Robocop: The Series

Here’s a purchase I made recently. RoboCop: The Series is a 1994 television series based on the film of the same name. It stars Richard Eden as the title character.

Made to appeal primarily to children and young teenagers, it lacks the graphic violence that was the hallmark of RoboCop and RoboCop 2. RoboCop now has several non-lethal alternatives to killing criminals, which ensures that certain villains can be recurring. The OCP Chairman and his corporation are treated as merely naïve and ignorant, in contrast to their malicious and immoral behavior from the second film onward.

While RoboCop was initially an American property, Orion Pictures received a $500,000 cash infusion for TV licensing rights to Canada’s Skyvision Entertainment. This allowed access to co-production treaties and possible partnerships with other countries. The series was filmed in Toronto and Mississauga, Canada and originally planned for a January 1994 debut, several months after the unsuccessful release of RoboCop 3. Skyvision was also in negotiation with Peter Weller, the original RoboCop, but this did not come to fruition. Twenty-two episodes were made, but the series was not renewed for a second season. Expense played a significant part in this; according to Skyvision VP Kevin Gillis, episodes would be produced at $1.2 million to $1.5 million each.

The pilot episode runs two hours. It was adapted from a discarded RoboCop 2 script, Corporate Wars, by the writers of the original RoboCop, Edward Neumeier and Michael Miner.

Villains on the series include Boppo the Clown, Dr. Cray Z. Mallardo, OCP executive Chip Chayken, William Ray Morgan aka Pudface, Vlad “Don’t call me Stitch” Molotov and Commander Cash (although, in one episode, it is revealed that Commander Cash was actually a misunderstood hero

You can check out a run down of the episodes below.

The DVD contains all 22 episodes and the quality is good. While some might find that the plots don’t have the modern substance of today’s television series, it’s good to unwind to such shows once in a while. Definately brings back that sense of nostelgia too.

Danker out!