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''[[Probe]]'' was a short-lived television series that aired on [[ABC]] Television in 1988. Co-created by famed sci-fi writer [[Isaac Asimov]], it starred Parker Stevenson as Austin James, a misanthropic genius who ran his own high-tech consulting firm. With the help of his wide-eyed secretary Mickey Castle (Ashley Crow), Austin would use his scientific expertise to solve baffling crimes as a modern-day version of [[Sherlock Holmes]]. As expected, the show featured heavy doses of scientific knowledge and logical reasoning, and [[Viewers are Morons|may have contributed to the series' demise]]. |
''[[Probe]]'' was a short-lived television series that aired on [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] Television in 1988. Co-created by famed sci-fi writer [[Isaac Asimov]], it starred Parker Stevenson as Austin James, a misanthropic genius who ran his own high-tech consulting firm. With the help of his wide-eyed secretary Mickey Castle (Ashley Crow), Austin would use his scientific expertise to solve baffling crimes as a modern-day version of [[Sherlock Holmes]]. As expected, the show featured heavy doses of scientific knowledge and logical reasoning, and [[Viewers are Morons|may have contributed to the series' demise]]. |
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The show originally premiered as a two-hour pilot, with six one-hour episodes afterward, before a writer's strike came along and ended the series. |
The show originally premiered as a two-hour pilot, with six one-hour episodes afterward, before a writer's strike came along and ended the series. |
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[[Category:American Series]] |
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Latest revision as of 14:06, 13 September 2021
Probe was a short-lived television series that aired on ABC Television in 1988. Co-created by famed sci-fi writer Isaac Asimov, it starred Parker Stevenson as Austin James, a misanthropic genius who ran his own high-tech consulting firm. With the help of his wide-eyed secretary Mickey Castle (Ashley Crow), Austin would use his scientific expertise to solve baffling crimes as a modern-day version of Sherlock Holmes. As expected, the show featured heavy doses of scientific knowledge and logical reasoning, and may have contributed to the series' demise.
The show originally premiered as a two-hour pilot, with six one-hour episodes afterward, before a writer's strike came along and ended the series.
Not to be confused with direct-to-video Doctor Who spinoff P.R.O.B.E.
Tropes used in Probe include:
- Framing the Guilty Party: A category 3, by a gorilla: An extremely smart gorilla that has been taught to communicate via sign language, and educated itself by watching TV. When it kills someone, it plants evidence that points to itself as the guilty party, because in the TV shows it watched, the obvious suspect that everyone thinks did it at first, is always found innocent.
- Hey, It's That Guy!: Gee, Frank Hardy's gotten real hyper, hasn't he? And say, that's Sandra Bennett as his secretary!
- I Have My Ways: In one episode, the Big Bad has Austin isolated from his friends, taunting him through a radio implant. Suddenly, the friends break in on the frequency:
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Villain: "Who is this?!" |
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- Infrared X-Ray Camera: Done in one episode with a piece of Applied Phlebotinum which could, among other things, see a lock mechanism inside its metal casing.
- Instant AI, Just Add Water/A.I. Is a Crapshoot: The pilot episode, "Computer Logic," had a classic "newly-sentient computer goes on rampage" episode that ended with Austin demolishing said machine with a fire axe while shouting "Sing 'Daisy'!"
- An Odd Place to Sleep: Austin James sleeps in a cupboard; he explains this because he wanted a sensory deprivation tank when he was young, but couldn't afford one. By the time the series starts, he can afford as many as he likes, but he's gotten used to cupboards.
- Scooby-Doo Hoax: A regular staple of the series, wherein someone approaches Austin with apparently supernatural events, only to have them debunked by Austin in the climax.
- Short Runners
- Stalker with a Crush: In one episode, Austin is pursued by a stalker who murders one woman and tries to murder another she sees as an obstacle to her obsession with Austin. The twist? The stalker is a mentally enhanced orangutan.