Misfits of Science

Last updated
Misfits of Science
Misfits of Science.jpg
Genre
Created by James D. Parriott
Starring
Opening theme"Feels Like Science",
performed by Karen Lawrence
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes16
Production
Executive producerJames D. Parriott
Production locations Universal Studios, Universal City, California
Running time44 minutes
Production companies
Original release
Network NBC
ReleaseOctober 4, 1985 (1985-10-04) 
February 21, 1986 (1986-02-21)

Misfits of Science is an American science fiction comedy-drama television series created by James D. Parriott that aired on NBC from October 4, 1985, to February 21, 1986.

Contents

Plot

The series featured super-powered humans and their madcap adventures. The team is formed by Dr. Billy Hayes, a research scientist at the Humanidyne Institute who specializes in "human anomalies". He works with shrinking Dr. Elvin "El" Lincoln, and together they recruit electrically powered Johnny Bukowski, a rock-and-roll musician, and Gloria Dinallo, a telekinetic teenager.

Production

A double-length TV pilot and 15 additional episodes were produced; however, one episode did not air before the show was cancelled due to low ratings.

The name "Misfits of Science" and other conceptual ideas were the brainchild of then-president of NBC Entertainment, Brandon Tartikoff. He explained of the series "We'll rely on the National Enquirer for story ideas. It's loosely inspired by the dynamics we saw in Ghostbusters ... sort of a kick-back, Friday type of show." [1]

The ninth episode was the first paid writing job for Tim Kring, who later originated and produced the thematically similar Heroes in 2006.

Title sequence

The main title sequence and its theme song were unusual for TV shows of the era. Donald Todd, head writer and story editor, described them as follows:

The main titles are fun. It's still kind of... it's really forward-looking. Jim [Parriott] was forward-looking in many ways, and we fought a lot about that, but it starts off with Bobby Short doing the theme, and then there's the kicking over of the TV and into the more contemporary version of the theme. He was trying to say, "We're not doing that show, we're doing this show, and it's more hip." And I remember the people at Universal going, "Why don't you do it without the TV? We don't like the TV!" And I don't think they gave him the budget for it. I think we had to find it ourselves. It's a really cheap thing, it's just a guy playing piano and then a foot kicking over a TV, but it was really controversial, because back then nobody did anything interesting with the main titles. You just showed the characters sliding into frame. But I remember that was pretty cool. And Jim wrote it. [2]

