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HarryTasker88
R-L5
 
Joined: 27 May 2010
Post Count: 40
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  Posted: Sat Jun 05, 2010 9:39 am |
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Hi guys. A coupla days ago I got the dvd box set of the RoboCop tv show..it's 6 dvds and the packaging's fine..I started watching 'em and it brought back a lot of memories from my childhood..I used to watch the show on tv when I was a kid and love it...which I still do, now.
Ya know, I'm probably gonna get butchered because of what I'm gonna say, but I don't care..I really think the Tv show is quite good. Some episodes are really good and Richard Eden is one of the best RoboCops ever..I love the way he talks and moves as RoboCop and the series has its moments..a couple of episodes made me chocke up, that's how emotional and good they were. If that was one of the series' goals, it accomplished it.
It goes deeper into Murphy's past, explaining much more
I agree, it's a toned-down, kinda kid friendly RoboCop, but this is a PG RoboCop series (I know, you might argue that can't be done and I agree) and should be judged on its own merits and not compared to the R rated movies which were created for another market altogether.
Just my two cents on the tv show.
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Johan
Archive Dictator
Joined: 17 Nov 2001
Post Count: 5546
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| Posted: Sat Jun 05, 2010 10:23 am |
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I gotta say I felt a lot of frustration when i watched the series the first time. Now I have learned to appreciate the odd moments here and there but ultimately it's a hard series to watch. The emotional scenes are the best, but the wimpy Robo, goofy villains and overly non-violence approach is ridiculous.
Overall, I think they could have done a lot better with the pacing and the editing to show Robo as less of a wimp. Most of the time when Robo gets knocked down or defeated(which he gets in every episode) he just stands there waiting for a truck/car/rocketlauncher/wrecking ball to hit him. A non-violence approach CAN work but the writers need to be a whole lot smarter for that to be believable, as a heavily armed Robo standing and waiting for the villains to blow him up makes no sense and just makes it frustrating.
Robo3 has a equally stupid moment in the beginning when Robo kindly waits for the bad guys to set him on fire instead of just shooting them like he did with the other bad guys just seconds ago.
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HarryTasker88
R-L5
Joined: 27 May 2010
Post Count: 40
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| Posted: Sat Jun 05, 2010 11:38 am |
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| Johan : | I gotta say I felt a lot of frustration when i watched the series the first time. Now I have learned to appreciate the odd moments here and there but ultimately it's a hard series to watch. The emotional scenes are the best, but the wimpy Robo, goofy villains and overly non-violence approach is ridiculous.
Overall, I think they could have done a lot better with the pacing and the editing to show Robo as less of a wimp. Most of the time when Robo gets knocked down or defeated(which he gets in every episode) he just stands there waiting for a truck/car/rocketlauncher/wrecking ball to hit him. A non-violence approach CAN work but the writers need to be a whole lot smarter for that to be believable, as a heavily armed Robo standing and waiting for the villains to blow him up makes no sense and just makes it frustrating. |
Yeah, I get ya. They could have gone about it in a more intelligent way. RoboCop standing there waiting to be hit is something I get frustrated about everytime, too, and it's one of the things I can't stand about the series. Among them, there's the recurring villains, who are too over the top and cartoon-ish, and Alex's son, who I think acts like he's older than he is and comes across as being kinda stupid.
But I gotta say, there are also great moments: all of the emotional scenes, which I think are very powerful and convey Alex's sadness and tragedy; the relationship between Diana and RoboCop and her referring to him as "Alex" is something I dug a lot..I love it when she says to him:"Alex, you're too much"..ya know, I really, really like it when characters in the movies or in the tv series call RobCop or refer to him as "Alex"..it kinda gets me evey time...it shows they go beyond what's apparent (him being a cyborg, a machine) and only see Alex as if all that armor isn't there. That's moving and touching, and it's just dialogue. Gotta love that.
Anyway, I think that beyond its faults, it's an okay series with high monents...surely better than Prime Directives, ain't it?
