The TV series of Robocop is a very strange creature to review. On the surface, it does everything wrong. It's campy, the acting from the villains leaves a lot to be desired, and the violence has been watered down to a family-friendly level. Simply put, it shouldn't work...
But...
This has become one of my favourite TV series, that I return to once every couple of years. Why, you ask? The character. Robocop/Murphy's soul is captured in each episode. Richard Eden manages to imbue Murphy with the same sense of character that Peter Weller did in the original, despite the armour and helmet. There is a melancholy and a philosophical edge to the him, that rises above the over-the-top villains and occasional silliness.
On top of that, the series does an excellent job of continuing the satire of the original, from the Media-Break moments, to the corporate greed. Even the plotlines are rather good, poking fun at consumerism and corporate corruption. They may sometimes feel ridiculous due to the cartoon villains, but when you imagine the same stories played in a serious way, they could be quite smart and cutting.
The series also adds an excellent but sadly underused element, which is NeuroBrain, otherwise known as Diana (Andrea Roth). Her addition as a character who has undergone a similar fate to Murphy, and become a 'ghost in the machine', adds a superb twist that could have have gone so much farther. It also helps that Andrea Roth could be quite ethereal in the role.
Yvette Nipar becomes the replacement for Nancy Allen, as Robocop's partner, and does a good job of playing it straight and serious, as does Blu Mankuma as the replacement for Robert DoQui, the precinct Sergeant. Even Sarah Campbell as 'Gadget', the Sergeant's adoptive daughter, makes for an enjoyable contrast of young innocence to Murphy's tragic hero.
Then we have episodes dealing with Murphy's family, including his wife and son, and ultimately even his father, for some touching moments.
Apart from the obvious issues, I do wish that they had allowed Richard Eden to gradually loosen up in the role. All too often he is _too_ robotic, particularly in personal scenes where they should have allowed his humanity to come through a little more.
Ultimately, it's a shame the series didn't get a chance to grow. With the introduction of a side character entering cyberspace, and meeting Diana, the possibility of Murphy having another life as 'himself' in cyberspace, with Diana, was clearly an option. It would have opened up a new world of story possibilities, from allowing the actor to escape the 'suit' and be more human, to the dilemmas of juggling his real life as Robocop, when he could become addicted to spending all of his time with Diana.
Oddly enough, I do wonder if being forced to make it family-friendly was one of the things that encouraged the writers to make more of the emotional aspects of Robocop. I think people often miss the core of the character, when they only want more action and gunfire. When written well, it can have both, but it's easy to forget the substance amongst the action.
If it was ever remade, they could recycle much of Robocop the Series and, for the most part, they would only need to de-camp the villains. The stories, characters and emotions are all there. Where it shines is in its heart and soul, if you allow yourself to scratch below the de-fanged surface.
