# ID this early 80's Sci-fi..(Electronic man? or something) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 14, 2013, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-early-80s-sci-fi-electronic-man-or-something/661032 "2013-06-14T22:26:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2013, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-early-80s-sci-fi-electronic-man-or-something/661032/1 "2013-06-14T22:26:02Z")
I can’t remember if this was supposed to be a series or a one off special. Anyway, the hero was a program that took humanoid form, He could travel along phone lines. Also, he had a car, that would always make abrupt 90 degree turns. (And quite comically, even when he was changing from one lane to the next.) ---
**Author:** ![ricksummon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ricksummon/32/3333_2.png) [@ricksummon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ricksummon)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2013, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-early-80s-sci-fi-electronic-man-or-something/661032/2 "2013-06-14T22:27:59Z")
That was [Automan,](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0084978/?ref_=sr_1) and it was a TV series from 1983 about a computer programmer who creates a Tron-like program that can appear in the real world and fight crime. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2013, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-early-80s-sci-fi-electronic-man-or-something/661032/3 "2013-06-15T00:52:20Z")
That’s awesome. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2013, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-early-80s-sci-fi-electronic-man-or-something/661032/4 "2013-06-15T05:01:36Z")
Yep. Desi Arnaz, Jr. was the programmer. It was a really obvious attempt to cash in on Tron. The only scene I can actually vividly recall was the first time Arnaz rode along in Automan’s digital car and got his face smooshed into the window when it made a (literal) 90degree turn. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2013, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-early-80s-sci-fi-electronic-man-or-something/661032/5 "2013-06-15T05:07:42Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > Yep. Desi Arnaz, Jr. was the programmer. It was a really obvious attempt to cash in on Tron. The only scene I can actually vividly recall was the first time Arnaz rode along in Automan’s digital car and got his face smooshed into the window when it made a (literal) 90degree turn. Ha, the same! The rest is a blank but I recall him getting thrown around in the car. ---
**Author:** ![Accidental\_Martyr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ce7236/32.png) [@Accidental\_Martyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Accidental_Martyr)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2013, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-early-80s-sci-fi-electronic-man-or-something/661032/6 "2013-06-15T06:04:41Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > Ha, the same! The rest is a blank but I recall him getting thrown around in the car. Yeah, that’s also pretty much all I remember about that show. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2013, 8:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-early-80s-sci-fi-electronic-man-or-something/661032/7 "2013-06-15T08:11:47Z")
I remember when the car turned into a helicopter. It was a really clever effect because it was done while driving along the road. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2013, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-early-80s-sci-fi-electronic-man-or-something/661032/8 "2013-06-15T11:46:06Z")
BTW, ths same producer also created “Manimal.” What the two series had in common was the main character in both was some blondish British sort who could shape-shift. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2013, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-early-80s-sci-fi-electronic-man-or-something/661032/9 "2013-06-15T14:51:33Z")
Was this the same one where a little glowing ball floating in the air “drew” the car into existence, first drawing a wireframe outline which then got filled in? ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2013, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-early-80s-sci-fi-electronic-man-or-something/661032/10 "2013-06-15T15:20:15Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Was this the same one where a little glowing ball floating in the air “drew” the car into existence, first drawing a wireframe outline which then got filled in? Yes. Its name was “Cursor”. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2013, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-early-80s-sci-fi-electronic-man-or-something/661032/11 "2013-06-15T15:21:38Z")
“Curse you, Cursor!” ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2013, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-early-80s-sci-fi-electronic-man-or-something/661032/12 "2013-06-15T15:21:44Z")
> [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](#): > > BTW, ths same producer also created “Manimal.” What the two series had in common was the main character in both was some blondish British sort who could shape-shift. Well, considering that the producer was Glen Larson, we’re probably lucky neither Automan nor Manimal had very thinly veiled Mormon theology in them. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2013, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-early-80s-sci-fi-electronic-man-or-something/661032/13 "2013-06-15T15:27:11Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > Yep. Desi Arnaz, Jr. was the programmer. It was a really obvious attempt to cash in on Tron. The only scene I can actually vividly recall was the first time Arnaz rode along in Automan’s digital car and got his face smooshed into the window when it made a (literal) 90degree turn. Man, that’s classic! That image just came rushing back into my head the second I read that. Now I can’t stop laughing. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2013, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-early-80s-sci-fi-electronic-man-or-something/661032/14 "2013-06-15T15:31:27Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > “Curse you, Cursor!” Ah. That explains why I was about to post that the show was called “Cursorman”. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2013, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-early-80s-sci-fi-electronic-man-or-something/661032/15 "2013-06-15T22:59:45Z")
I knew I wanted to stick the word “cursor” in there for some reason. ---
**Author:** ![Projammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/projammer/32/559_2.png) [@Projammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Projammer)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2013, 7:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-early-80s-sci-fi-electronic-man-or-something/661032/16 "2013-06-16T07:51:14Z")
I remember the right angle turn scene too. I also remember thinking that while Automan and the car might be exempt from physics, Arnez just experienced a 60+mph faceplant into the side of the car.