Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future delivers some early work by J. Michael Straczynski and is worth a look for its interesting premise and early use of CGI, but it falls short of counting as a sci fi TV classic.
What Is It?
In the 22nd century, the Metal Wars bring desolation over the planet and lead to intelligent machines subjugating humanity. But Captain Jonathan Power and his group of rebel fighters, known as the Soldiers of the Future, fight against the machines to retake the Earth using the power suits created by his father.
Aired: 1987-88, Syndicated, 1 Season Totaling 22 Episodes
Cast: Tim Dunigan, Peter MacNeill, Sven Thorsen, Maurice Dean Wint, Jessica Steen
Crew: Gary Goddard (Creator/Executive Producer), Tony Christopher (Creator/Executive Producer), J. Michael Straczynski (Story Editor/Writer)
Legacy:
This was a better than the average kids show from the ’80s with some interesting sci fi concepts and some decent stories, and it had the potential to turn into a sleeper series if it could have overcome its limitations.
A Closer Look:
This sci fi soap opera showed up in syndication in the late-80’s, but never quite found its audience. It arrived with the gimmick of toys that interacted with the show (they fired “invisible beams” that reacted to specific images on screen and kept score during the episode), but it also had a Terminator-like premise, more adult storylines, a higher level of violence, and an ongoing story arc. So the kids who were mostly interested in the toys may not have been as engaged by the story, and older audiences may have been turned off by the obvious attempts to cater to the merchandising. The show also had a rather cheesy look and feel with its early use of CGI intermixed with practical sfx, and it did not have a large enough budget to realize is more ambitious storylines (even though it cost $1 million per episode to produce).
But Captain Power had its moments and that is largely because of the writing team that penned most of the scripts. Bablyon 5 creator J. Michael Straczynski was one of the main writers as was frequent collaborator Larry DiTillio. They put together a story arc that would have carried the show across multiple seasons and that had some interesting sci fi concepts and also more complex stories than you typically found on a kid’s show at that time. Their commitment to telling a good story helped this one rise above the crowded syndication output of kid-oriented programming in the 80’s, but not enough for the show count as classic sci fi TV. It was more of an interesting curio of its age.
The cast was mostly Canadian actors who may seem familiar because of guest starring/minor roles in other shows. They did a bang-up job with their performances though the show did regularly vacillate between wooden acting and over acting. That may in part be because of the limited time they had to film each episode, and it can detract from the viewing experience so you should adjust expectations going into this one. Still, this one is worth a look, especially for those who would be interested in seeing how Straczynski developed as a writer even though it never quite rises above its limitations to become the sleeper series it could have been.
Cancelled Too Soon?
Yes. The toys did not sell well for this, in part because they did not quite interact with the show as advertised, and those were the key to survival for kids shows at that time (and still today to a degree). On top of that, Captain Power was criticized for its violence and more adult themes, and it tended to get placed in poor timeslots. The show was also quite expensive to produce, and Landmark Entertainment Group ultimately decided not to produce a second season even though all of the scripts had been written. J. Michael Straczynski had this to say about the series coming to an end:
That’s a show that is an example of what to strive for, and how sometimes good intentions can get derailed. We genuinely wanted to come up with a long-term story, and by and large, we succeeded. The problem was the marketing in front of the show, and the merchandising behind the show…we got killed from both sides.
Wikipedia has the summary for most of the Season 2 episodes at this link if you are interested in seeing what direction the show would have gone.
Should It Be Rebooted?
Yes. This could have been quite a good show if not for the production limitations and the fact that it was hamstrung by the merchandising tie-ins, and in fact, a revival has been announced. Titled Phoenix Rising–based on the original symbol from the power suits–co-creator Gary Goddard indicated back in 2012 that an hour-long weekly drama that would act as a sequel to the original series was in the works. A teaser was produced and played at the 2016 San Diego Comic-Con (you can see it on YouTube at this link), but there has been no word on the production since then. This could actually turn into a decent series, especially if they could get Straczynski involved with it again, and hopefully it will find some traction.
Interesting Facts:
A short-lived comic book was produced by Continuity Comics at the same time the series was airing with comics legend Neal Adams providing the art and J. Michael Straczynski contributing to the scripts. Only two issues were produced.
This was the first TV series to integrate live-action, CGI and digital effects. The latter proved to be rather cheesy, but it was an important first step toward introducing this technology to television production.
The TV movie Captain Power: The Beginning (also know as Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future: The Legend Begins) was released in 1991 which compiled several episodes and had extended scenes and additional sfx. You can watch that on YouTube at this link.
J. Michael Straczynski got his start in television working on several kids series through the 1980s including He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, She-Ra: Princess of Power, The Real Ghostbusters, and Jayce and the Wheeled Warriors (you can read more about the latter at CancelledSciFi.com)
Where Can You Watch It?
The complete series was released on DVD but it has since gone out of print and is fetching pretty high prices from third-party sellers. It is not currently streaming on any of the major services, but episodes do show up on YouTube.
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