Mr. Terrific

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Mr. Terrific ranks 7,666 out of the 23 shows on TV.com.

The 9 users who count themselves as Mr. Terrific fans have written a total of 1 reviews.

Status

Premiered

Ended

Genre

Theme

"A scientist, both wise and bold,
set out to cure the common cold.
Instead he found this power pill,
which, he said, most certainly will
turn a lamb into a lion.
Like an eagle he'll be flyin'.
Solid steel will be like putty.
It will work on anybody.

... more »

"A scientist, both wise and bold,
set out to cure the common cold.
Instead he found this power pill,
which, he said, most certainly will
turn a lamb into a lion.
Like an eagle he'll be flyin'.
Solid steel will be like putty.
It will work on anybody.

But then 'twas found this potent pill
made the strongest men quite ill,
so the secret search began
to find the one and only man.

What they found made them squeamish,
for only Stanley Beamish,
a weak and droopy daffodil,
could take the special power pill
that sent him soaring through the skies
fighting foes and fighting spies.

When he took the pill specific,
it made him the most prolific...
terrific...
Mr. Terrific!"

New York stage actor Stephen Strimpell starred in this series as Stanley Beamish. Stanley was a below average guy whose unique metabolism made him the only person who could take the power pill that was developed by the Bureau of Secret Projects.

TV's Mr. Terrific was an unusual super hero. He was neither alien, god nor mutant. He was not highly disciplined like Batman. Unlike the comic book Mr. Terrific he was no mental or physical prodigy. He didn't even excel in science like Iron Man, Spider-man or his chief TV competitor Captain Nice.

He was a schnook. Stanley Beamish was everything Clark Kent pretended to be only he wasn't pretending. Mr. Terrific struck a chord with many of the same types of kids who had been beguiled by Superman for decades. When he took his power pill, he was still the same guy, naive and painfully shy around girls, but his great strength did give him a certain level of confidence.

Mr. Terrific may have provided one of the purest forms of wish fulfillment fantasy for insecure adolescents. If only the show had gotten some better scripts to work with it might have become a true classic.less «

• Mr. Terrific on DVD

  It looks like a German company will be releasing Mr. Terrific on DVD, under the German title "Immer, wenn er Pillen nahm," ...more »

  It looks like a German company will be releasing Mr. Terrific on DVD, under the German title "Immer, wenn er Pillen nahm," on July 17,2009. Rumor has it that the episodes will have an English language option. I imagine that these discs will be PAL, so anyone in the U.S. who obtains the set will either need a PAL player or will have to have the discs transferred to NTSC. I also imagine that the set will contain all 17 episodes, but I'm not really sure at this point. The trailer they've released on the Amazon Germany site is built around the opening credits and contains footage from 2 episodes: the first episode "Matchless" and the last episode "The Sultan Has Five Wives." Edit: Latest word is that this release will have all 17 aired episodes and an English language option. The release has, however, been delayed for an as yet undisclosed length of time. Will update when possible. less «

  mrterrific729 Last online 10 hrs, 30 mins ago
  1 comments, last one Apr 22, 2009 + Add Comment

• Mr. Terrific

  I can remember watching this as a small boy Monday nights on WBBM Channel 2-Chicago. It was followed immediately by Captain ...more »

  I can remember watching this as a small boy Monday nights on WBBM Channel 2-Chicago. It was followed immediately by Captain Nice, though on another network. It was campy, and was mainly for kids.This was before demographics became employed when scheduling programs, or it might have lasted longer. What a blast it would be to see it again, for the first time in 40 years, just for the sake of nostalgia.less «

  tvking1 Last online 2 hrs, 19 mins ago
  4 comments, last one Mar 22, 2008 + Add Comment

•  

  9.9 Superb

  In an era of silly television, one silly hero could make shy, insecure kids feel good about themselves. hide « show »

  Growing up in the 1960s, and spending quite a bit of time in front of the TV, I saw some rather peculiar things. I saw a genie, a martian and a talking horse. I saw an adman married to a witch and an eclectic family of monsters with a knockout niece who made me wish I was at least ten years older. (And wish I was a werewolf too, if that's what she was into.) I saw another creepy, kooky family who looked like they belonged in a sideshow. And I saw cousins...identical cousins.
  
  It was the golden age of the wacky television premise, but, to me, it all seemed quite plausible. As far as I was concerned, these were all just rather unusual situations that were probably all going on, in very limited instances, all over the country. These things were apparently only possible in America. No other nation, certainly not Russia, was allowed to be that colorful. (Well, maybe they could have the cousins: two girls with identical babushkas.)
  
  Not surprisingly, before the decade was out, a couple of goofy superheroes made their way onto our TV screens. After the success of ABC's rather campy take on the Batman comic book, NBC created their own nerdy hero: Captain Nice (played by William Daniels). CBS also weighed in with Mr. Terrific, a series that seemed to answer the question that was on no one's lips: What if Gilligan had super powers?
  
  While Captain Nice actually attempted to satirize the superhero genre, portraying the good Captain as a momma's boy who somewhat reluctantly dons a flamboyant costume in order to fight evildoers, Mr. Terrific went the silly route. The main character, Stanley Beamish (played by Stephen Strimpell) was an earnest, well meaning klutz, and therein lies the charm of this show.
  
  Volumes have been written by comic book historians crediting the Clark Kent character, as he was originally conceived by Jerry Siegel, as the means by which insecure, vulnerable fanboys could identify with Superman. But, at that point in Superman's history, the stumbling, geeky Kent was an act. Stanley Beamish was no act. He was the character.
  
  When Stanley took his power pill, his face contorting and changing color in the transformation to Mr. Terrific, he gained incredible power. Nevertheless, he was still the same guy. He did not posture, as Captain Nice often forced himself to do. If Stanley, in his perpetual puberty, was going to be knocking into walls and tables and people, then the world had just better watch out.
  
  That was kind of empowering to a little kid in that era. Grownups were so much bigger and stronger. They were always right. We were always wrong. Stanley was just like us: just trying to get along, trying to do the right thing, being a nice guy.
  
  It was so nice, once a week, to see the nice guy finish first.

  Do you agree?

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  mrterrific729 Added Jun 24, 2005 All my reviews