Misfits of Science

Before there was Heroes.^[1]

Misfits of Science is a short-lived American superhero fantasy television series that aired on NBC Fridays at 8 P.M. EST (against CBS's Top 10 hit Dallas) from October 1985 to February 1986. It featured a cast of super-powered humans who work for Humanidyne Institute and their madcap adventures. Sort of like The A-Team meets the X-Men. An episode was written by Tim Kring, later the creator of the NBC show Heroes. A double-length pilot and 15 additional episodes were created; all episodes but one were broadcast in the United States during its original run. In France, the series was known as Superminds. In Germany where it was known as Die Spezialisten Unterwegs (The Specialists on Their Way). The Mexican Spanish dub called the series Los científicos rebeldes (The rebel scientists).

The pilot can be seen here.

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Tropes used in Misfits of Science include:

• The Alleged Car - The ice cream truck the team rides in.
• Badass Normal - Dr. Billy Hayes
• The Big Guy - Dr. Elvin "El" Lincoln
• Black Best Friend - Dr. Elvin "El" Lincoln
• Calling Your Attacks - Johnny B
• The Chick - Gloria Dinallo
• Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: The Ice Man, who played a major role in the pilot, simply vanished from the cast. Amusingly, the ice cream truck they needed to transport him remained the team vehicle for the remainder of the series.
• The Eighties
• Elemental Powers - Johnny B
• The Hero - Dr. Billy Hayes
• Human Popsicle
• I Just Want to Be Normal - Elvin took hormonal treatments to make himself normal-sized but ended up with shrinking powers. Also Johnny B.
• An Ice Person - The Ice Man.
• The Lancer
• Lightning Can Do Anything - Johnny B
• Mind Over Matter - Gloria's power
• Missing Episode - The last episode in the US airing.
• Naked People Are Funny - Elvin's size-changing occasionally leads to this, as he didn't invent Magic Pants to go along with his ability and must redress himself in dolls' clothing.
• Noodle Incident - Plenty of references to other superpowered people are thrown in for laughs.
• Not Wearing Tights
• Psychic Powers - Gloria
• Shock and Awe - Johnny B
• The Smart Guy - Dr. Elvin "El" Lincoln
• Stereotype Flip - Elvin wants to be normal-sized because (among other reasons) he can't play basketball, and he's sick of people assuming he can and does it well because he's a seven-foot-tall black man.
• Superhero
• Super-Hero Origin

1. ↑ The creator of Heroes got his first writing job on Misfits of Science, in fact.