The Phoenix TV series
The Phoenix was a short-lived 1982 TV series starring Judson Scott as an ancient astronaut named Bennu of the Golden Light. Extraterrestrials had left Bennu behind as a "gift to mankind" but he was woken too early and didn't know his mission on Earth. The show was kind of a cross between The Incredible Hulk and Erich Von Daniken's Chariots of the Gods Around 1982, I was really into both of those, so it's no surprise I thought The Phoenix was a real gas. Here's the opening sequence. The Phoenix (YouTube)
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Damn, I remember this!
But I also remember "Otherworld" as well.
This actor was in Star Trek II! He's the one who affirms Khan's superior intellect just before he dies.
The only scene I remember is the one where he whips ass at the arcade game "Phoenix", earning free games for all the kids gathered around.
Extraterrestrials had left Bennu behind as a "gift to mankind" but he was woken too early and didn't know his mission
Reminds me of "Greatest American Hero" where the aliens leave a Superhero suit with a guy on earth, but he loses the instruction book.
Believe it or not, I'm walking on air....
I freakin' *loved* this show when I was a kid.
Otherworld! I remember the laser guns shot under-arm...which made them that much cooler.
Speaking of early 80s TV. One word: Manimal.
Ah, thanks for this - I have vaguely remembered this show for years and wondered what the heck it was called, and what it was about.
Other vaguely remembered early 80's favorites of mine: Renegades and Streethawk.
Okay, seriously ...
Has this actor starred in any roles where the name "Bennu of the Golden Light" was NOT appropriate for his character?
I totally remember this show!
I only ever managed to watch one episode due to parental restrictions.
Two scenes are burned into memory.
One, he's busting his butt ditch-digging. He's completely worn out, etc. I think he is getting jeered by other workers, or perhaps a straw boss.
then, he lifts his face to the sun, and his magic amulet rejuvenates him, so he is fresh as a daisy, much to the consternation of all around him.
then, at the end of the episode, he talsk to this guy trying to grow plants, and says (using his mystical solar insight) "these plants need blue.
The final scene is the guy putting blue gels over his vines, and them thriving.
I couldn't remember the name of it, but thanks to the 'related videos' section, I found one I loved from way back when:
Automan!
Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU! I've been wondering what that series was for a few years now -- I loved it, and no one else could remember what it was.
@10 - I had totally forgotten about Automan! What other gems has time erased from my memory (besides Voyager!)?
Zuzu, Pepik, my show that almost no one else seems to remember is Fantastic Journey, from 1977. Atlanteans/alien hybrids, Ike Eisenmann (my pre-teen crush), scientists from the future - and the past - lost together and slipping between dimensions trying to find their way home... what's not to love?
@HOLLANDO (#9), That scene with the gels is about the only specific scene I remember from The Phoenix!!! Hahahah!
Two words, bitches!
SHA
ZAM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PEgeQvL8iCM
And BOO-YA!
ISIS!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rnSU2AalfKg&feature=related
I think The Phoenix owed a lot to the movie "Starman."
I was a bit of a cynic about TV SF by the time this came out. Too many years believing in Starlog hype made me bitter and suspicious. So I thought The Phoenix was corny and superstitious.
I'm going to third #9 and #14 - every so often I remember old shows I watched as a kid in the 70's and early 80's, and I can't remember enough context about them to successfully google 'em - this was one of those shows. Thanks for the reminder, BB!
The 'these plants need blue' and the gels is the thing that stood out most about this show (that I seemed to like, I remember it favorably) when I recall it.
Crazy that that little bit of memory stood out for several commenters!
#17
Starman = 1984
The Phoenix = 1982
If anything, Starman needed to give some big ups to Phoenix.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088172/
and
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9SASkqWyn40
Last,
you were a cynic about TV in 1982? DANG! What the hell are you now? A subergeniuscynic?!?
...A couple of points about The Phoenix:
1) All the stuff about Bennu looking for his mate was added after ABC bought the series. The original plan was that Bennu woudn't know jack squat about who he really was, where he came from, and what his mission was - if there really *was* a mission, for that matter. As the series would have progressed from that point, it could have gone anywhere, much in the same way Lost has gotten lost amidst all its unsolved mysteries and conbefuddling clues.
2) Scott was going around to conventions after Star Trek II reminded fans he existed, and was claiming that a relaunch of The Phoenix was being discussed. What set off everyone's bullshit detectors was when he said that there was a specific actor who was interested in playing this minor but pivotal regular role as a bartender who befriends Bennu and provides advice on life from time to time.
Sorry, but Robert DeNiro's agent would have never let him dilute his ability to command top contract wages by signing on to a low-grade Sci-Fi show that had already been cancelled once...
3) The comparison to The Incredible Hulk is valid, but let's not forget that both shows, like Kung Fu, were essentially reimagings of The Fugitive, with the characters having extra abilities that help them in their being on the lam.
...And yeah, I remember Otherworld, as well as The Fantastic Journey. Those were shows that were a bit ahead of their time which could work today with a little tweaking. Not that it's going to happen, alas.
OMG! This was my favorite show when I was a kid!
We even made phoenix medallions out of cardboard. :)
I never saw this show, but the article reminded me immediately of The Powers of Matthew Star, that exiled-alien-TK show with Louis Gossett Jr. as his guardian/mentor. Trippy stuff.
Umm, how about "Man From Atlantis"? If I remember correctly didn't he have some memory issues and fantastic abilities as well?
I got the first issue of Marvel's "Man From Atlantis" comic and managed to talk my little brother into swapping his whole collection for it. He also cried hysterically for an hour the next day when begging for his collection back. Ahh, those were the days.
Another (more recent) entry in the "amnesiac hero" TV-show genre was John Doe, about a guy who knows the answer to every trivia question evah but not his own name. (The Wikipedia entry points out a way-too-geeky implied connection to the Stargate universe.)
Going way, way back, to the 1960's, there was Coronet Blue, starring a young Frank Converse. Converse was a hunk, and had sufficient charisma to carry the show, but the actual star, in my opinion and several others who remember the show, was Brian Bedford as his sidekick. Looking at Bedford's bio, I'm not surprised to see a lot of his career has been spent doing Shakespeare.
That was a good trip down memory lane in terms of forgotten 80s television. I humbly toss Amazing Stories on to the pile.
I loved this show as a kid. I remember making fan art and even sent in fan mail. Another show I was extremely disappointed when it went off the air was The Voyagers.
So if someone asked him "Who do you think you are, God's gift to mankind?", he'd say "Yes"?
I remember this! I wasn't allowed to watch it either.
heathen
I'm guessing that any parental restrictions had to do with the obviously cultish/religious aspects of it.
Fun bit from the "Phoenix Bible": he's described as "a giant shaft of hope for humanity". Um.
Anyone remember Lucan?
That was a show about a guy who was raised by wolves and whenever he got angry his eyes grew red and he got super "wolf" powers.
It could happen.
#19: Wow, "The Phoenix" actually came first?
"you were a cynic about TV in 1982? DANG! What the hell are you now? A subergeniuscynic?!?"
Actually, I think SF&F on TV has gotten a lot better!
Crazy! I'd forgotten about this too. I used to make the medallions from tin foil.
The bit I remember most about 'The Phoenix' is that air-conditioning was like kryptonite to him (something about 'positive ions').
The two shows I remember that few others do are both animated: 'The Spiral Zone', and 'Bionic Six'.