Supertrain Opening Credits

[collegeman1988]

NBC should end its network programming trainwreck of a schedule by bringing back Supertrain and Pink Lady and Jeff. We would never have to worry about this crappy network anymore.

[libertatus]

'The Love Boat' + passenger train = Supertrain

[ZILOGz80VIDEOS]

COMMODORE PET!

[Encom7]

The "Heaven's Gate" of television.

[JonesChaplin91203]

This show was awesome! DVD please!!!

[scanline]

lol you knew the series was dead from the start when you saw disco dancing on a supertrain in 1979

[LordChristan1]

The big guys name was Nuckols?...Thats like a black guy named Chicken

[flyguy773]

WOW, I can just imagine the size of the rails the NBC execs were snorting when they came up with this one!

[bobservo]

it's the soul train!

[chthonic19]

Everybody in the opening credits looks depressed. And then the train darts into a dark tunnel to oblivion.

[ImmortalYawn]

wanna watch the heck outta this show

[deadlypie]

this music is geting me all pumped up about this fuckin train

[PolskaRezystans]

Hey, could you please post the 2nd Supertrain theme? That one is my favorite of the 3.

[ProjectFlashlight612]

The most expensive TV show ever made to that point. And Galactica 1980 ran for longer. That says it all.

[DarthCipient]

This is one seriously funky tune. Someone please remix it.

[ewaf88]

@DCFilmsStudio Well more like Love boat off the rails. I actually remember the pilot film being shown in the UK. It was described as slick entertainment.

[davife]

Disco. :D

[chasebizzy]

Donald Westlake??????????????????????­?

[blyadko]

Very strange show. To one side like a drama, to another - "fuck what?"

[niriop]

Sounds like the theme song to Porno Holocaust

[mrceleb2006]

We know Dan Curtis ("Supertrain"'s executive producer) was also responsible for "Dark Shadows".

The closing logo for this series was either "A Dan Curtis Production in association with NBC" or "A Dan Curtis Production in association with Universal". Does anyone have a clip of the full ending credits of an episode of "Supertrain"?

[mrceleb2006]

@mrceleb2006 Actually, imstillstuckinthe80s has many clips of the "Supertrain" series, and I found out it was, indeed, "A Dan Curtis Production in association with NBC".

[joecassara]

Love the Commodore PET/CBM at :36-:38.

[JohnM3D]

I loved this show as a kid and now, so many years later, still think it had a lot of potential...

This is 70s classic stuff...

[yournotjohn]

Super cool!!

[tsliao]

This is so so stupid. Who was the Idiot that green-lighted this thing? First problem they would have ran into at the meetings to pitch this concept would have been, how many original scripts could you write based on this concept?

[cntower01]

@tsliao That would have been Fred Silverman. Fred left ABC to make NBC the #1 network. Supertrain and the boycott of the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games, which NBC was to broadcast to the USA, almost destroyed NBC.

[Mysterwright]

@cntower01 Jinkies.

[njg12345678]

There is no way that a super high speed train could take sharp turns...the dancers in the disco would get squashed onto the inside windows of the train.

[robfergusonjr]

@njg12345678 Sure it can, the train slows down on curves.

[smosh91]

this really does look like the worst show ever made. I don't remember watching it...but i think i remember it was on Friday nights.

[robfergusonjr]

@smosh91 No, its not the worst show ever made, Jerry Springer is.

[BufordStone]

Who was the star? Alan Alda's Dad was the only one I've heard of.

[Tubewings]

@BufordStone I guess you could say Edward Andrews was the show's star, since he played the Supertrain's conductor.

[kbbcoop]

this was NBCs answer to ABC's The Love Boat...It didnt really work out too well, LOL.

[carchavtube]

I recall TV Guide ranked this #28 in their "50 Worst Shows of All Time" issue in 2002.

[BaileySEA]

I remember all the hype about this show. I watched the pilot, what a stinker this was.

Fred Silverman tried to bring NBC out of the ratings doldrums and make the network No.1 like he did at ABC, but he failed disastrously. Some of the shows created under his supervision were ok, like Mrs. Columbo etc. What a shame, this show had great promise, but never delivered.

