Monday, March 26, 2007

Oldies But Goodies

While surfing the series of tubes this weekend I stumbled upon an old show I used to watch. I really shouldn't talk about it as it betrays my age, but I love 'em and I can't help it. Here's the clip I found:

Automan


I used to love seeing the car make those 90-degree turns (Tron-like, I know) and the way it changes to a helicopter without stopping. I think Manimal was shown on the same night. I'm not a big fan of that show, but I did catch a few episodes. I think they just milked the transformation from man to animal too much. The sequence took more than a minute and it gets really tiring seeing it every episode.



Update (11/2007): More Automan Stuff
- Here's a weird one, Laura Branigan in Automan lip-syncs to her hit song Gloria. Automan is out during the day and flirting, Cursor turns into a guitar. I don't remember those abilities, but hey, it's been awhile. Also, the video features both spandex and leather pants, can't get more eighties than that.
- What ever happened to Chuck Wagner (Automan)? Well, he has his own website. His latest gig is as a ringmaster in Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey's Circus. You can also get him to give a talk at your school, Masterclass.
- Here's a link to a video of the full pilot episode. You'll see other full episodes in the related link section.
- And here's my favorite of them all, a parody of Automan. In this version, Automan wears black slacks with his blue plastic suit and Cursor makes crappy cars. Oh yeah, it's in Spanish, but still hilarious.




After seeing Automan, I remembered a few more of the old shows I used to love. I did some searches on
YouTube and found the opening themes for them. These are just the lesser known ones. Other's like McGyver, A Team, and Doogie Howser are pretty well known and actually got out on DVD, so I'm not talking about those.

Let's see if you recognize the actor from this series...

My Secret Identity


I was around ten years old when the show was on air. Every night after watching an episode of this show, I would kneel down beside my bed and pray that I would get super powers. Those were probably the most heartfelt prayers I've ever said.

Small Wonder


I think I got started watching this because it followed ALF, which was another series I used to love. Plus I think I used to have a crush on the lady who played the mom.

And finally my all time favorite show from the list...

Perfect Strangers


I still have the opening theme song in my MP3 list. I love it. It has great lyrics and you just feel like you can do anything after listening to it. Of course, reality sets in after a few minutes you sink back into depression (ha!).

How about "Parker Lewis Can't Lose"? It was a rip off of "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" but I watched it all the same.

4 comments:

migz said...

shocks brad!

nice one, i just had tears of joy flowing... na alala ko tuloy childhood ko.. darnet i needed that one.. good job with the youtube oldies videos..

more of it brad..

cheers,
roy

echu said...

thanks! nice to know there's people out there who were into them too :P

i'm thinking of putting together a list of late 80's early 90's movies too :P

Anonymous said...

mmmkay...

was happy to see the shows i used to watch as a kid are on YouTube... (made it a point not to miss Parker Lewis back then) until i got to the part about Neil Patrick Harris.

i didn't know he's GAY!! i really need to watch the news more often...

zerovoltage said...

love these shows! :D i'm trying to think of other shows i watched then ... namention na ata dito lahat ng gusto ko except sledge hammer, greatest american hero, misfits of science, knight rider ... well some i'm also not so into, just mentioned them for the nostalgic feel :)