1. Automan
Man, Automan was like someone tried to draw a Tron sequel with a crayon. That glowing grid car, the blocky sidekick Cursor, and the hero himself looking like he stepped out of a Commodore 64 ad – it was pure 80s digital delirium. The practical effects trying to mimic digital were clunky but mesmerizing. It burned a visual imprint, a high-concept mess that felt genuinely groundbreaking, even if it was just primitive graphics pushing network TV limits. A true proto-cyberpunk vision, all chrome and light.
2. The Hitchhiker
HBO before it was HBO, if you catch my drift. "The Hitchhiker" was appointment viewing, a shadowy anthology where every road led to a bad end. It wasn't just spooky, it was *sleazy* in that glorious, forbidden cable way. Each story felt like a short, nasty shock, pushing boundaries with sex and despair. The titular wanderer, always there, always observing, was pure existential dread. It felt dangerous, a late-night secret passed between friends, a real slice of gritty, adult television.
3. Eerie, Indiana
"Eerie, Indiana" was like "Twin Peaks" had a baby with "Are You Afraid of the Dark?", but way weirder. Every episode was a fever dream, a small town where nothing was normal and everything was slightly off-kilter. From Elvis living in hiding to plastic-wrapped moms, it tapped into that suburban dread before anyone else dared. It was smart, genuinely unsettling, and proved that even "kids' shows" could mess with your head and stick with you for decades.
4. The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr.
Bruce Campbell in a sci-fi western? Yeah, they really did that. "Brisco County" was pure Saturday night gold, blending steampunk gadgets with cowboy grit and Campbell’s unbeatable charm. It was weird, self-aware, and never took itself too seriously, which made it brilliant. The plots were wild, the villains were memorable, and the whole thing felt like a comic book brought to life before comic book movies were even a thing. A glorious, genre-bending experiment that deserved way more airtime.
5. Profit
"Profit" was a shot of pure, unadulterated corporate evil straight to the brain. Jim Profit wasn't just an anti-hero; he was a monster, narrating his Machiavellian schemes directly to us, the audience. It was audacious, shocking, and so far ahead of its time, it got canceled almost immediately. This show understood the dark heart of capitalism long before anyone else dared to put it on network TV. Maximum cynicism, maximum style, and a total mind-warp for prime time.
6. Total Recall 2070
Forget the movie, this show carved out its own slick, grimy, cyberpunk niche. "Total Recall 2070" was proper neon-noir, a detective story drenched in rain-slicked streets and shadowy corporations. It wasn't afraid to get philosophical about identity and reality, giving us androids wrestling with their humanity and detectives wrestling with their pasts. It had that dense, atmospheric feel of classic sci-fi literature, but with a network budget trying to keep up. A dark, moody, cerebral ride.