[carchavtube]

@BaileySEA

Do you know who greenlit this?

Brandon Tartikoff. He had an impressiveTV resume.

[Akira625]

I must've been 4 years old when this show aired, I never even heard of it until the 90's. From what I've heard about it, I didn't miss anything.

[saskabush2006]

If you'd never heard of this show before, it would be easy to think this was a joke! Wow. The train looked cool. Everything else was painful!

[kromagon]

I remember seeing the pilot for this cynical attempt at a cultural Chernobyl. I'll never forget that they saved the train by flooding a compartment. How did they do it? OVERLOADING THE SODA FOUNTAINS. That's right- spilling massive amounts of Fanta as an emergency procedure . . .

[cntower01]

@kromagon BTW, Supertrain stole that bit from the film The Big Bus.

[ftsjr]

This was NBC's feeble attempt to copy the Love Boat. I wasn't a fan of the Love Boat, but this show was really bad. Harrison Page was Supertrain's version of Isaac the bartender (on LB). Edward Andrews was a very well known (and talented) character actor. Thanks for the memory.

[donjabroni]

Yet another example of not everything in the past was good.

[bbo40]

@donjabroni could not have said it better myself

[DarthCipient]

@donjabroni Hey, show some respect. It's a train.....that is SUPER.

[catfacecathead]

You know a show is lousy when you can't even get through the credits.

[briancalibergbmd]

Harrison Page!!! Capt. Trunk from "Sledge Hammer"!!!!

[pexw]

While Love Boat is an obvious template for this tremendously bad concept, it's actually based on the nearly-as-bad movie "The Big Bus." More of a Love Boat/Big Bus hybrid, on rails. And Silverman actually green-lighted that pitch!

[MONDARIZDK]

YAY! Commodore PET @ 0:36!

[Dodgerfn5]

What was this show about? The only thing I know about it is that a portion of the theme sounds like the theme from the classic game show "Chain Reaction."

[flipitgood2]

It's Love Boat minus stars, romance, and oceans

[donjabroni]

and a decent plot, though Love Boat didn't have that either. It made it up with charm.

[Akira625]

Supertrain looks like something that should be crewed with Cylons form Battlestar Galactica.

[josephebacon]

Truly the worst TV show of all time. The only redeeming value this turkey had was that it forced Fred Silverman out at NBC.

[theSuperMetroid]

@josephebacon What about Turn-On, Cop Rock and My Mother, the Car?

[Kreaden]

This show had Alan Alda's father Robert Alda.

[hawklanzs]

Wow the music reminds me of some 70s porno film

[sideslide23]

well we got the Desert Xpress, CAHSR, and a propose southeast corridor, but when will they put in this super train going from New York to L.A.?

[bradhig]

I would take this over any of the annoying reality shows any day.

[puppetboyshow]

@bradhig Right on!

[cooksontrains]

Worst show EVER!!I remember watching the movie.A VERY ,VERY bad love boat ripp off.

[themurph2000]

I think Donald Westlake and Earl Wallace did a 5 year stretch at Chino for making this show. I will NEVER complain about bad TV in this day an age ever again.

[marekerhardt]

Loved it. We need junk like this to lighten us up!!

[mpeg2tom]

Note the Commodore PET at 0:37

[XMRaige]

A college friend of mine who works with NBC/Universal now tells me the episodes don't even exist in NBC's library anymore. So no hope for a DVD release.

[piinus]

Type 'Supertrain: Express to Terror' ( episode 1) I think someone has it. All nine episode.

So, there is hope.

[theSuperMetroid]

@XMRaige Have they ever been copied? Do they exist in any form, in any medium anywhere? Or are they just gone forever? If they are, that's really sad, even if this show was terrible

[XMRaige]

@theSuperMetroid I doubt it. As much money as NBC lost on the show, the execs probably used the footage as heater fuel that winter. :-P

[lastdragon55]

@XMRaige Gee....I Wonder why?

[royspeedyharper]

Is this what Obama is planning?

[piinus]

Planning a remake! XDXDXD

[Neville6000]

No, he's planning a standard bullet train like the Acelo, only as fast as the Bullet Train and the TGV.

