MovieChat Forums > Automan (1983) Discussion > What idiot cancelled this show?

What idiot cancelled this show?


I have just finished watching the thirteen episodes and I have to say this is a classic hands down. The way it blends cop procedure with sci-fi is just priceless. Of course it has the Glen A. Larson humor all over, which I love, but its much less cheesier than his other shows. Yet a cheese-fest like Knight Rider gets a running time of four years and this totally innovative show gets cancelled after only 13 episodes. I thought cancelling Street Hawk was the stupidest thing to do, but this definitely tops that.

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The network chief due to poor ratings!


Its that man again!!

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[deleted]

tues night, 9/19th, on abc showed 20/20 on best shows ever and though automan was not mentioned but i love lucy was picked but thats not what im here. they showed dezi jr on it and boy has he changed. doesnt look like himself when he did automan. doesnt look the same at all. and you can tell he got older. show was called a special edition of 2020, i was looking for it on abc site but wasnt there. i looked for it on 3 other sites i have for tv shows and they didnt have it.

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Actually it wasn't doing too bad in the ratings. It was more a combination of mediocore ratings (later it would be said it was more in the middle of the ratings pile but did better than expected) coupled with the huge budget required at the time to make the show. Nearly a million dollars per episode, I believe.

It was on against Dick Clark and Ed McMahon's Bloopers show, which cost almost nothing to make and did really well in the ratings. Meanwhile, here was a niche show that did okay in the ratings but not fantastic that cost a fortune to make. If they could have made it for cheaper it likely would not have been canceled.




Hi. I'm the inner babysitter!

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Same reason they cancelled the 1990 Flash series. Too expensive to make a profit.

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