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Stan The Man
Part Man, Part Sheep, All RoboCop-Fan
Joined: 05 Jun 2003
Post Count: 4491
Comment: The one, the original, the only - OCP Police 001
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| Posted: Sat Jun 05, 2010 5:18 pm |
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| HarryTasker88 : | | But I gotta say, there are also great moments: all of the emotional scenes, which I think are very powerful and convey Alex's sadness and tragedy; the relationship between Diana and RoboCop and her referring to him as "Alex" is something I dug a lot..I love it when she says to him:"Alex, you're too much"..ya know, I really, really like it when characters in the movies or in the tv series call RobCop or refer to him as "Alex"..it kinda gets me evey time...it shows they go beyond what's apparent (him being a cyborg, a machine) and only see Alex as if all that armor isn't there. That's moving and touching, and it's just dialogue. Gotta love that. |
Man are you reminding me quite a lot of my topic and my article on that particular subject, among others.
Now I myself, as well as others have given our own opinions on that particular aspect regarding Robo and Diana but to basically put it, it was a nice element of the series, but just not developed too well, a consequence of making it light and easy enough for early-mid 90s TV. Though it was done alright in the show and an aspect I too enjoyed, I think it could have been taken further than it was. But I'll stop there, read the other stuff if you want more on what I'm talking about. 
Overall I think the Series was okay and palatable. Though it may not be the first choice of something to watch when I get bored, I, like Johan, have gotten a bit more appreciation for it - especially watching it all again in-depthly.
As a Robo-traditionalist, the thing that of course instantly stuck out for me as a negative was the lack of heavy, over-the-top violence and satire that were trademarks of the original film. But that's just a problem that's on the surface, and one that can be looked past. However, that is not the Series' only fault.
I understand that without being able to rely on the same scale of violence and dark satirical humor, they had to be more creative, and rely more on actual story and character influence. And there were several instances where they delivered, and quite well, actually. A lot of the more emotional moments and exchanges Robo has with some characters I felt was done fairly well, despite being 'TV-light'. Some episodes had good stories with strong performances from the actors and even some interesting bad-guys.
But a show can't work with some good elements sometimes. And unfortunately that was the shows main problem. Not that they didn't have any good showings of the stories and characters (because they did), but rather, because they weren't consistent about it. That is one of the main flaws I have with the Series on a base level - it's lack of consistency.
If consistency was a real factor in even just one form of artistic media, it would be an episodic TV series. In the case of a TV show, you have to show that you be creative and be able to stick with it. The violence, though a noteworthy loss, doesn't have to derail the whole thing. As Johan said, a not-quite-so-violent environment indeed can work, even in regards to RoboCop, but as said, you have to be smart and consistent about it. Problem was they weren't.
Some stories were good, a few ok, and others sheer crap. Add to that the fact that one episode might have a good story and the next have a crap one and it gets a bit annoying. The other characters worked fine in some episodes but silly in others, the villains are actually pretty cool in some episodes but the same annoying ones keep coming back in others. And so on. All these inconsistencies are annoyingly common and only take away from the show.
The lack of proper consistency is prevalent with Robo himself. Though like Johan, I mark that as a pacing/editing problem more than lack of creativity or any poor acting on Eden's part. I never thought Eden was downright horrid, and he mostly improved as the series went on. Again, it's really a lack of consistency, in this case with the pacing. As Johan said, numerous times he practically sits there waiting to get owned by someone or something. Even though in some parts, he moves and acts near like he did in the films. As said, just some changes in pacing could have helped to solve that quite a bit. Though I have to personally add that, unfortunately, regardless of Eden, it seemed to be the norm to show him as some bumbling tin-can, and that just wasn't correct. RoboCop moved specifically and deliberately - conservation of energy as it were. Like Darth Vader. That doesn't mean he's slow and lumbering. Bah.