[mufy55]

J'adore cette vidéo ça me fais pensé à Martial mon amant mon ami à toujours....

<3

[eclecticdoc]

Harrison Page at least went on to a better show in SLEDGE HAMMER!

[mst3kanita]

Patrick Collins looks disgusted with something.

[someguy23475]

Edward Andrews character is yelling at him once Collins walks in, if memory serves. It's in the pilot movie somewhere.

[floooky1]

I'm glad someone said it looks too small. The entire last car is a disco, observation deck, and swimming pool, plus it has a gift shop, salon, weight room and sauna, communication room, dining car, laundry, infirmary, parlor with room for a runway and fashion show, offices, quarters for a HUGE staff, plus the compartments were spacious and have multiple rooms and a walk in closet. And the fare was supposed to be $450 LOL.

[scotpens]

That's called "TARDIS geometry" (for Dr. Who fans) or "Irwin Allen space" (for fans of Lost in Space, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, etc.). A good rule of thumb is that fictitious vehicles are always at least twice as big on the inside as they are on the outside.

[7Lscjracer]

Supposed to have a swimming pool and a shopping mall onboard, and it's that short? I guess that's because it cost too much already to build the model the length it was, and it crashed once in spite of being a short train anyway.

[floooky1]

Maybe that's how the one-level engine could somehow have a basement, it just looks smaller outside, sort of like the saucer from Lost in Space.

[heyeveryoneimcool]

Oh my god.

[DerKosmonaut1972]

I liked 1979 personally even though I was only 7. Not everything that NBC released in 1979 was crap though Supertrain certainly was. NBC aired the original Salem's Lot which is not only one of the scariest and best vampire films ever made, but one of the best mini-series ever to come out of the US.

[DerKosmonaut1972]

When I was 7 years old I liked this show but then again I was only 7. However, one must take into account the context. The disco music and theme came off the heels of "Trans Europe Express" by Karftwerk which in 1977 was a Disco hit. (Yes Kraftwerk were considered Disco in the US in the 1970s). I think that I watched every episode of which was maybe 3 in total. What annoyed me most was the boring episode plot lines.

[Eric2221]

HAHAHA...i remember being like 8 years old and thinking "whoever is responsible for this crap should be shot"

[9george1978]

I love the theam song!

[Classicguy66]

I use to watch it. I love it back then.

[xistntial]

1979 was a scary disco time. This show used to scare me, and I was 11 years old.

[ACLTony]

Originally the train was supposed to run over two standard gauge tracks. Yep, these were the days before crack, Islamic terrorism threats, political correctness. A much simpler time that I certainly miss. :)

[plymouthbelvedere]

Ah, the cream of the schlock. 1979 was such a gross, tacky year. I remember this show well.

The Supertrain appears to have four reactors onboard. An aircraft carrier only needs two reactors. Wouldn't it make more sense to build the reactors someplace and just send the electricity to the train via wires?

[piinus]

Well, you know how it is when the writers wants to push the envelope of this concept. Doggone cheeseness I should say. lol...

[scotpens]

Well, that's how the French and the Japanese and a bunch of other countries do it -- and they've got some pretty goddamn fast trains!

[godgundam10]

Ah, the show that nearly destroyed NBC. Although they're in fourth place today, unlike 1980, they're not on the verge of bankruptcy. NBC produced the show themselves and was never able to make up the deficit. Combined the US boycott of the 1980 Olympics, the Peacock almost ended up stuffed and roasted.

[TheLastBrainLeft]

Thank goodness for Bill Cosby, Ted Danson and Nell Carter.

[donjabroni]

And don't forget Gary Coleman!

[Mikakk2]

I barely remember this show.. wasnt it a total bomb though? Didnt even finish a full season.

Cant believe it was only 1979.. thought it was a bit older than that.

[oilerblueline]

It's amazing to think the infrastructure that would have been required for this train to really exist. Separate tracks, widened bridges, widened tunnels.

[JonathanDParshall]

Groovy!

[kevin0070]

Nice beat.

