Man from Atlantis
As said; I‘m a big Cult movie fan and my interests extend into the TV realm. A lot of interesting stuff was produced in the 70‘s and probably among the greatest experimentation was a short lived series called „Man From Atlantis“ which aired from 1977-1978.
The series starred Patrick Duffy („Dallas“), Alan Fudge and Belinda Montgomery and it had an interesting run. Four feature length Pilots were aired before a regular series was commissioned and then only 13 episodes were produced until it was cancelled.
In my opinion the show had a huge identity crisis and could never settle on a proper format for the hero; a mysterious man with webbed hands who has massive physical strength and can breath underwater. It‘s suggested that he could be the last of his kind from the city of Atlantis.
It was short and sweet; 4 films and 13 episodes and the Man from Atlantis vanished. Patrick Duffy hit it big in „Dallas“ but his interest with the character persisted and the actor published a novel in 2016 where he covered his origins. Duffy explained that if the novel would sell in large numbers he would be interested in doing a trilogy about this aquatic man who‘s possibly from Atlantis.
Five years ago I spent my hard earned cash on the Complete TV Movies collection and the Complete Television Series on DVD of the „Man From Atlantis“. I had a great time watching this relic of a show and I religiously wrote down reviews for each episode and posted them.
So if you‘re in an adventurous mood I‘d recommend Cult afficionados seeking this out; It‘s a genuine hoot of a show!
Here‘s my opinion of each episode of „Man From Atlantis“.
S1E01 – Melt Down
Dr. Schubert is back! This time he’s melting the world’s ice caps with microwaves and causing the sea levels to rise. He promises to stop if Mark will agree to become his test subject.
S1E02 – The Mudworm
So far; “Man From Atlantis” is an enjoyable sit-through for Cult TV seekers.
S1E03 – The Hawk of Mu
Three episodes into the series and it’s clear the show was struggling. Dr. Merrill is already taking a complete backseat with no role to play here and Schubert, once again, shows up as the foe.
S1E04 – Giant
Abdul Jabbar seems to be as bad in acting as he is good with a basketball. He can’t even keep a straight face. But still he’s oddly likable as (as it turns out) a pretty friendly giant.
S1E05 – Man O‘War
Silly story, absurd creature (insanely fake looking and laughable) and an all around unexciting episode. Really not much more to say about this one.
S1E06 – Shoot-Out at Land‘s End
“Man From Atlantis” has had some weird ideas floating around but this tops them all. But this episode is a joy from start to finish; easily the most entertaining so far.