Again, I know and understand that in the case of continuing the particular setting of RoboCop they were kinda working with a hand tied behind their back with the low-violence restriction, and I give them credit for doing as well as they did. However, I still feel they could have been a bit more creatively intelligent a lot more often and would have had a much better result overall.
As the Series progressed, the crappier stories were getting more common, though still intertwined with the good episodes. But as someone said before, it's difficult to make RoboCop work on a continual episodic level - it's just hard to come up with a lot of stories/sub-stories involving Robo without wavering towards the cheesy/goofy side to a fair extent. A good example would be the Marvel comics. As such, I try not to think too harshly about the crummy stories. But a crummy episode is still a crummy episode. 
Anyway, my final basic thought of the Series is the same as R3 and PD. I like some of it, but don't think it's very good overall. I will however definitely agree it's better than PD and equivalent overall to R3. I like certain aspects and elements, and thought they played on them very well in some episodes a lot better than others. There are several episodes I enjoy very much. I will always believe the pilot was a very good set-up for the series and works pretty damn good as a stand-alone piece. But the fact remains I can't watch the entire series without getting irked and annoyed because of the lack of consistency. I'll always get annoyed when I watch one good episode and the next is just goofy crap. I'll get annoyed by how silly the characters act in one episode and not so much other, and I'll also always be irked by the inane villains and lack of violent justice on them. Most of all, I dislike a further portrayal of a weak lumbering Robo, which is something the Series has only reinforced.
In the end, I enjoy some of the series and think some episodes are great, but I don't like it as a whole and can't really say it's good as a whole, either. Is it passable/okay? I'd say so, but truly good? Afraid not. But it did decently alright for what it is, and I will always give it credit for that.
| Quote: | | Anyway, I think that beyond its faults, it's an okay series with high monents...surely better than Prime Directives, ain't it? |
.. Pretty much it yeah. 
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HarryTasker88
R-L5
Joined: 27 May 2010
Post Count: 40
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| Posted: Sat Jun 05, 2010 10:26 pm |
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| Stan The Man : | | HarryTasker88 : | | But I gotta say, there are also great moments: all of the emotional scenes, which I think are very powerful and convey Alex's sadness and tragedy; the relationship between Diana and RoboCop and her referring to him as "Alex" is something I dug a lot..I love it when she says to him:"Alex, you're too much"..ya know, I really, really like it when characters in the movies or in the tv series call RobCop or refer to him as "Alex"..it kinda gets me evey time...it shows they go beyond what's apparent (him being a cyborg, a machine) and only see Alex as if all that armor isn't there. That's moving and touching, and it's just dialogue. Gotta love that. |
Man are you reminding me quite a lot of my topic and my article on that particular subject, among others.
Now I myself, as well as others have given our own opinions on that particular aspect regarding Robo and Diana but to basically put it, it was a nice element of the series, but just not developed too well, a consequence of making it light and easy enough for early-mid 90s TV. Though it was done alright in the show and an aspect I too enjoyed, I think it could have been taken further than it was. But I'll stop there, read the other stuff if you want more on what I'm talking about.
Overall I think the Series was okay and palatable. Though it may not be the first choice of something to watch when I get bored, I, like Johan, have gotten a bit more appreciation for it - especially watching it all again in-depthly.
As a Robo-traditionalist, the thing that of course instantly stuck out for me as a negative was the lack of heavy, over-the-top violence and satire that were trademarks of the original film. But that's just a problem that's on the surface, and one that can be looked past. However, that is not the Series' only fault.
I understand that without being able to rely on the same scale of violence and dark satirical humor, they had to be more creative, and rely more on actual story and character influence. And there were several instances where they delivered, and quite well, actually. A lot of the more emotional moments and exchanges Robo has with some characters I felt was done fairly well, despite being 'TV-light'. Some episodes had good stories with strong performances from the actors and even some interesting bad-guys.
But a show can't work with some good elements sometimes. And unfortunately that was the shows main problem. Not that they didn't have any good showings of the stories and characters (because they did), but rather, because they weren't consistent about it. That is one of the main flaws I have with the Series on a base level - it's lack of consistency.
