One Of The Most Controversial '80s Sci-Fi Movies Was Turned Into A '90s TV Show For Kids
Even when I watched Paul Verhoeven's dazzling 1987 "RoboCop" movie (which was almost ruined by Oreo cookies) for the first time in the second half of the 1990s at a very young age, I could feel there was something quite different about it. At the time, I wasn't able to put into words or completely comprehend what he was trying to capture with the film, but I'd been so invested in Peter Weller's titular protagonist that I broke down crying watching the finale. Without a doubt, I was nowhere near the age of the viewers that "RoboCop" was made for, but it mesmerized me from the first minute to the last. I became a fan then and there.
By then, Hollywood had been shamelessly milking the first movie's unexpected success, after turning the '80s sci-fi action flick into a franchise, with tons of merch, two sequels, comics, a 1988 cartoon series for kids, and even a live-action TV show with the same title that ran on CTV in 1994. "RoboCop (The Series)" is practically a watered-down continuation that picks up where the original left off (completely ignoring what took place in the sequels), starring Richard Eden as Alex Murphy, working and serving justice in Old Detroit.
Despite some decent reviews, the live-action series was short-lived and quickly forgotten
The 1994 show only ran for a single season with 23 episodes before it was cancelled due to high production costs and low ratings. As you can imagine, without Verhoeven's vision and Weller in the lead role, the series wasn't necessarily beloved among long-time fans. Given its TV-14 rating, the violence and gore were significantly dialed down to make it fit for television and to potentially capture younger viewers.
Many of the original characters' names have also been changed so they could stay on longer or potentially return in later episodes. Essentially, what made Verhoeven's film so daring and uncompromising was almost entirely omitted (or rather sanitized) here for a much more domesticated version of small screen entertainment. Despite that, a fair number of critics found the series' friendlier charm amusing and fun, even if it inevitably wound up being inferior to the original.
As of this writing, "RoboCop (The Series) holds a 74% critic rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Personally, I love the original way too much to even consider giving this abomination a watch, but if you're a devoted "RoboCop" completist, you might be able to find some value in this one if you look hard enough, I suppose — or just to keep yourself busy with something until the new iteration starring Dan Stevens arrives on Prime Video.