Cast and characters

Episodes

No.TitleDirected byWritten byOriginal air dateProd.
code
1"Deep Freeze" James D. Parriott James D. ParriottOctober 4, 1985 (1985-10-04)83516
90-minute series pilot: Billy and El, scientists for the Human Investigation Team, put together a team of super-powered individuals to deal with a secret government project to create a neutron beam cannon. Larry Linville and Edward Winter guest star.
2"Your Place or Mayan?" Alan J. Levi Donald ToddOctober 18, 1985 (1985-10-18)60803
On behalf of a dead friend of Billy's, an archaeologist, the Misfits set out to prove the existence of buried Mayan treasure beneath Beverly Hills.
3"Guess What's Coming to Dinner?" Burt Brinckerhoff Morrie RuvinskyOctober 25, 1985 (1985-10-25)60802
A friend of the Misfits claims to have made contact with aliens from Mars. Problems arise when the authorities try to prevent him from continuing his contact.
4"Lost Link"Christopher Leitch Mark Jones November 1, 1985 (1985-11-01)60806
A primitive in a loin cloth comes ashore at Venice Beach and no one knows who he is — in fact it's believed he may be a caveman. It turns out that the man, "Link," is in fact an Aborigine from a lost tribe in New Guinea and the Misfits help him to set free the spirit of his deceased child by placing a small totem aboard the space shuttle.
5"Sort of Looking for Gina" Jeffrey Hayden Michael Cassutt November 8, 1985 (1985-11-08)60804
Johnny's efforts to get a date with an attractive woman, Gina, go amiss when it turns out she's involved with crooks and the Misfits have to mastermind a bank robbery to help her out.
6"Sonar… and Yet So Far"Burt BrinckerhoffDonald ToddNovember 15, 1985 (1985-11-15)60807
A marine biologist and friend of Billy's who works with dolphins believes they can talk, making him the target of drug smugglers who need the help of his dolphin friends to recover a sunken cache of cocaine.
7"Steer Crazy" John Tracy James D. ParriottNovember 29, 1985 (1985-11-29)60801
A trio of senior citizens end up with super-powers from irradiated hamburgers, and the Misfits have to both help them out and restrain them from injuring themselves.
8"Fumble on the One" Bob Sweeney Blaze ForresterDecember 6, 1985 (1985-12-06)60811
The Misfits assist Brick Tyler, a part-bionic CIA agent (and Billy's college friend) who has managed to lose the "football" — the President's briefcase containing the nation's nuclear launch codes.
9"Twin Engines"Burt BrinckerhoffStory by: R. Timothy Kring
Teleplay by: Donald Todd
December 13, 1985 (1985-12-13)60808
Johnny's friend Lonnie (Joel Polis) begins having premonitions of danger, but it turns out in fact he's related to his previously unknown twin Dwayne, a motorcycle racer, and the Misfits have to help them both out.
10"Grand Theft Bunny" Michael Switzer Pamela Norris December 27, 1985 (1985-12-27)60810
Bad guys manipulate the Misfits into helping them unleash a plague on Los Angeles with the help of a contaminated rabbit.
11"Grand Elusion" Bernard McEveety Morrie RuvinskyJanuary 10, 1986 (1986-01-10)60812
Billy recruits the gang to help a fellow scientist's daughter defect when she and her father tour America as part of a Russian girl's gymnast team. The gang takes the place of the magician hired to perform for the tour thanks to a judicious use of super-powers, but the daughter refuses to leave without her father. Complicating matters, the KGB minder Galenkov has sworn to make sure the scientist Nikolai never gets away. The Misfits have to pull off an elaborate bait-and-switch to make sure that both Nikolai and Tatyana manage to escape.
12"Once Upon a Night" Barbara Peeters Linda Campanelli & M.M. Shelly MooreJanuary 17, 1986 (1986-01-17)60813
Gloria's pen pal Jaye is the object of a hunt by unknown assailants. Gloria is kidnapped.
13"Center of Attention"Burt Brinckerhoff Sara Parriott January 31, 1986 (1986-01-31)60817
El goes undercover as an incredibly talented basketball player (with some help from Gloria) to expose a crooked owner who is having his players throw their games.
14"Against All Oz"Michael SwitzerMorrie RuvinskyFebruary 7, 1986 (1986-02-07)60819
Suffering exhaustion, Billy takes a nap and wakes up in an alternate reality, believing his adventures with the Misfits were a dream. Clips from prior episodes are shown as he tells his co-workers at a nuclear project of their counterparts in the dream.
15"The Avenging Angel"Bernard McEveetyDan DistefanoFebruary 21, 1986 (1986-02-21)60816
Gloria helps out an aspiring pro wrestler with the use of her telekinetic powers without telling him; the wrestler, Milt, soon decides he does have super powers and Gloria needs to keep helping him out when he decides to go after crooks trying to sell him protection.
16"Three Days of the Blender"Michael SwitzerDonald ToddUnaired60814
When a blender is accidentally delivered to Billy, he ends up getting arrested as a spy and Stetmeyer gets targeted by the FBI.

International broadcast

In France, the series was known as Superminds, in Germany, as Die Spezialisten unterwegs (The Specialists On The Way), in Brazil, as "Curto-Circuito" ("Short Circuit"), in Mexico, Colombia, Peru and rest of Latin America as Los Cientificos Rebeldes (The Rebel Scientists).

DVD releases

On January 25, 2008, the series was released in Germany as a 5-disc DVD box set (Region 2) with all episodes (including the final episode, which was originally unaired on NBC but broadcast in Germany) with both English and German audios and German subtitles. The release was entitled “Die Spezialisten Unterwegs”, translates literally to “The Specialists On The Go”.

On September 19, 2012, the series was released on DVD in France as Superminds .

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References

  1. Holloway, Diane (8 July 1985). "NBC Tests 'High Concept' With 'Misfits of Science'". The Palm Beach Post . Cox News Service . Retrieved 2014-11-09.
  2. Harris, Will (2013). Misfits of Science: An Oral History. SED Productions. ASIN   B00CH7QHQ0.