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ROBOCOP |
Robocop - Richard Eden Madigan - Yvette Nipar Diana - Andrea Roth Sgt Parks - Blu Mankuma 
OTHER ROBOCOP SHOWS Robocop: Prime Directives OTHER ODD LAWKEEPERS Defiance Alcatraz Alphas Ashes To Ashes Life On Mars Automan Batman Painkiller Jane 
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The Future Of Law EnforcementHomeless people are going missing and the only witness is a little runaway who is an inveterate liar and who claims that the serial killer is an executive of global conglomerate OCP. What OCP and a rogue brain scientist want with these indigents becomes the target of a police investigation that sees Robocop targeted by some very heavy firepower. This is the opening story of the new ROBOCOP series, sometimes shown as a TV movie. If it is the shape of the show to come then things are looking gloomy for the tin enforcer. What once was a glorious piece of over-the-top ultraviolent satire on the modern day has been watered down into a barely violent (Robocop kills not one single person and the lengths that he has to go to not to kill people is ridiculous) pantomime complete with comedy villains, a complete lack of threat and a few feeble attempts at jokes that fall flat before they are even delivered. The plot is thin and over-extended, the action is pathetic and it's all a bit bloodless, aiming to pick up a new, younger audience on the TV. The addition of a youthful 'mascot' for the police station is the final straw. Concepts have to be reworked for new media, but when they have to be reworked so far from the original you have to wonder if it is worth the effort. TopPrime SuspectA crooked TV evangelist leading a hate campaign against Robocop turns up dead, shot with bullets made specifically for Robcop's gun. With no others suspects, Robocop has to go on the run whilst Madigan sorts out who is really responsible. The first episode proper of the show and if this is the shape of things to come then this will be a poor end to Robocop's career. The violence is toned down, the action is risible, the plotting perfunctory and tired, the script trite and the acting nondescript. And that's only the good parts. In trying to make ROBOCOP suitable for a family audience, the sense of what it is has been lost. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but when you borrow a plot you might as well borrow a good one rather than this tired old tosh. TopTrouble In Delta CityDiet pills are turning ordinary citizens into killers and Madigan has been addicted. The addiction of looking good and the danger of drugs are packaged together in this episode, but that's about as deep as it gets before a series of fairly perfunctory investigations and poor action sequences drive things to the shallow end of the entertainment pool. TopOfficer MissingThe OCP Chairman gets a taste of the front line when he and Robocop come under attack by a street gang after the city's lights are turned off. OCP lies at the heart of all bad things and that is bludgeoned home in this witless and wit-free storyline that has no action worth the mentioning and even has to resort to using a child in peril in the hope of raising some concern. TopWhat Money Can't BuyA child due to receive a lung transplant is put at risk when a gang of organ thieves steal them to sell on the black market. There might have been some point to be made here about organs for money and the ethics of transplant waiting lists, but it is lost in the usual banality of pantomime villains, bloodlesss action and pathetic plotting. TopGhosts Of WarA group of war veterans believed dead show up planning to destroy the computer brain that runs the city. Considering that this storyline is about elite killers sent into a rage by exposure to illegal experiments carried out on them, there is very little in the way death being meted out. The mercenaries are wildly over the top and never convince as an elite fighting force and the fact that Murphy knew one of them just strips away the last of the credibility. TopZone FivePreviously blameless citizens are committing all sorts of crimes. It's because of a new drug that removes all inhibitions and Murphy's son has been recruited by the gang distributing the stuff. This is tired, dull stuff that can barely come up with a few moments of interest in the whole running time. The dangers of drugs are obviously the target of the piece, but it really is hard to care. TopProvision 22Murphy's family is on welfare after his pension has been blocked. His wife's attempts to show how the system is cheating people makes her the target for a new brainwashing technique. Bringing Murphy's family back into the equation manages to make the story a bit more personal, but certainly no less silly. There might possibly have been some semblance of a point about being caught in a welfare trap, but it gets buried in a plot that is more about welfare games and brainwashing than about growing a brain. And once again the action is flat and uninteresting. TopThe Faces Of EveA new beauty product that allows criminals to change their faces puts Robocop in danger from an old enemy who changes to look like the OCP Chairman and takes over. An initially neat concept just gets lost in the welter of lowbrow 'comedy' and bloodless action that fails to interest or excite on any single level - which is quite an acheivement if you think about it. TopWhen Justice FailsRobocop is detailed off to look after a crooked businesswoman who has taken a fancy to him. She, however, is caught up in shady dealings with unstable fuel for an imminent space mission. The corporate shenanigans involved in this episode are so utterly laughable that all credibility is lost before it even begins. A space launch to be carried out with fuel that hasn't been tested with only the say so of a woman who just bought the company? Preposterous doesn't even begin to cover it. The Robocop-beating device of the week is freezing the metal man to temperatures that make his systems fail. This means that a bad guy can actually die, though not directly