Manimal & Automan attack on November 10

Disc Announcements, News

Trio TV used to have a series called Brilliant But Canceled that highlighted obscure shows that didn’t last long on TV, but deserved cult status. There’s another type of show that also deserves a little viewing love: What Were They Thinking? These are shows with amazingly messed up premises that somehow got their insanity on the network schedule. Many of the shows didn’t last that long, but they made their mark on curious eyes. During the mid-80s, Glen A Larson gave us a double dose of weirdness with Manimal and Automan. Hard to imagine today’s network executive even saying, “Let’s talk more about this concept.” Both shows didn’t finish the season. Now their short lived legacy can come home with Manimal: The Complete Series and Automan: The Complete Series reaching DVD on November 10. Here’s the press release from Shout! Factory:

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BRING HOME BOTH COMPLETE SERIES NOVEMBER 10, 2015
FROM FABULOUS FILMS, DISTRIBUTED BY SHOUT! FACTORY

Two science fiction classics from creator Glen A. Larson (Battlestar Gallactica, Knight Rider, Magnum P.I.) make their North American DVD debuts November 10th when Fabulous Films releases Manimal and Automan, both as complete series sets. Special bonus features include a new 40-minute Automan documentary, interviews with Glen A. Larson, cast and crew biographies, and much more.

Manimal: The Complete Series
All eight episodes of the 1983 cult classic come to DVD for the first time in this 3-disc set. Dr. Jonathan Chase is a wealthy, young and handsome man; a man with the brightest of futures, a man with the darkest of pasts. Jonathan Chase is also a master of the secrets that divide man from animal, with inherited powers to transform himself into any animal he wishes. Partnered with a young police detective and a former army corporal from the fields of Vietnam, this trio stands against the crime that breeds in the concrete jungles and stretches its deadly tentacles to the fascinating but dangerous world beyond, the world of MANIMAL!

Special Features:
• Man to Animal: An Interview with Glen A. Larson
• Concept & Production Notes
• Biographies
• Galleries
• Automan Trailer
• Episode Guide Booklet

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Automan: The Complete Series
Fabulous Films presents all 13 action-packed episodes of this long-lost 1980’s gem on DVD, starring Desi Arnaz Jr. (The Lucy Show, Here’s Lucy) and Chuck Wagner(General Hospital, All My Children) and co-produced by Donald Kushner (TRON, TRON: Legacy).

I AM AUTOMAN. Walter Nebicher is the police department’s resident computer geek, but his immediate superiors think Walter’s place is behind the desk and not on the streets. Walter, however, has other ideas. Walter’s expertise in computer programming is unparalleled and he creates a special program, ‘Automan,’ an artificially intelligent computer hologram that looks real, sounds real and given enough power can physically exist in the real world. Together, Walter and Automan along with Cursor, a small floating droid that creates any object Automan needs to, battle crime on the city streets.

Special Features:
• “Calling Automan” – The Auto Feature – 42 minutes
An all-new documentary featuring interviews with Chuck Wagner, Glen A. Larson, Desi Arnaz Jr. and Heather McNair
• The Story of Automan
• Feature Story
• Original Cast and Crew Biographies
• Collectables Gallery
• Stills Gallery
• Manimal Trailer

Joe Corey is the writer and director of "Danger! Health Films" currently streaming on Night Flight and Amazon Prime. He's the author of "The Seven Secrets of Great Walmart People Greeters." This is the last how to get a job book you'll ever need. He was Associate Producer of the documentary "Moving Midway." He's worked as local crew on several reality shows including Candid Camera, American's Most Wanted, Extreme Makeover Home Edition and ESPN's Gaters. He's been featured on The Today Show and CBS's 48 Hours. Dom DeLuise once said, "Joe, you look like an axe murderer." He was in charge of research and programming at the Moving Image Archive.