Robocop News!

So far, news of this has been few, and far-between, but the great people at Robocop Central did some great digging and were able to find this information from an unknown source... :

Re-Posted from Robocop Central's MEDIA BREAK:

"
MGM Animation is producing 40 half-hour episodes for weekday syndication, it's biggest foray into the action-adventure field. Story editors for "RoboCop" will be Eric and Julie Lewalk ("X-MEN," "Gargoyles"). The series will be set in a future Detroit and has a mysterious, top-level government organization, who brings RoboCop out of storage to combat crime once again. Producer Robert Winthrop said RoboCop will get a slightly updated look. "He's like a Swiss Army Knife," Winthrop said. "Instead of pulling a gun out of a holster, he'll have a variety of weapons at his disposal."

Larry Houston is at it again. Houston, the producer behind the " X-MEN " and "FANTASTIC FOUR" animated series, is producing " ROBOCOP ALPHA COMMANDO," an all-new animated series. Forty episodes are being created by MGM Animation for daily syndication beginning this fall. Oddly enough, this is Houston's second goround with the character. He was a storyboard artist for Marvel's syndicated "ROBOCOP" series in the late 1980's.

"It's been fun working on him again and seeing what I could do to update the character," he said "I got the chance to redesign him. He's much more superheroic in proportion, broad-shouldered and with a tapered waist, more like a Joe Madureia character. We've also simplified him in terms of line drawing,so we can get the maximum out of the animation."

The show opens with a three part episode, setting up all the new dynamics "The politicians had gotten Robocop shut down for about three to five years," Houston said."But a new organization, Alpha ( which is similar to Marvel's S.H.I.E.L.D.), is successful in getting him reactivated."

Robocop will once again work for the Detroit Police Dept., but he's also working for Alpha, which will take him out of the city and into such diverse locales as Alaska and the swamps of Louisiana. Causing problems for our "Man of Steel" is the main villian Rexor. He's a member of DARC, a rival organization to Alpha, striving to create chaos throughout the world.

No need to worry, though. Robo's got plenty of friends to help him out. There's Neumeier, a 20-year-old computer whiz, who reactivates Robo and provides him with new gadgets, and Sgt. Reed, a Detroit precinct cop.

And of course, every beast has his beauty. In this case Robo will be aided by Agent Miner, an Asian-American female. "She can hold her own in a firefight," Houston said " But we've also added a human angle; she's a single mom."

RoboCop, the animated series starts Rae Dawn Chong as RoboCop's new partner - she is great, and is also the daughter of Tommy Chong -of Cheech and Chong movies.
"

Thanks again Robocop Central!

And now we have some great news for all of us out there desparately wondering if this would TRULY happen... IT HAS!

The information is quite confirmed, and has been pulled together through the help of quite a few people... Just a note, since I tend to write alot to and from people, I've cut what follows down to the bare necessities...

Thor292@aol.com wrote me very early on...:

"
Since you are a RoboCop fanatic, I think i should inform you that RoboCop is getting an animated series called "RoboCop: Alpha Command[o]" as well as an action figure line to go with it. I think the series will be on Kid's WB, the same network which has "The New Batman/Superman Adventures" and "Men In Black: The Series". Just thought you'd be interested.
"

Indeed I was! And the search continued, as I went searching for ideas... I had MANY thoughtful people out there e-mailing me alerting me of this, and I really can't thank you enough!

Right now it appears as though the series will be appearing on either FOX, WB, or ABC, the later due to some combined searching of Gorath and I, we obtained the following, Though each article seems to report it differently... :

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Yahoo.com search gave an article with a heading "MGM signs deal with ABC for. . . While not mentioned in the heading, and the article no longer being on the server, if the string RoboCop Alpha Commando caused it to be displayed, there has to be good reason. I guess we had better look at ABC.
"

Later I got a VERY informative message from Nick Schueren concerning some finer points of the upcoming-plot...:

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Well once I heard that I thought you might like to know about a new syndicated Robocop animated series starting this fall. It will be titled " Robocop: Alpha Commando ". I believe that the plot goes something like this: Robocop does his job and cleans up the streets of Detriot. Since there is no more crime there is no need for Robocop. So he is shut down for 5 years until a terrorist group called DARC causes some problems for humanity. A police group called the Alpha Commandos reactivates Robocop and side with him to fight DARC. Robocop will be teamed with a couple other main characters: Neumeier, a computer whiz; Sgt Reed, Detriot PD precinct cop; and Agent Miner, and Aisan-American Detective.
"

And with a tally of numerous phone-calls, the station upon which the series will air is still uncertain, though the air-date apparenetly is... (don't ask me how they did that! Too many contracts involved for me to imagine!). The fateful date of premiere is September 21, 1998, when Robocop fan's everywhere will join in watching and seeing if this new re-incarnation lives up to it's predecessors... Because we all have to wonder that if's it's toned-down for kids, will all that Robocop stood for still be there? We can only hope...

Amid this aura of wonder, I happened upon an except about it in this month's issue of Toy Fare magazine, the one with Kiss on the cover, which previewed the accompaning line of merchandise coming out with this series! |-) Even a contest!

And my ever-helpful friend, and eye in other parts of the world, Gorath, has confirmed these hopeful thoughts, and is the first person yet to contact me about actually FINDING these toys! Here's what she had to say!:

"
About the Alphas: About five + inches tall. 12+ points articulation, including a moveable head, which not only turns, but looks up and down. I picked up the red hazard control one. Police siren sound when you press button (I laughed my head off) Overall, it looks like someone who did the art for the X-Factor comic book around the X-cutioner's song storyline did the animation. (As seen on the back panel.) It's big enough to give the X-Men a run for their money.

"I like it."

I picked it up at a place called Toy Works. Kay Bee and Toys R Us do not have them in yet, but I assume that they have them in the warehouse if they shipped them simultaneously. The boxes were not even on the shelf long enough to develop many dings. I purposefully picked one that had box damage so I would avoid opening one MIP.
"

If anyone else out there has more information about the series, actions figures (maybe you've found another one besides the above and can help others out there find it!), PLEASE e-mail me, so that we can help one another.

We can only hope that with the premiere of Robocop: Alpha Commando and the return of Robocop: The Series to The Sci-Fi Channel ( which if you haven't read about it and it's new time I firmly recommend reading about it at The Regal Tigress's Robocop: The Series Episode Guide ) That our friends at ORION/MGM's Studios might be a bit more willing to give the thought of Robocop 4 a try, so please, if you can, take a few minutes to contact them one, or more, of the following ways that the people at Robocop Central have told us:

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Okay then we have just got word of another RoboCop movie. The Orion Pictures Studios have told RoboCop Central that they have agreed to think about making another RoboCop film, if they get enough people, who can talk them into it. And so they have given us these way's to contact them:

Address:
Orion Home Video
1888 Century Park E.
Los Angeles, CA 90067

Phone: (310) 282-0550

E-Mail: vsavant@mgm.com

So start contacting them and start making Robo's name mean something again!!!
"

You can even visit ORION/MGM's site and go through them that way. But whatever the way, keep you hopes high people/cyborgs, etc., and let's work together to bring him back, or else just get him back on-line, and better than ever!

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