If consistency was a real factor in even just one form of artistic media, it would be an episodic TV series. In the case of a TV show, you have to show that you be creative and be able to stick with it. The violence, though a noteworthy loss, doesn't have to derail the whole thing. As Johan said, a not-quite-so-violent environment indeed can work, even in regards to RoboCop, but as said, you have to be smart and consistent about it. Problem was they weren't.
Some stories were good, a few ok, and others sheer crap. Add to that the fact that one episode might have a good story and the next have a crap one and it gets a bit annoying. The other characters worked fine in some episodes but silly in others, the villains are actually pretty cool in some episodes but the same annoying ones keep coming back in others. And so on. All these inconsistencies are annoyingly common and only take away from the show.
The lack of proper consistency is prevalent with Robo himself. Though like Johan, I mark that as a pacing/editing problem more than lack of creativity or any poor acting on Eden's part. I never thought Eden was downright horrid, and he mostly improved as the series went on. Again, it's really a lack of consistency, in this case with the pacing. As Johan said, numerous times he practically sits there waiting to get owned by someone or something. Even though in some parts, he moves and acts near like he did in the films. As said, just some changes in pacing could have helped to solve that quite a bit. Though I have to personally add that, unfortunately, regardless of Eden, it seemed to be the norm to show him as some bumbling tin-can, and that just wasn't correct. RoboCop moved specifically and deliberately - conservation of energy as it were. Like Darth Vader. That doesn't mean he's slow and lumbering. Bah.
Again, I know and understand that in the case of continuing the particular setting of RoboCop they were kinda working with a hand tied behind their back with the low-violence restriction, and I give them credit for doing as well as they did. However, I still feel they could have been a bit more creatively intelligent a lot more often and would have had a much better result overall.
As the Series progressed, the crappier stories were getting more common, though still intertwined with the good episodes. But as someone said before, it's difficult to make RoboCop work on a continual episodic level - it's just hard to come up with a lot of stories/sub-stories involving Robo without wavering towards the cheesy/goofy side to a fair extent. A good example would be the Marvel comics. As such, I try not to think too harshly about the crummy stories. But a crummy episode is still a crummy episode.
Anyway, my final basic thought of the Series is the same as R3 and PD. I like some of it, but don't think it's very good overall. I will however definitely agree it's better than PD and equivalent overall to R3. I like certain aspects and elements, and thought they played on them very well in some episodes a lot better than others. There are several episodes I enjoy very much. I will always believe the pilot was a very good set-up for the series and works pretty damn good as a stand-alone piece. But the fact remains I can't watch the entire series without getting irked and annoyed because of the lack of consistency. I'll always get annoyed when I watch one good episode and the next is just goofy crap. I'll get annoyed by how silly the characters act in one episode and not so much other, and I'll also always be irked by the inane villains and lack of violent justice on them. Most of all, I dislike a further portrayal of a weak lumbering Robo, which is something the Series has only reinforced.
In the end, I enjoy some of the series and think some episodes are great, but I don't like it as a whole and can't really say it's good as a whole, either. Is it passable/okay? I'd say so, but truly good? Afraid not. But it did decently alright for what it is, and I will always give it credit for that.
| Quote: | | Anyway, I think that beyond its faults, it's an okay series with high monents...surely better than Prime Directives, ain't it? |
.. Pretty much it yeah. |
Man, you blew me away! I couldn't have said it better!! Your analysis on the series is spot-on. I completely agree with you.
I seem to understand you rather liked Eden, right? I did like his portrayal of RoboCop/Murphy. What do ya think of him as RoboCop? Do you consider him to be better than Burke?
P.S.: I feel like getting a poster of one of the RoboCop movies..I'm tempted by the poster of the first movie but the one for RoboCop 2 is really cool..which one do you think I should pick?
