50 Years Ago, NBC Replaced The Invisible Man With A Cheaper Knock-Off

They say the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. Tell that to the NBC commissioners of the mid-’70s. For after canceling one adaptation of H.G. Wells’ The Invisible Man after a single season, they simply replaced it with another. And just like its hero, even more viewers seemed to vanish into thin air, too. In fact, ratings were so poor for the much lower-budget Gemini Man that only five of the 11 episodes filmed were ever shown.

First aired 50 years ago this month, the season premiere, “Smithereens,” makes few concessions to those who hadn’t tuned in to its scene-setting pilot screened several months earlier. Indeed, there’s no explanation about the identity of its leading man (Ben Murphy’s government agent Sam Casey), his superpowers (turning completely transparent with the touch of a button), or how he acquired them (an underwater mission-gone-wrong which radioactively altered his genetics).

Admittedly, a keen understanding of the show’s logistics isn’t required that often. Considering the concept, it seems perverse that Casey, save for a brief fight with some truck hijackers and a last-ditch disappearing act, is in full view for the entire opener: in a rule which needlessly restricts writers (including The Invisible Man’s Leslie Stevens), his cloak of invisibility is limited to 15 minutes per day otherwise he’ll fade away for good. Still, the plot is enjoyably ridiculous enough to compensate for its lack of “Where did he go?”

In a story perhaps inspired by the real-life oil crisis three years earlier, mad scientist Dr. Hale (Alan Oppenheimer) claims to have invented tripolodine, an additive said to make gasoline three times more effective. After making a deal with the government, he arranges for Sam to transport the substance via a 13-hour truck drive across California. Of course, this gives the big baddie plenty of time to throw obstacles in his way and the hero plenty of time to work out a master plan once it’s discovered he’s being used as cannon fodder.

For it turns out Hale has no intention to supply the highly unstable tripolidine. Instead, with a little help from the local fuel cartel, he plans to blow both the cargo and the driver up en route and laugh all the way to the bank. However, he didn’t bank on the ingenuity of Casey, his scientist sidekick Abby (Katherine Crawford), and a trucker named Buffalo Bill (country singer Jim Stafford).

The latter comes in particularly handy trying to slow Casey’s truck down safely once its brakes have been tampered with, preventing a crash that would instantly have blown it to smithereens (hence the title). This Speed-esque scenario provides some good old-fashioned prime-time thrills and spills, particularly when the vehicle is forced to navigate roads even windier than a Formula One track.

As you’d expect from a mid-’70s action show, Gemini Man’s token female character isn’t given as much agency. On learning of Hale’s deceit, she’s bundled into the back of the truck without Casey’s knowledge and essentially relegated to damsel in distress. Still, with an impressive combination of physics and physical flexibility, she does manage to keep the tripolidine upright long enough to avoid an explosion.

In the end, though, it’s Casey who’s left to save the day after finally working out Hale isn’t accompanying his precious fuel, but is instead barking repeatedly deranged orders from a helicopter above. Finally utilizing his superpowers, he makes it look as though he’s perished in a truck crash, only to reappear just as the doctor is smugly celebrating his supposed triumph. “This can’t be... you’re dead!” his incredulous sidekick Luther (Andrew Prine) declares before Casey, who continually toys with his nemesis’ semblance of reality, quips back, “Oh really? Well, how would you like to see a ghost punch!”

The dialogue reaches even cornier heights when Hale essentially paraphrases the Scooby Doo villain’s “you meddling kids” while being led away by the cops and Casey throws in the final zinger, “Sorry doctor, bad guys finish last.” It’s not particularly hard to see why Gemini Man, which has no relation to the terrible Will Smith film of the same name, was later given the MST3K treatment, albeit thanks to a bizarre second life which promised but ultimately failed to boost its reputation.

Indeed, five years later, and two years before the near-futuristic show was set, “Smithereens” was stitched together with the tenth episode, ‘Buffalo Bill Rides Again,” for a TV movie titled Riding with Death, allowing a new audience to enjoy its clunky script, hammy performances, and decidedly dodgy fashions (hello Casey’s super-sized flares and god-awful denim jacket!) across 90 long instead of 45 moderately entertaining minutes. Unsurprisingly, it, too, sank without trace.

Interestingly, Gemini Man’s third episode, “Sam Casey, Sam Casey,” focuses on a rival agency who tries to swap the real thing with an imposter. Who knows? Perhaps NBC simply thought audiences could be similarly fooled. Yet while the opener is entertaining enough to make its sudden cancelation seem unjust, the downgrade from The Invisible Man is still plain to see.

Gemini Man is not available to stream or rent on digital anywhere in the U.S.