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The premise is simple: A Martian astronaut, played by Ray Walston, is stranded on Earth when his saucer crashes. He is taken in by a kindly but not too bright earthling (Bill Bixby). 'Uncle Martin' fortunately looks just like a human being except for two bunny"rabbit ear"-style antenaeantennae which emerge from his head at odd moments. He has some special powers but not enough to keep himself and his human sidekick out of trouble with their feather -brained landlady and her suspicious love interest. Nor is he able to repair his saucer, hidden in the garage, possibly because he's a pilot not a mechanic.
 
It was also turnedmade into [[My Favorite Martian (film)|a movie in 1999]], starring [[Christopher Lloyd]] as Uncle Martin.
 
{{Needs More Info}}
 
Not to be confused with [[Your Favorite Martian]], an animated music video series by [[YouTube]] sensation Ray William Johnson.
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* [[Achievements in Ignorance]]: Lampshaded in one episode, when Uncle Martin explains to Tim why he's so concerned about their landlady's new private detective hobby:
{{quote|''"An amateur is infinitely more dangerous than a professional. If Alexander Graham Bell had been a professional electrician, he would never have invented the telephone -- he would have known it was impossible!"''}}
* [[Alien Among Us]]: Uncle Martin, natch.
* [[Animated Adaptation]]: A short1973-lived1975 [[Filmation]] versionseries, ''[[My Favorite Martians.]]''.
* [[Amusing Alien]]
* [[Cowboy Episode]]: The 2-parter "Go West, Young Martian"
* [[Fantastic Comedy]]: One of the [[Trope Codifier]]s, in fact.
* [[Flying Saucer]]: Martin's spacecraft. It's smaller than an Italian sports car (with much the same lines), and fits easily in Tim's garage.
* [[Human Aliens]]
* [[Idiot Ball]]: It's a 1960s sitcom, so the idiot ball is a frequent accessory for everyone, but a special mention has to be made of an episode where Martin's (real) nephew has blown the [[Masquerade]] and the rest of the cast, in a [[Torches and Pitchforks]] frenzy, confuses a [[Time Machine]] for a [[Time Bomb]], mainly because they both have "time" in their names.
* [[Invisibility]]: Martin could turn invisible when he raised his antennae.
* [[It Only Works Once]]: Anything that gets Martin's spaceship working again. The [[Time Machine]] in the "nephew Andy" episode.
* [[Literal Split Personality]]: In one episode, one of Uncle Martin's machines gets struck by lightning, splitting him into triplets: one who agrees with everything, one who disagrees with everything, and one who can never make up his mind.
* [[Mind Over Matter]]: Martin can move things with his mind.
* [[Monster Roommate]]: Loosely speaking. Martin's far from a monster, as condescending as he can be about earthlings.
* [[Pstandard Psychic Pstance]]
* [[Psychic Powers]]: In addition to invisibility, Martin could read minds and levitate objects.
* [[Reset Button]]: A literal one ends the episode with Martin's nephew Andy, when Martin sets off a [[Time Machine]] to undo Andy's revelation of their true nature.
* [[Secret-Chaser]]/[[Nosy Neighbor]]: Lorelei Brown
* [[Stop Trick]]
* [[Stop Trick]]: At least [[Once an Episode]], and usually more often.
----
* [[Witch Hunt]]: In the episode with Martin's (genuine) nephew Andy, after he carelessly reveals their true nature, the rest of the cast lay siege to Tim, Martin and Andy.
=== The movie provides examples of: ===
* [[Worthless Yellow Rocks]]: Tim O'Hara accidentally breaks some ordinary drinking glasses, and Uncle Martin muses that it's a pity because on Mars, objects made from glass are exceptionally valuable. ([[Artistic License Chemistry|This despite glass being made from sand, which Mars has in vast abundance.]])
* [[Abuse Is Okay When Its Female On Male]]: Lizzie reacts rather violently towards Tim when she finds Brace in his house.
* [[Actor Allusion]]: Tim's friend Lizzie wears an Incredible Hulk t-shirt in one scene, [[The Incredible Hulk (TV series)|from a 1970's show starring Bill Bixby]]. Also, Ray Walston (the original Uncle Martin) has a small role as a government agent following Martin and Tim. In the end, his character turns out to be {{spoiler|another Martian named Neenurt [[Mythology Gag|who has been stranded on Earth since the '60s]]}}.
