.

UPDATE April 29, 2023: YouTube removed the videos. but I restore pilot episode — complete with the origin commercials! It's a blast from the past!
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_______________ Future Cop (1976-78) - Pilot


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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[Bud Brewster]

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I am pleased to report that after watching the Future Cop pilot and the first regular episode, I was very impressed!

The series is very intelligent, and the performance by Michael Shannon as the android is the perfect blend of "robot" and "human", without a boatload of embarrassing cliches we've all seen for decades. What Data did in TNG embarrassingly often, Shannon never did!

The combination of Ernest Borgnine and John Amos as the two veteran cops who work with Michael Shannon proved to be a fine bit of casting. The interesting aspect of this trio in the pilot and the subsequent episodes is that Borgnine was aware that Shannon was an android . . . while Amos was not!

This is when the episodes are the most fun!

Ernest understood how his android partner could demonstrate Sherlock-like skills of observation and information retrieval . . . while John Amos grew increasing confused and suspicious about the "rookie's" inhuman abilities.

I was also please by the complete lack of hockey electronic sound effects whenever the android did anything superhuman. I always hated those annoying sounds when the Six Million Dollar Man ran fast or jumped high (in slow motion, for no logical reason.)

There's none of that insulting crap in this series.

I highly recommend this unappreciated and short-lived series. It should have gone on to become a great success.
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[Bud Brewster]

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Here's episode six of the seven episode that were made for the series. I used to have all seven, but apparently I deleted them to make room on my hard drive.

Now I regret it.

But the video below is a true "blast from the past". The recording includes the ABC commercials for 1977, including one for the "new" 1977 Chevrolet!

ABC Network - Future Cop - "The Kansas City Kid" - WCVB-TV (Complete Broadcast, 4/30/1977)


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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)