Future Cop (TV series)

Future Cop
GenreScience fiction
Created byAnthony Wilson
Allen S. Epstein
Starring
ComposerJ. J. Johnson
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes8 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producersAnthony Wilson
Gary Damsker
Running time60 minutes
Production companies
Original release
NetworkABC
ReleaseMay 1, 1976 (1976-05-01) –
March 28, 1978 (1978-03-28)

Future Cop is an American crime drama science fiction television series that starred Ernest Borgnine and Michael J. Shannon. It was based on the TV movie of the same title and predated RoboCop by ten years. The series was aired on ABC in 1977 and was re-piloted as Cops and Robin on NBC in 1978.[1] A veteran street cop gets an experimental android that has been programmed by the police lab for his new partner.

Cast

Episodes

TV Movie (1976)

Title Directed by Written by Original air date
"Future Cop"Jud TaylorAnthony WilsonMay 1, 1976 (1976-05-01)

Season 1

No. Title Directed by Written by Original air date
1"Fighting O'Haven"Robert DouglasMann RubinMarch 5, 1977 (1977-03-05)
2"The Mad Mad Bomber"Ted PostT : Harold Livingston
S/T : Ken Kolb		March 25, 1977 (1977-03-25)
3"The Girl on the Ledge"Earl BellamyMann RubinApril 7, 1977 (1977-04-07)
4"The Carlisle Girl"Vincent McEveetyHarold LivingstonApril 22, 1977 (1977-04-22)
5"The Kansas City Kid"Robert DouglasHarold LivingstonApril 30, 1977 (1977-04-30)

List of Cops and Robin episodes with airdates

  1. "Cops and Robin" (March 28, 1978)

Plagiarism lawsuit

Writers Harlan Ellison and Ben Bova filed a lawsuit against Paramount Television, ex-Paramount exec Terry Keegan, and ABC-TV, alleging that Future Cop was plagiarized from their own pitch for a TV series, which was based on their 1970 short story "Brillo."[2] The lawsuit was settled in 1980, awarding Ellison and Bova $182,500 in compensatory damages and $154,500 in punitive damages.[3][4] The story's title was allegedly a pun by Bova, as a robot policeman could be referred to as "metal fuzz", like Brillo soap pads.[5]

Home media

On March 1, 2016, Mill Creek Entertainment released the complete series on DVD in Region 1.[6]

See also

To date, there have been five other short-lived American TV series with identical premises:

References

  1. ^ "A Review of the Nearly Forgotten TV Show, "Future Cop" on DVD". Retroist. Archived from the original on September 24, 2017. Retrieved September 24, 2017.
  2. ^ "This Mug's Game We Call Writing: Harlan Ellison Interview, Second Installment :: Stop Smiling Magazine". www.stopsmilingonline.com. Retrieved March 28, 2024.
  3. ^ Plagiarism--the Sincerest Form of Flattery
  4. ^ "Two sci-fi writers given damages in copyright infringement lawsuit". Eugene Register-Guard. No. May 1, 1980. UPI. Archived from the original on April 1, 2020. Retrieved June 17, 2014.
  5. ^ Ellison, Harlan (1980). "Tomorrow" (Interview). Interviewed by Tom Snyder.
  6. ^ 'The Complete Series' of the Mid-'70s Show Pre-Dating 'RoboCop' Archived 2015-12-18 at the Wayback Machine