** When Martin is explaining the different kinds of nerplex to Tim, he holds up the spiky-looking [[Chekhov's Gun|Veenox 7]] gumball and tells Tim that when it comes to Veenox 7, "[[Back to The Future|Just say no]]!!"
* [[Adaptation Expansion]]: The movie introduced new characters (Lizzie, Brace, and Zoot) as well as several new pieces of Martian technology. The most notable would be "nerplex," or Martian gum that changes the appearance of whoever is chewing it (which is how Martin can appear as a human).
* [[Baleful Polymorph]]: {{spoiler|Coleye}} ends up being permanently transformed into an alien near the end of the film, when he accidentally swallows a piece of Nerplex.
* [[Big Eater]]: Tim takes Martin to an ice cream shop. Although initially wary of Earth food, Martin proceeds to consume ''all'' of the ice cream.
* [[Cultural Posturing]]: Martin provides several examples of Martians being more advanced than humans ("Your astronauts pee in their space suits. Case closed!"). Later subverted when it turns out that the alternator from Tim's car will double as an "electron accelerator" to fix his spaceship.
* [[Dancing Pants]]: Martin has a full dancing ''suit'' named Zoot.
* [[Dumb Blonde]]: Inverted; the dumb one in this case is brunette Brace Channing, and blonde Lizzie is the smart one.
* [[Feigning Intelligence]]: Brace Channing.
{{quote|'''Martin (After turning himself into Brace):''' "Boy, her head was dark and empty".}}
* [[Green Aesop]]: Martin's parting words to Tim include reminding him to take care of the Earth's oceans.
** Although this may be justified by the fact that Martin was completely blown away that Earth even has them, given that "on Mars, all the water has to be squeezed from rocks!"
* [[Hey, It's That Voice!|Hey, It's That Voice]]: Wayne Knight voices Martin's talking suit, Zoot.
* [[Large Ham]]: Martin and Zoot.
* [[Losing Your Head]]: Martin literally falls apart when he goes into "Martian depression."
* [[Missed Him by That Much]]: The opening of the movie shows the failure of the Mars rover just before it would have shown footage of the Martian society.
* [[Monster Roommate]]
* [[My Sensors Indicate You Want to Tap That]]: Martin is forced to take on Tim's form early in the movie and kisses his friend Lizzie. Martin later helps Tim realize that he and Lizzie are more than [[Just Friends]].
* [[Mythology Gag]]: {{spoiler|Ray Walston (the original Uncle Martin) is an undercover martian. And he even says the shapeshifting gum lost its flavor in 1966 (the year the show got cancelled).}}
* [[Nightmare Fetishist]]: Tim ''likes'' Lizzies' transformed man-eating alien form.
* [[Oh Crap|Oh Blotz]]: When Martin discovers the I.S.S. on the spaceship.
** Also, when Martin is disguised as Brace and is forced to spit out the gum that makes him resemble a human.
* [[Pardon My Klingon]]: Apparently, "blotz" is a direct Martian translation for "shit"...as in "Does a wild bear blotz in the woods?"
* [[Plug N Play Technology]]: Tim's alternator is ''exactly'' the right size and shape (and function) to double as the piece Martin needs to repair his ship.
* [[Science Marches On]]: The movie [[Hand Wave|Hand Waves]] the fact that there is no life on Mars by placing the vast, technologically advanced Martian cities just out of sensor range.
* [[Skyward Scream]]: Dr. Coleye does this during his [[Evil Laugh]]
* [[Stealth Pun]]: The Martian researcher's full name is Elliot Coleye (E. Coleye).
* [[Suspiciously Specific Denial]]: "Not only that was top secret, but it never happened!"
* [[That Poor Cat]]: Heard towards the end when Martin lands his spaceship at Tim's driveway.
* [[The Genie Knows Jack Nicholson]]: Zoot remarks, while hiding under Tim's couch, "Hey, look! Jimmy Hoffa!"
* [[The Mind Is a Plaything of the Body]]: Not directly stated, but there are implications that Nerplex does simply more than alters one's physical appearance into another being. The most notable incident is when Lizzie chews the Veenox 7 gum, and seems to have no problem with killing one guard, and eating another while as that alien. This even seemed to carry over when she reverts back to being Human.
** Marvin's quote after assuming Brace's form seems to indicate he had some sort of [[Star Trek|mind meld]] like connection with the real Brace's brain (or [[Brainless Beauty|lack of brain]] in her case.)
 
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Films of the 1990s{{PAGENAME}}]]▼
[[Category:Fantastic Comedy]]
▲[[Category:Films of the 1990s]]
[[Category:My Favorite Martian]]
[[Category:Sitcom]]
[[Category:The Sixties]]
[[Category:TV Series]]
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