Supertrain was a Syndication network adventure\drama series created by Donald E. Westlake & Earl W. Wallace.
The show aired from February 7 to May 5, 1979, lasting for one season & 9 episodes. It was produced by Dan Curtis Productions.
Plot[]
The series centered on the adventures of the Supertrain, a nuclear powered bullet train and its passengers.
Cast[]
- Edward Andrews as Harry Flood
- Nita Talbot as Rose Casey
- Harrison Page as George Boone
- Robert Alda as Dr. Dan Lewis
- Patrick Collins as Dave Noonan
- Charlie Brill as Robert
Production[]
At the time, "Supertrain" was the most expensive series ever aired in the United States. The production was beset by problems including a model train that crashed. Syndication paid $10 million for a total of three sets of trains, all different sizes.
While the series was heavily advertised during the 1978-1979 season, it received poor reviews and low ratings.
The two-hour series premiere was out-rated by a two-hour special of "Charlie's Angels" and received a 21.8 rating and 32 share, ranking it 17th for the week
Despite attempts to salvage the show by reworking the cast, it went off air after only three months.
Syndication (which had produced the show itself) with help from "Dark Shadows" producer Dan Curtis) was unable to recoup its losses. Combined with the U.S. boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics the following season (which cost Syndication millions in ad revenue), the series nearly bankrupted the network.
Because of these reasons, "Supertrain" has been called one of the greatest television flops. The show finished 69th out of 114 shows during the 1978-79 season, with an average 15.7 rating and 25 share.
Before the show aired in the United States, Syndication sold it directly to BBC, the first foreign web to pick up the series. "For two runs, BBC reportedly coughed up more than $25,000 per hour seg, which if not a record series price in this market is close to it."
BBC was planning to air the show in the fall of 1979, after the series premiered in the United States in February.
By selling the show to international markets, NBC hoped to offset its own development costs; however, after the failure of the series in the United States, BBC never aired the show.
Reception[]
In the May 19, 1979 edition of TV Guide, "Supertrain" received criticism from Robert MacKenzie, who compared the futuristic train to his traditional ideas of a Pullman locomotive and describes the environment as "bigger, gaudier, and noisier, including the passengers."
Mackenzie goes on further to describe the amenities of the train and the "marvel, cinematically" of the set design and train itself. His flaw with the show was its reliance on the extravagant train to wow the audience, and the lack of character depth or entertaining plot.
He wrote, "When the early ratings proved disappointing, Syndication took the series off the air for emergency surgery. The 'All New Supertrain' appeared April 14 looking remarkably like the old Supertrain", which shows Syndication's attempts to fix the show's flaws mid-season."
He summarizes his opinion on the newly changed episodes by stating, "This tale d-r-a-g-g-e-d even more than previous episodes despite the attempt to glamorize it with models in bikinis and Peter Lawford playing his usual shopworn sophisticate."
The show was critiqued by the Telefilm Review in the February 9, 1979 edition of Variety Magazine.
The article begins with the statement, "Syndication's highly-promoted new 'Supertrain' series features a slick new train of tomorrow, with a script from yesterday...it seeks to overwhelm, but underwhelms instead."
By emphasizing the train as the main character, the character plots and stories of each episode seem like more of a second thought. Telefilm predicted the show's failure in their review, "Without better scripts, the train's trek may well end in 13 weeks. More emphasis on characters, less on the train, is in order."
"Supertrain" lasted just over 12 weeks and the choices of the producer, Dan Curtis, were harshly criticized, saying he was "neglecting characterizations for the sake of camera angles, and his contribution is a sorrowful one."
In 2002, TV Guide ranked "Supertrain" at #28 on its "50 Worst TV Shows of All Time" list.