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Mr Terrific

Entry updated 13 November 2023. Tagged: TV.

US tv series (1967). Universal Television for CBS-TV. Directors included Jack Arnold, Jerry Hopper, Don Weis. Writers included Hal Goldman, David P Harmon, Martin Ragaway. Cast includes Richard Gautier, John McGiver and Stephen Strimpell. Seventeen 30-minute episodes. Colour.

Stanley Beamish (Strimpell) is the physically unimposing owner of a gas station in Washington, District of Columbia, who is recruited to become the reluctant titular Superhero by the Bureau of Special Projects. Beamish becomes Mr Terrific by taking a pill which gives him Superpowers including enhanced strength, and flight, as well as increased courage – but only for one hour at a time. McGiver was his frequently annoyed superior, Director Burton. Very similar to its contemporary superhero spoof Captain Nice (1967), the series failed to tap into the "Batmania" craze created by the Adam West series Batman (1966-1968). Interestingly enough, Mr Terrific and Captain Nice were aired back-to-back though on different networks. It has been speculated that the fact that both heroes had to ingest a kind of Drug to acquire their powers may have made the networks nervous about sticking with the programmes during the counter-culture revolution then taking place in the United States. [GSt]

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