Retrohensible

Here we have Automan. I clearly remember thinking it was awful at the time, but I was 16. Perhaps if I was younger? Not likely. It was a blatant attempt to grab some of the Tron crowd. It stole the look, and “Bit”, almost without modification. I have no idea how it made it to 12 episodes.

A running gag was when Automan would take a corner, at full speed, as perfect right angle. You can see that in the video clip. The side-kick would slap his face against his side window and say, “I wish you wouldn’t do that.”

Holmes and Yo-yo aired in 1976. I have a vague recollection that I may have liked this one a bit. I also remember being very unimpressed when the robots chest popped open (frequently) to reveal a computer that was clearly a couple of pocket calculators.

You may recognise John Schuck as the robot. For some reason, this show didn’t ruin his career. It looks like he’s worked pretty steadily.

This one was scientifically accurate. I mean, obviously. Who hasn’t seen a cement truck roll by on the highway and thought “Space Ship!”. Me too. I’m too lazy, but Andy Griffith pulled it off. Motivated by the desire to fly to the Moon and salvage all the space junk, he built a flying cement mixer called Salvage 1.

They milked it for 18 episodes.

I don’t remember any episodes of this, but I think I may have watched it fairly regularly. B.J. and the Bear was about a trucker, B.J. McKay, and his pet monkey, Bear. Wikipedia says it lasted 3 seasons for 48 episodes.

Already in 1979 we were starting to wonder if they invented shows pulling from a hat of nouns and verbs.

Ok, this one isn’t a T.V. serial, but I was suffered to watch it enough that it’s valid to include.

Le martien de Noël (The Christmas Martian) was a French-Canadian movie poorly dubbed into English. The schools would drag it out every year and make us watch it. I’m guessing an educational “Canadian Content” mandate of some sort.

It’s a bizarre and rather creepy movie of a UFO that lands in a small town in Québec. The Martian pilot starts out bleeding green slime, as I recall. He ends up befriending the local kids, skiing down a hill holding road flares and making it rain Smarties. Either that, or something completely different. I didn’t pay much attention back then, and had a rather odd imagination.