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Stan The Man
Part Man, Part Sheep, All RoboCop-Fan
Joined: 05 Jun 2003
Post Count: 4491
Comment: The one, the original, the only - OCP Police 001
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| Posted: Sun Jun 06, 2010 2:47 am |
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Bah, get both. Though if you must choose between the two (and really, how could you?), go for the first.. uh, first.
Also, you didn't have to quote my post - makes for a bit of unnecessary scrolling. As if my actual post didn't do that enough already.
I've talked about this in other topics but basically yeah I like Eden alright. More than Burke? Well sort of. Actual Robo-movement/appearance I'd have to give the nod to Burke for - Eden didn't have the good Robo-movement for a bit there but got better over time. Burke however already had most of the movement downpat and physically looked somewhat closer to Weller, so there ya go. But as for actually acting the character - Eden over Burke, no question.
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HarryTasker88
R-L5
Joined: 27 May 2010
Post Count: 40
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| Posted: Sun Jun 06, 2010 9:51 pm |
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I'd pick Eden over Burke anytime, too.
I think the suit in the series looked quite good, what d'ya think?
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Paddy
DC-L5
Joined: 10 Jan 2002
Post Count: 2981
Comment: Bitches, Leave!
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RoboDemise
What's all this then?
Joined: 30 Jun 2009
Post Count: 1444
Comment: I come from hell
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| Posted: Mon Jun 07, 2010 10:15 pm |
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Weller is best, then Burke (come on, give the guy a break, he had no control of the story and tone of the movie). From what I've seen of the series Eden is good too, but I still prefer Burke. Plus, I think they should have left the scene in where he gets blasted in the face with the bottle. Would have been better. 
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HarryTasker88
R-L5
Joined: 27 May 2010
Post Count: 40
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| Posted: Tue Jun 08, 2010 12:22 pm |
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I don't know about Burke..,you're right he had no control whatsoever, but he looked kinda like he didn't like the character that much. You can tell Eden did.
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ChAnOoD
C-L2
Joined: 29 Dec 2008
Post Count: 1222
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| Posted: Wed Jun 09, 2010 8:00 pm |
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| HarryTasker88 : | | I don't know about Burke..,you're right he had no control whatsoever, but he looked kinda like he didn't like the character that much. You can tell Eden did. |
Eden believes he´s RoboCop!
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HarryTasker88
R-L5
Joined: 27 May 2010
Post Count: 40
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| Posted: Wed Jun 09, 2010 9:30 pm |
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| ChAnOoD : | | HarryTasker88 : | | I don't know about Burke..,you're right he had no control whatsoever, but he looked kinda like he didn't like the character that much. You can tell Eden did. |
Eden believes he´s RoboCop! |
Yeah, it really shows he loved playing Murphy. It really does show. and he's great at playing him.
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Stan The Man
Part Man, Part Sheep, All RoboCop-Fan
Joined: 05 Jun 2003
Post Count: 4491
Comment: The one, the original, the only - OCP Police 001
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| Posted: Wed Jun 09, 2010 9:44 pm |
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| RoboDemise : | | Weller is best, then Burke (come on, give the guy a break, he had no control of the story and tone of the movie). |
The guy did have control over his own voice and mannerism, though. Let's face it, he's the most robotic sounding and acting of all Robo actors, and that's a drawback. Burke certainly had the movement downpat, but he just couldn't pull off the proper vocal atmosphere and feel of the character. Eden was somewhat better at balancing the indifferent robotic tones with the remnant humanity of Murphy.
Burke moves like Robo should, but he sure as hell doesn't act like Robo should.
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HarryTasker88
R-L5
Joined: 27 May 2010
Post Count: 40
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| Posted: Wed Jun 09, 2010 9:48 pm |
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Frankly, I don't even think that Burke got the RoboCop moves right. Eden's much better at them. And I just love Eden's portrayal of RoboCop and his truggle between his human component and his machine component.
You're right Stan, Eden did balance the whole thing an awful lot better than Burke.
Weller's still the best of the bunch, though.
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RoboCop: The Series
