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“.
S1E07 – Crystal Water, Sudden Death
It’s all very silly, the action is pretty sedate and, once again, the denouement is very underwhelming.
S1E08 – The Naked Montague
You’re going to be rolling your eyes at least a few times in disbelief. But this is, I guess, part of the charm with a series like “Man From Atlantis”. You never know what they’re gonna come up with next and it must have been a hoot for viewers to tune in when this aired initially.
S1E09 – C.W. Hyde
“C.W. Hyde” makes for relatively pleasant 48 minute viewing. Fudge is having fun, Val Avery gives a good turn as the bad guy and Michele Carey is an absolute stunner as Avery’s girlfriend.
S1E10 – Scavenger Hunt
It’s quite clear (and has been for a number of episodes) that the series had a huge identity crisis and didn’t know what it was aiming for. Also here is the late, hulking Ted Cassidy who gives this material more actual quality acting than it deserves.
S1E11 – Imp
“Imp” isn’t a painful chore to sit through. It’s fairly entertaining and everyone involved gets to act a little silly and it’s somewhat funny.
S1E12 – Siren
This next-to-last episode is pretty good. Nothing new here but it’s fast paced, somewhat imaginative and those villains are a bit less cartoonish than previous ones.
