View Full Version : The Failure Of The Highwayman: CHAOS, Fights, And BACKLASH


TMC
06-10-2026, 06:40 PM
BcjqltTXrwU

Our latest episode looks at The Highwayman (https://web.archive.org/web/20061031125301/http://www.jumptheshark.com/h/highwayman.htm), the short-lived 80s (https://www.reddit.com/r/80s/comments/w6kqb6/shortlived_tv_ripoff_of_mad_max_called_the/) action series that mixed Knight Rider (https://web.archive.org/web/20140330081353/http://forums.televisionwithoutpity.com/topic/3178918-knight-rider-original-series/?view=getnewpost)-style technology with the rough road world of Mad Max.

Created by Glen A. Larson and Douglas Heyes, the show followed a futuristic federal lawman using a massive truck with a helicopter hidden inside the cab. Sam J. Jones led the cast, while Mark Jackson, Jane Badler, and Tim Russ joined when NBC brought it back as a weekly series.

This episode offers a detailed The Highwayman (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Highwayman_(TV_series)) TV show analysis, exploring The Highwayman television history and The Highwayman behind the scenes stories.

The series arrived with a strong idea and a major name behind it, but poor ratings and high production costs quickly worked against it. NBC cancelled The Highwayman (https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwjA6_Gt3v2UAxUVHzQIHRCgPVQQFnoECDcQAQ&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cancelledscifi.com%2F2024%2F02%2F10%2Fsci-fi-tv-obscurities-the-highwayman-1987%2F&usg=AOvVaw3XghQWexvTI8cPbHkJPiuU&opi=89978449) after only 9 regular episodes (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094479/episodes/), leaving behind an unaired spin-off idea, abandoned toy prototypes, and 2 surviving trucks with very different lives.

If you remember The Highwayman (https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwjA6_Gt3v2UAxUVHzQIHRCgPVQQFnoECFMQAQ&url=https%3A%2F%2Ftheactionelite.com%2Frevisiting-the-highwayman-1987-tv-series%2F&usg=AOvVaw0ZgluWhy-HhCkv4AMQq0WO&opi=89978449), enjoy forgotten (https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwjA6_Gt3v2UAxUVHzQIHRCgPVQQFnoECFsQAQ&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.reddit.com%2Fr%2FForgottenTV%2Fcomments%2F1du474m%2Fthe_highwayman_19871988%2F&usg=AOvVaw30-9v-lIfrMaw_XbxOV8gg&opi=89978449) 80s action shows (https://www.reddit.com/r/ForgottenTV/comments/1hkfj80/the_highwayman_19871988/), or grew up watching Knight Rider, Airwolf, and Street Hawk, this episode looks back at the ambition, controversy, cancellation, and legacy of one of NBC’s strangest action failures.