[tvengr4047]

I was surprised to see Captain Trunk in the credits. He was great in Sledge Hammer!

[IronChefSpam]

I used to love this show, but like the other shows trying to be like Love Boat but different, it was doomed to failure.

[thunderbay63]

I can't under why this series wasn't a success.

:)

[iHeartHaremAnime]

Lousy story writing for one thing. Plus the show was never really finished when it went on the air. If you want mor info go to the supertrain website.

[ASKconard]

Anyone know whatever happened to Aarika Wells, the woman in the gym?

[TheLastBrainLeft]

Her last acting job was in 1990. imbd is your friend.

[34airflow]

The train looked like a DeLorean on railroad tracks. :-)

[scotpens]

I always thought it looked like a stretched-out Star Trek shuttlecraft, minus the engine nacelles.

[ASKconard]

Who the hell were these actors? Apparently, Dick Van Dyke and Zsa Zsa Gabor were in one episode, making the usual token rounds. But I don't recognize any of the regular cast.

[ghostmachine71]

Charlie Brill = the Klingon posing as a human in "The Trouble With Tribbles" episode of Star Trek (and its sequel on DS9) and the police captain on Silk Stalkings.

Harrison Page = the police captain on Sledge Hammer and I believe he was in the Van Damme movie "Lionheart".

Robert Alda = Alan Alda's father and was on an episode or two of MASH.

Patrick Collins is still around and does commercials mostly, if I remember right.

The rest? Who knows....or cares.

[someguy23475]

Edward Andrews was in Gremlins, and was a character actor in various TV shows. Brill was a comedic actor, Alda was a movie star eons ago. I think Nita Talbot still acts in minor rolls. Couldn't tell ya about Wells, Nuckols or DeLano.

[vajyna]

SHIIIT!!! i haven't seen this show in eons when I was a kid. I remember this train has literally everything,speeding at the maximum god knows what. But its all about the train,baby. Its all about the train.

[ASKconard]

Don't forget "Sheriff Lobo" on the list of NBC shows at the time. LOL.

[ottoskidoo]

I remember this well when NBC had a disastrous run of shows. This being one of the worst. And PINK LADY AND JEFF...

[OrangeSFO]

People actually got PAID to come with this shit

[pebekafeen27]

i remembered this short live tv show had two comebacks. it just didn't have great writers at all. it was cool though. there was a movie with a double decker train as well that was cool around the same time as cannonball run i think!

[scotpens]

I don't recall any feature film from the '70s that had a double-decker train. The 1976 disaster-movie spoof "The Big Bus" did have an articulated, double-decked bus -- which was supposedly atomic powered!

[Neville6000]

It WAS atomic powered, and in the movie, a meltdown almost happens, requiring the crew to put on special rad suits.

[irish89055]

a lot of junk came out of the 70's.. in all areas, politics,fashion..late 70's tv was a junkyard for the most part..no pun intended Fred Sanford.. but to Fred Silverman Didn't that Collins guy make a ton of commmercials?

[openmind1969]

Anyone notice the Supertrain ran on a wider guage track than standard trains? At least it looks wider in the screen shots.

[ebob1967]

That's because it did run on a very broad gauge. Some advertising depicted the train running on two sets of tracks, though. It was a fun show, but such a mode of transportation would be extremely impractical in reality.

[scotpens]

Judging by the filming miniatures, it looked like the Supertrain cars were supposed to be at least 20 feet wide -- about the same as the cabin width of a 747. They had to be big enough for a disco dance floor! A small one, anyway.

[piinus]

What, Amtrak's Acela is not enough? XD

[Neville6000]

Well, its not as fast as the TGV (France) or the Bullet Train (Japan) or any of the other high speed trains that can get you to a city in three hours instead of, say, five or six on a normal train. Despite that, at least America HAS a high-speed train; Canada, where the Acelo was built, has NONE.

[piinus]

WHHAAAAAAAT?! Acelo is Canadian-built?! It's no wonder the design look sleek. America never had a high-speed train before until now. Thanks for the info. Though how come Canada don't have a high speed train of there own?

