Hero further decreases in stature with ‘RoboCop’ TV series (1994)

RoboCop The Series

Sometimes I think the writers’ (Ed Neumeier and Michael Miner) contributions to “RoboCop” (1987) are underrated in relation to the deafening praise lavished on director Paul Verhoeven. But the two-hour pilot episode of “RoboCop: The Series” (1994, CTV, syndicated), “The Future of Law Enforcement,” proves a director makes a big difference.

While it is fair to say that Neumeier and Miner – repurposing their own “RoboCop 2: Corporate Wars” draft and writing for TV for the first time – do not deliver the same quality of script, it also must be said that Paul Lynch directs with a different sensibility. Verhoeven presented “RoboCop” as absurd satire to take seriously; Lynch presents it as absurd satire that’s too hokey to take seriously.

An adaptation of the original ‘RoboCop 2’ script? Sort of

Although Neumeier and Miner are credited as the series’ creators, they had nothing to do with the show after the pilot episode. And even setting aside the directorial presentation, “The Future of Law Enforcement” seems cheesier and lighter (likely because it needed to be made cheaply) than the writers’ initial concept of competing corporate-run buildings. I imagine something like the conapts in PKD’s “The Man Who Japed.”


RoboCop logo

“RoboCop: The Series” (1994)

CTV, syndication; 23 episodes (This post reviews the two-part pilot)

Director (pilot episode): Paul Lynch

Writers (pilot episode): Ed Neumeier, Michael Miner

Stars: Richard Eden, Yvette Nipar, Blu Mankuma

This week, RFMC’s looks at the films and TV shows of the “RoboCop” saga.


Instead, this pilot – released as “RoboCop 4: Law & Order” in Europe — lands as another bland rehash of the basic themes. Again, we lightly tap into the idea that RoboCop (Richard Eden, with his voice made to sound more robotic) has some of Alex Murphy in him but he hides it because his wife and son are better off not knowing.

My fear that the follow-ups to Verhoeven’s 1987 masterpiece would abandon the dark comedy is unfounded; none of the sequels and spinoffs play it laser-straight. However, the level and flavor of the dark comedy are different and always less appealing.

In the TV pilot, an early example of the sanded-off tone comes when the TV reporter says another homeless man has been killed, and the Dogtown Ripper is suspected. In Verhoeven’s world, the murder of a homeless man wouldn’t be noticed. In “The Series,” it’s satire only in the sense that the news is a scant 3 minutes long. The TV series is story-based, with humor as an add-on, not as the point. And the humor is weak enough that we almost wish it wasn’t added.

“That guy” character actor Cliff De Young tries to shoulder the “comedy” load as OCP mad scientist Dr. Cray Z. Mallardo. He and second-in-command Chip (John Rubinstein) do borderline slapstick comedy at times. Their in-house rival, whom they stupidly empower on purpose, is Diana Powers (Andrea Roth). She’s a sharp, corporate-climbing secretary, but Mallardo removes her brain and hooks it up to the city’s NeuroBrain (a concept that does come from “Corporate Wars”).

The best stuff happens off screen

It’s telling that while “RoboCop 2” featured body horror of a living human’s brain (and spinal cord and eyes!) being removed in order to be put into a robot, “The Series’ ” keeps such imagery far from the screen. Diana comes back as a grainy hologram, but still, using an attractive actress to play only a brain is like making Jessica Alba the Invisible Woman.

Another villain is Pudface (James Kidnie), who is essentially “Batman’s” Clayface. He seeks revenge on RoboCop for his disfigurement in a bust that is spoken of but not shown. If the story features anything close to body horror or violence, expect the TV show to skim over it.

And with names like Cray Z. for the mad doctor and Chip for the guy who helps with the tech, you get a further idea of where the TV showrunners’ heads are at. It’s fitting to imagine “RoboCop: The Series” as created by an impersonal, noncorporeal entity, because the results are what you’d expect from top-shelf AI: It hits “RoboCop’s” generic beats and has a few elements worth exploring in a series.

As was my complaint with “RoboCop 3,” the lack of violence completely takes the edge off. At one point, a cop switches her gun’s setting from “lethal” to “tag.” The gun sticks a tracker on the suspect. It’s not a biting commentary on the spy state, it’s just tech.

“RoboCop: The Series” does some things better than “RoboCop 3.” The kid actress playing observant orphan Gadget (Sarah Campbell) has good back-and-forth with overworked cop Sparks (Blu Mankuma), who adopts her at episode’s end. Their upcoming adventures are perhaps like if “Die Hard’s” heroic security guard Al adopted Punky Brewster. This is a kinder, gentler “RoboCop,” and I question whether those adjectives fit before “RoboCop.”

My rating:

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