Our ongoing look back at sci fi / fantasy TV shows that were cancelled way too soon or pilots that never made it to series.

Doctor Strange has become an important character in the Marvel Universe films and a sequel to the 2016 film is currently in the works. But did you know that there as an attempt to launch a TV series based on the character back in the 1970’s? A 1978 movie-of-the-week introduced Prime Time audiences to Marvel’s Doctor Strange (though the honorific is abbreviated to Dr.) as CBS mulled adding that character to their growing superhero line-up which included The Incredible Hulk, Spider-Man, The Amazing Spider-Man, and Wonder Woman at that point. In the movie, the demon Balzaroth seeks to cross-over to Earth and tasks Morgan Le Fay with either defeating Earth’s aging Sorcerer Supreme (something she failed to do five hundred years previous) or killing his successor. Thomas Lindmer is Le Fay’s target, but she fails in her first attempt to eliminate him. Lindmer then seeks out Dr. Stephen Strange and reveals to him that it is his destiny to take up the mantle as the next Sorcerer Supreme. This movie came at a time when superheroes were riding high on television with the three shows mentioned above pulling decent ratings fro CBS and the Bionic shows (Six Million Dollar Man and The Bionic Woman) having had some success on their networks a few years earlier.

The CBS version of Doctor Strange took plenty of liberties with the source material (just like the other comic book adaptations at that time) and the telefilm was ploddingly slow and marred by subpar acting and cheesy special effects. But it could actually be somewhat inventive and stylistic at times–especially with the portrayal of the demon realm–and it showed some definite potential. It went way over budget, though, which likely caused the network executives to hesitate on committing to the property as an ongoing series. Plus, the ratings for its initial airing were not great, though that was in a large part because it ran against a repeat of Roots which pulled much higher viewership than expected. CBS had also decided that they did not want to become labeled the “superhero network”, and all but The Incredible Hulk were gone from the network’s schedule by the end of the 1978-79 season. I recalled watching Dr. Strange when it first aired and really enjoying it. I revisited it a few years ago and while it didn’t hold up to my earlier impressions, I still see where it could have continued into a decent television series. The TV movie finally has received its long-awaited DVD release and I recommend giving it a look as yet another cheesy but fun 70’s take on a popular comic book character. And Hollywood Reporter ran an interesting behind the scenes piece about the movie which you can read at this link.

Aired: CBS, Septebmer 6, 1978

Starring: Peter Hooten, Clyde Kusatsu, Jessica Walter, Ted Cassidy

Developed By: Philip DeGuere

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