[Neville6000]

Stupid moronic politicians like Mulroney The Moron and Harper The Hapless are the reason why Canada doesn't have a train like the Acelo running through the Montreal-Vancouver corridor.

[piinus]

Then find a video called ' canada should have a bullet train too. ' If there isn't one, then dude, you should be the first to video of yourself of saying ' i'm making a video petition of everyone to rate my video, of saying that Canada should have their own bullet train. ' that wouldn't kill anybody to rate your video just to agree to your choice right? Tell me I'm wrong?

[cooksontrains]

HAHAHA!!GREAT answer.

[cooksontrains]

Give it two and a half years.Go take a look.Its being built now.

[Modeltrainguy]

Hey,Tonycook1966! Great Flashback! 1,000 Thank you's!

I LOVED watching this show 'because' of the train. I wonder where the model is now?? O__o

In a Museum I hope. Todays and tomorrows Generations of trainbuffs should see this!

Also, I posted some links in my Blog on MySpace.

[USAGiant]

Hey without Bill Cosby and former NBC boss Brandon Tarknoff(pardon speeling of his last name) NBC might have gone the way of Dumont and recently the "WB" and "UPN" stations, in TV network here.

Although train and theme music was great, this was one of worst shows in TV shows. A rip off of "Love Boat.' What you watch? Sailing in beautiful places around the world or a train that looks like "Enterprise?' lol

[USAGiant]

woops i mean tv heaven of dead US based TV networks lol.

[chabba77]

Definitely a ripoff of Love Boat. Just shows how desperate NBC was at the time. NBC meant "Nothing But Crap", and the peacock was a turkey.

[piinus]

How could this be a rip-off if Supertrain started in 1979 and Love Boat started in 1982?

[WildmanWoodie]

Love Boat started in Fall, 1977.

[RobinMetrocolor]

I've heard this show was a trainwreck (Pun intended).

[SuperCruiser72]

Yeah, same here.

[blackout010]

It was. 9 episodes. 9 EXPENSIVE episodes. Nearly bankrupted NBC, if my information is correct. One of the biggest flops in TV history.

[theSuperMetroid]

@blackout010 It was a huge flop, but there have been TV shows which have been cancelled faster.

[MoonbaseEagle]

Supertrain was kind of a fun show, but not very memorable (except for the Train) and the theme!

[slapmyadsense]

i remember this! I always got the "I love YOu Superman" confused with the supertrain theme song.

[JohnM3D]

Finally... I love this opening... I was planning to post the opening but I'm glad you already did. Thanks Tony!

[adelgado75]

Was that Dan Curtis'name in the credits? The same one who created DARK SHADOWS?

[derekmimi]

i remember it being in competition somewhat for the love boat...

[derekmimi]

was this show for real? or was it made up?

[someguy23475]

It was real.

[cosmowanda868]

Though it sounded as if it was made up, didn't it?

[someguy23475]

Sure does, but you have to remember this is 1979 and NBC was throwing anything against the wall, seeing if it would stick.

[cosmowanda868]

That's my point. NBC was down in the dumps during that time, and it was well on its way to bankruptcy.

[Quatermass64]

And let us not forget that NBC also gave us some other train wrecks in the early 80's, such as "Manimal" and "The Master".

[piinus]

NBC= ' Nothing But Crap ' lol....

[DriveInofTheDamned]

Brandon Tartikoff wrote 4 great pages in his autobiography "The Last Great Ride" on "Supertrain" and it's 4 of the most entertaining pages I have ever read on Television production.

Tartikoff's remark when the idea was first introduced by NBC Executive Paul Klein was "Who is going to watch a show about a bunch of rich people who are afraid to fly?".

I never did catch "Supertrain" when it first aired so thanks much for posting the opening.

[eyeh8cbs]

Great theme- never saw this the first time around. Guess not too many people taped it.

If they can put Pink Lady on DVD, they can also put out Supertrain!

[someguy23475]

This theme is much better than the later episodes.

[chabba77]

I heard they recycled this theme for some game show. Don't know which one though.

[Jnelson09Returns]

Chain Reaction.

[someguy23475]

Finally, an open to Supertrain! Nice find.