One Season Wonders: Misfits of Science (1985-1986)
It only seems like superheroes are experiencing a stretch of massive popularity. It’s happened before, you know. I grew up in the 70s and 80s watching Wonder Woman, The Incredible Hulk, the Bionic Man — and Woman, Superfriends, and Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends. Good times, my friends.
The came the backlash. The Greatest American Hero was probably best known show of the time to take the whole concept of superheroes and turn it on its ear (Let’s take some unlikely noob and give him superpowers–without any instructions. Hilarity!). Lesser known but no less irreverent was Misfits of Science. This was the original “Heroes.”
You knew what you were getting with the opening credits: An old, ratty looking TV set is airing a corny performance by a jazz pianist singing, “Those misfits, misfits of science. Those wild and crazy scientific guys…” An unseen viewer reaches over to turn the channel. But the channel won’t change. The knob breaks off. Then the disgruntled viewer kicks in the TV screen in an effort to get that song to stop. The whole thing shatters, then we get the real theme song: 80s rock at its finest with the cast credits and show clips.
So, what you were getting was cheesy. Yet zippy. It was awesome.
I’ll confess I don’t remember too many details. A DVD set does not seem forthcoming on this one, so I can’t go back and check if my memory isn’t making more of this show than it deserves. But I do remember how much fun it was. After years of superhero shows that took themselves very seriously, this really was a group of misfits. They couldn’t always control their powers. They argued. They did things like use Gloria’s teke to cheat at roulette. They drove around in an ice cream truck as their disguise. I wouldn’t be surprised if the film Mystery Men owes something of its origins to the Misfits.
Actor resume trivia: the show featured Max Wright (the dad on Alf) as the non-superpowered lab supervisor/father figure Dick Stetmeyer, and Courteney Cox (of Friends) as telekinetic Gloria. And Kevin Peter Hall (Dr. Elvin Lincoln, who could shrink himself to a height of 7 inches) really was that much taller than everyone — he also played bigfoot creature Harry in Harry and the Hendersons.
The Misfits of Science Wiki (thanks for the photo!)
UPDATE: Here’s a weird bit of serendipity: Tim Kring, creator of Heroes, was a writer on Misfits of Science. Seriously. You can’t make up stuff like this.
Evan "JabberWokky" E. said,
Wrote on January 5, 2007 @ 12:52 pm
I really don’t mind you using the graphic from my Misfits Wiki (after all, it is Creative Commons), but it would be nice if you attributed or linked to it (after all, it is Creative Commons Attribution).
Great article, by the way.
Don’t forget, it’s cheesy as hell. If you can’t watch A-Team or V: the Series without wincing at the 80’s idea of “quality television”, it’s likely not going to float your boat. On the other hand, the plots were generally fairly innovative and fun, unlike the vast majority of shows in that era, where “formula plot” was seen as a comfortable plus rather than a negative.
Carrie said,
Wrote on January 5, 2007 @ 6:57 pm
Yikes. Sorry about that. I usually try to link to the sites but I missed it on this one.
Thanks for the note, BTW. This is one of those shows I talk about and no one else remembers. Always nice to get confirmation that I’m not imaginging the whole thing!
Best,
C.