Starman was one of my favorite tv shows of the mid 1980's. The story takes place about 14 years after the movie of the same name that starred Jeff Bridges. Young teenager, Scott Hayden, is confronted by the father he never knew (Robert Hays) who also happens to be an alien (space). Obviously freaked out by this news, it takes awhile for Scott to accept his alien father and the fact that he is part alien himself. I remember it was touching to watch their relationship develop as the two learn to trust and care about each other, and amusing to see the father learn about humans.
The series premise was that the pair traveled while looking for Scott's mom (Karen Allen in the movie, Erin Gray in the tv show), and along the way they help people in need of help, while outrunning a government agent who suspects they are aliens and has menacing plans for them. Yes, tv has shown us this on-the-run format before - The Incredible Hulk, The Fugutive - but I liked the inclusion of the father/son relationship in that format, it adds an element unseen in those other shows.
I became a big fan of Christopher Daniel Barnes in the role of Scott, and the fact that he is my age of course helped. Robert Hays is more well known for the Airplane! movies, but he does an effective job here as the gentle, caring alien.
I would love to have this show available on DVD, I would buy it ASAP!
