Future Cop (1976–1977) User Reviews

officer Haven and his crusty mentor

[versen · 7/10 · 30 December 2006]

I remember watching this show when I was a kid. The android, Haven, behaved as if he regarded Ernest Borgnine as his father, and there was one episode in which he nearly "died."

Somewhat vaguely, I recall that critics at TV guide derided it as a ripoff of the 6 million dollar man at the time, but I didn't see it that way.

I also remember when Star Trek The Next Generation came out in the 80s how I was reminded of Haven, who was written similarly to Data in the latter series: somewhat befuddled by the intangibles of "human culture" and always trying to master them. Borgnine would call Haven "kid" and Haven once asked if it was because he was manufactured so recently. I couldn't remember the name of the show at the time, just "that show about the robot cop" from my childhood.

Maybe the show wasn't successful because it seemed to concentrate on the relationship between Haven and Borgnine more than on the typical cops-n-robbers action themes of a police drama, and people weren't really ready for something like that, a sci-fi show that wasn't set in outer space, so to speak.

Nice old show .. Borgnine was good

[homefrontgale · 6/10 · 6 August 2012]

I remember watching this show too.. I just seem to remember a scene where a stink bomb is set off in the police locker room to divert everyone. every other cop has run outside and is responding badly to their exposure. after he & haven surmise that the bomb was a diversion to distract from something going on inside.. haven offers to go inside and retrieve the device... haven's partner, who has shown no reaction to the fumes looks after him and then takes a bite of the sandwich he was about to eat.. takes a bite and then doubles over retching! don't know what it means.. i just remember that scene among the many others i watched on TV all those years ago. ah.. nonstop TV in prime time in the 1970s.. before i had a color TV.. before we had stereo and then VCRS.. then hi fi.. and then at long last hi-def.. and now my generation of kids is getting' gray!

Prototype to RoboCop

[safenoe · 7/10 · 3 April 2022]

I remember watching at least a couple of episodes of Future Cop (sadly there were only seven episodes). Anyway, Future Cop was kind of the prototype of RoboCop which premiered over a decade later. Ernest Borgnine, a major cinema star, was the lead in this series, and it's certainly no blot on his CV at all.

Ellison involved?

[Gregorso · 1/10 · 26 February 2009]

Oddly, less than a year before this series (an action-drama), there was a short-lived zany comedy series about a cop with a robot partner called "Holmes & Yoyo".

Decades ago, I saw an interview with famous (and often disgruntled) SciFi author Harlan Ellison, in which he said that the "Future Cop" series was ripped off of an idea for a series which he had submitted. Apparently, Ellison's proposed series, called "Big Mac", was about a very scientifically plausible police robot that was more along the lines of R2-D2. Yeah, that seems like quite a stretch from that to "Future Cop", but he won the lawsuit. I've also heard it called the "Brillo" case.

The early future of law enforcement.

[vkb-90315 · 9/10 · 23 December 2020]

Officer Joe Cleaver, for 14 years he's been partnered alongside the man on his left, fellow officer Bill Bundy, they never had any secrets from each other, that is until now. the good looking guy on this right, is a new rookie named Haven, John haven. But here's the secret: Haven looks, sounds, and acts human on the outside. but carefully hidden by the badge and uniform are circuits, relays, and other robotic components, however he's neither robot nor cyborg, he's an Android. Anatomically designed, created and humanly programmed to serve as the perfect cop... Future cop