at Robocop's hand. TopThe Human FactorRobocop is required to work with Murphy's father in the hunt for a bomber who is threatening the city once again. Bringing Murphy's parents into the mix gives this story a more human face and some real human drama to an otherwise by the numbers investigation that at least has a villain worthy of the name rather than the usual cartoon fools. Unfortunately, it's all a bit too clumsy and obvious to really impress, but is at least a step up from the norm for the show. TopInside CrimeThe runaway success of the Inside Crime reality TV show leads to Robocop being targeted in a battle with an old enemy, live on TV. There's probably something to be said about the nature of reality television and its corruption into cheating and debasing entertainment of the lowest common denominator in here somewhere, but it's too hard to find to be worth searching through the repetitive and unexciting action for. This shows that there might have been a chance for a better show in there somewhere. TopRobocop Vs Commander CashKids are going out of control stealing everything that has cartoon superhero Commander Cash on the box. Robocop investigates and comes up against the real Commander Cash, but is he hero or villain? Never has ROBOCOP so completely revealed its target audience. This episode is openly aimed at children, features children and has not only a cartoon character, but a whole animated segment. The once ferociously grown-up Robocop is now as toothless as the children's playthings depicted here. Yes, there is a clumsy spoof of retail economics coupled with subliminal advertising and drugs in food, but it's all too childish and silly to be taken in any way seriously. Oh, and Commander Cash is a really rubbish superhero. TopIllusionsA gunrunning villain hires a magician to kill Robocop and the chairman of OCP. Madigan learns that not all magicians are bad. Or are they? A little bit of romance is finally allowed to creep into ROBOCOP, though not for the big guy himself. The Magician's outfit is poor and the plot that goes with it is the same, overplaying the pantomime villain and not coming up with anything exciting in the action line. TopTin ManMurphy's old partner is turned into an emotionless vigilante by the head of a prison, forcing Robocop to either break his programming or kill him. After his family and his parents, Murphy's old partner is drawn into the story, very little of which actually makes any sense. The villains are the usual cartoon buffoons and the Tin Man himself is far from impressive, though some of the explosions are pretty good. To say that it's outcome is predictable is to say the least. TopSisters In CrimeThe OCP Chairman is taken hostage by radicalised women fighting OCP's sexist ways, not knowing that they are being manipulated by an ex-OCP employee. The gender divide and women's rights get laughed at and ridiculed all the way in this episode in which every woman bar Madigan is an insane man-hater who cannot recognise a man in drag. The villains are cartoonish, the action (if you can call it that) risible and the whole thing is just a bit depressing. TopHeartbreakersMurphy's wife is taken prisoner by an OCP executive and his partner so that they can blackmail Robocop into getting them the parts of a weapon that can stop hearts. Putting Murphy's wife in physical danger and also making it a very real possibility that she will finally find out what happened to her husband give this episode a bit of a bite, but the ineffectual bad guys, the frankly cheap-looking heart gun and the romance between virtual Diana and a programmer who can project himself into her virtual world all work to undermine this. TopMothers DayGadget finds out who her mother is in time for a gangster to use them both to blackmail Sgt Park into changing his testimony in a big case. This episode goes into overdrive on the sentimentality scale, sidelining Robocop almost entirely in a story that takes a pop at uncaring social services. The extra schmaltz is an unwelcome addition to the usual cartoon villains and limp action. When the captives are left in a room that supplies everything they need to build a trap, including a net, it's time to pack up and go home. TopNanoMadigan is left paralysed from the neck down by an accident. Ironically, the microscopic machines that caused her injuries might be the only things that can save her. The injuries to Detective Madigan are quite shocking even if the eventual solution is obvious from the outset. Yvette Nipar gets a chance to show some real acting when she learns the truth about her injuries and this proves to be tha acting highlight of the show to date. The storyline then goes on to provide some actually tense moments as the power supply keeping her alive is threatened. This is easily the best episode that the show had produced to date. TopCorporate RaidersMurphy's father and son are both caught up in a plot by an old enemy to use a corrupt business organisation to take revenge. Another over-the-top villain and bunch of ridiculous henchmen prove to be underwhelming opposition for the cyborg, but this is the episode when Murphy's father finds out the identity of Robocop and, for such a momentous event it proves to be totally flat. Which is all you really need to know about the show really. TopMidnight Minus OneA canister of deadly biotoxin sets off a race to stop the self-execution of a man sentenced for murder. The initial biotoxin scenario makes for an interesting kicking off poing for this episode of ROBOCOP, but after that it descends into the usual round of OCP shenanigans, lame action and barely twisting plot points. TopPublic EnemiesThe President is visiting Delta City and three of Robocop's most dangerous enemies come together to turn him into a walking time bomb. The season finale and the three most bumbling enemies that the show has produced overact their way terribly through a poor plot that must surely see an end to this embarrassing low point for the once-glorious cyborg creation. Top |
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