Friday, June 15, 2012

THE PHOENIX (1981)

Admittedly, my memories of the 1981 television series, The Phoenix, are pretty dim. This short-lived series starred Judson Scott of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan as a Von Daniken-inspired ancient astronaut named Bennu, who was wakened from suspended animation within an Incan pyramid by a team of archeologists. Possessing various psi powers, he became a target for government agents (led by the always-sinister Richard Lynch), who constantly pursued him. (As we all know, if a character has any sort of super-abilities on a Space: 1970-era television series, he has only two options: secret agent or fugitive.)

According to the IMDb, there were only five episodes produced (although I coulda swore there were more than that). There was a subplot about Bennu searching for his mate, whose body disappeared sometime before his resurrection, and all the usual "stranger in a strange land" tropes. Scott was a good choice for the role - he always had a certain "alien" quality about him, which served him well when he guested on sci-fi TV shows like the original V, The Powers Of Matthew Star, Babylon 5, The X-Files and Star Trek - The Next Generation.


As I say, I don't remember much about the show. I'm sure I watched all or most of the episodes when it aired, and I saw part of one again back in the mid-90s when it aired on the Sci-Fi Channel.  What little I can recall is reasonably positive, though. I don't think it was much worse than many more successful genre shows... but obviously, the network was unhappy with it and cancelled it almost immediately.

As it does fall within my arbitrary Space: 1970 timeframe (1969-1983), I wanted to include it here; I'm sure there are some Star Kids who remember it both more clearly and more fondly than I do.

14 comments:

  1. I remember it very well.
    There were only five episodes and even then I could tell that the premise was going to grow old really fast.

    That being said it was a fun show. I adapted his species into my gaming back in those days as the natural enemies of the vampires. So my "memory" might be influenced by that more than the actual show.

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  2. Thank you for including this. Like you, I remember watching it back in the early 80's and always enjoyed it.

    I wonder what was behind its relatively early cancellation?

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  3. loved this show! Always thought it got a bum rap and should have went on for longer.

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  4. For sci-fi tv shows, 1982 is probably a good end date to use since decades don't really end or start at their numerical beginning, culturally-speaking (kind of like how the a lot people say the 1960's didn't start until c. 1963 with the Kennedy Assassination and the start of the British Invasion). After '82, you start getting into the heavily 1980s stuff like Manimal, Automan and V which are strong reflectors to then-current anxieties and pre-occupations (sp?).

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  5. The TV movie/pilot was pretty good from what I remembered. As you wrote, it owed a great deal to Stranger in a Strange Land, but mixed heavily with Chariots of the Gods which was very popular at the time. The series I barely remember. There was a warmth and fundamental decency about the whole thing that I liked as a kid. It was thoughtful, which did not lend itself well to the action the network was probably expecting. They would have wanted another The Incredible Hulk and a new age alien seeking peaceful resolutions to conflict is hardly that.

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  6. I believe the 90 minute Premier Episode on ABC tv was March 1982 not 1981 and I do remeber this show I thin a total of 5 episoed were on the pilot and 4 others them it was cancelled

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  7. Anon - according to the IMDb, the pilot film aired in April of '81. The five-episode weekly series aired almost a year later, as a mid-Season show on ABC, beginning in march of 1982.

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  8. I recognize the opening but I don't remember anything about the show. It's kind of in my peripheral memory along with The Man From Atlantis and Bigfoot and Wildboy.

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  9. I watched the show and it wasn't very good. Just another superpowered variation on The Fugitive, like The Incredible Hulk a few years before, mixed in with naive amnesiac with mysterious past a la Man from Atlantis. The Mira subplot wasn't part of the pilot, but introduced in the first episode of the series. The reason for quick cancellation was the same as usual: rock bottom ratings.

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  10. Only five episodes? Wow... in my memory it went at least half a season. I know I watched it faithfully -- I watched anything that could be described as sci fi or fantasy -- but I don't recall much more of it than what's already been said: Judson Scott was effective, the whole thing was very New Age-y, and the show had a fundamental sense of decency to it. In my memory, it's quite similar to the film and TV series Starman, which came along a few years later. I wouldn't mind seeing it again.

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  11. I dont remember this one, must of not been shown on irish tv

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  12. One of my favorite bad guy character actors Richard Lynch played the antagonist. He also played the bad guy in Galactica 1980 and shall that fetid corpse of a show rot away. That last days of Starbuck? WTH? I was 12 and I could tell how hastily that episode was writtten.
    Seriously we need a webcast with 70's stuff like the Star Trek cartoon. Am I the only one who actually thought the writing was better than STTOS?

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  13. I fondly remember this show (although I'm afraid to ever see it again). As I recall, it may have only had a few episodes, but each aired more than once -- perhaps a year or so apart.

    I think the movie premiered on my 12th birthday and I actually link some of my development as an environmentalist to the themes I saw presented that night.

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  14. I loved this show and used to stare at stuff to try to get them to move or burst into fire. I can't imagine they will ever be released unless Netflix or Hulu pick them up. I'd also love to see Man From Atlantis again even though I realize how campy these shows will be compared to how I fondly remember them.

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