One of the shortest-lived genre shows in the history of network television, 1980's Beyond Westworld was canceled after only three episodes were aired (although five were shot) by CBS. It starred Jim McMullan as Delos Security Chief John Moore, who had to stop a rogue roboticist named Quaid (James Wainright) from using the Delos robot technology to replace key political, military and corporate leaders and thus, conquer the world.
I actually remember being pretty excited about the show - I first saw Westworld that year on videotape (for some reason, my high school had a copy of it on 3" black & white tape, which, as a member of the AV Department, I got to watch whenever I wanted, pretty much) and thought the idea of expanding on the Delos robots and their potential for misuse had a lot of potential. I also remember that Connie Selleca (a couple years before The Greatest American Hero) was smokin' hot.
But obviously, I was just about the only one watching, because it was gone so fast that for years (before the Internet came along) I couldn't convince anyone that the show had actually existed.
Westworld had a HUGE impact on me during the 70's as a kid. Futureworld also but lesser. In the back of my mind I always had the sense about a third one but couldn't track that one down. Never knew there was a actual series, wow, maybe thát was what I remember?
ReplyDeleteHave to get my hands on this if possible..the search starts right now i guess ;)
Ps. Westworld ánd Logans Run were the movies for me !!
Looks like it was the two of us watching. Pretty sure that Starlog did a write up for this.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I'd never heard of Beyond WW. I would like to see some of those. With all the darn cop shows on TV presently, I'd love for something like this to air now, but I won't hold my breathe. It's too bad that programs like this and the Logan's Run series will more that likely be lost forever unless someone makes a bootleg somehow.
ReplyDeleteLogan's Run the series just came out on DVD recently.
DeleteI don't remember details on this but do remember watching it. Where there speical robot revealing sunglasses ala They Live? Anyone, anyone?
Rory
Now that we are so much closer to having the technological ability to create humanoid robots,
ReplyDeleteI'm surprised no-one has attempted a good remake of the original WESTWORLD movie or a series.
Here is a link to the You tube preview clip. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USl3Jkp1Aok
Has Futureworld ever been released on dvd? If so, I've never seen it, but I know the movie is owned by a different distributor than the original film.
ReplyDeleteFUTUREWORLD is not currently available on DVD but is available on Netflix Instant Play.
ReplyDeleteCORRECTION: FUTUREWORLD *is* now available on DVD from the new MGM "Limited Edition Collection," 20th Century Fox's new MOD (Manufacture-On-Demand) service, and can only be purchased online.
ReplyDeletei never seen or heard of this one, i am a huge fan of westworld since the early 80s then again i only heard of future world a few years back, we need a DVD release of this show
ReplyDelete