History Series / RobocopTheSeries

* VirtualGhost: OCP secretary Diana, whose memory was uploaded to the OCP supercomputer after her death in the pilot episode.

* DarkAndTroubledPast: Several episodes hint at Madigan growing up in a broken home, which makes her decision to go on diet pills in one episode (ostensibly to lose weight, despite not appearing to need them at all) make a lot more sense in context.

* ChekhovsSkill: In "The Human Factor", during a scene where Robo has to defuse a bomb, his father Russell (who is unaware that his son is [=RoboCop=]) teaches him to aim more steadily with his dataspike to press a deactivation switch. Several scenes later, when the bomber tries to detonate a nuclear device in the OCP building, Robo uses this same tactic to deactivate the device.

Several other characters were seen in the series, including Murphy's wife Nancy and son Jimmy, as well as Diana Powers, an OCP executive's secretary who is murdered and has her brain uploaded into OCP's new [[WetwareCPU Metronet computer system]], thus allowing Murphy to access systems he wouldn't otherwise be able to get into.

* AdaptationalNiceGuy: Murphy's more or a tradtional superhero in the series, unwilling to actually engage in PoliceBrutality (as Mallardo's PoliceBrutalityGambit would've less likely to have been fake if the Murphy of the movies got ahold of him given [[Film/RoboCop1987 his treatment of a rapist, Boddicker, Rob Miller]], [[Film/RoboCop2 Cain and his men, Officer Duffy]], and [[Film/RoboCop3 the Rehabs]]) and unwilling to use lethal force.

* HyperspaceArsenal: Aside from extra ammunition (as referred to in the episode "Provision 22"), Robo carries several types of both non-lethal and lethal ordinance (mines, airbags), coolant and other devices/gadgets that would be used in any given episode, all stored in his left leg.

* MerchandiseDriven: '''Commander Cash!''' the cartoon character is nothing but an advertising campaign teaching kids the joys of consumerism in order to keep the economy healthy.

* HoistByHisOwnPetard: In "RoboCop Vs Commander Cash" the villain takes a hostage unaware she has also unknowingly been subjecting herself to his [[MindControl subliminal programming]] scheme so all it takes is Commander Cash ordering her to in a specific way to promptly lay the villain out flat.

The full series is available to watch [[http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00HOMCBXG/ref=dv_dp_ep1 via Amazon]] in the [=UK=], and is free for Prime members.

* DenserAndWackier: The biting satire, gore, violence and shock factor found in the first two movies were removed in favor of Batman-style camp humor and slapstick.

* LighterAndSofter: Following up on ''Film/RoboCop3'', the series was dulled down to appeal to family audiences (and, indeed, it was shown in syndication in Canada on weekends at pre-watershed timeslots). [=RoboCop=] didn't kill (he used gadgets to incapacitate them), the humour was dulled down from biting satire to ''Series/{{Batman}}''-style camp, and the plots became cartoonish. The target audience are now grade school kids of fourth grade or older. Merchandise from the show even includes a [=RoboCop=] action figure that say MoralGuardian-approved lines ("[[DrugsAreBad Say No To Drugs!]]" among other things).

* BrainInAJar: In the pilot episode, Diana is murdered to provide the brain needed for OCP's city managing supercomputer. Robo himself could also be considered this, as he is a brain with a human face and a few organs for life support. Diana, unlike Robo, doesn't keep any of her original body, instead becoming somehow a ProjectedMan.

* ProjectedMan: Diana, also a brain-in-a-box connected to a MagicalComputer.

* SeriesContinuityError: In the pliot, it was stated that Pudface was disfigured in a confrontation with Murphy five years before that point, but in "Zone Five", it was stated that Murphy was killed three years ago.

** By virute of his vedetta against Murphy and his attempts to kill him, Pudface Morgan wants to be this.
* ContinuitySnarl: In the pliot, it was stated that Pudface was disfigured in a confrontation with Murphy five years before that point, but in "Zone Five", it was stated that Murphy was killed three years ago.

* CrapsackWorld: While leagues above the world seen in the original film trilogy, the world in ''The Series'' isn't a picnic, either. It is said in dialogue that a war in the Amazon is going on (though such a war was mentioned in the original trilogy, too), sections of Beverly Hills and Brooklyn have been walled off, and it's perfectly legal to market plushies that double as hand grenades and steroids (with the FamilyUnfriendlyAesop that weaker kids deserve to get bullied, no less) to children. Also, speaking English in France can land you in jail, the Italian government has fallen, the Vatican has gone bankrupt leading to church closures, and the mayor and DA are corrupt and in league with other criminals (with the latter having a fake law degree and helped to frame someone for said phony degree).

-->'''Diana:''' "This service has been brought to you by... [=RoboCop=]! ''Sucker!''"

* LighterAndSofter: Following up on ''Film/RoboCop3'', the series was dulled down to appeal to family audiences (and, indeed, it was shown in syndication in Canada on weekends at pre-watershed timeslots). [=RoboCop=] didn't kill (he used gadgets to incapacitate them), the humour was dulled down from biting satire to ''Series/{{Batman}}''-style camp, and the plots became cartoonish. It's pretty much the start of the DorkAge of [=RoboCop=] where the target audience are now grade school kids of fourth grade or older. Merchandise from the show even includes a [=RoboCop=] action figure that say MoralGuardian-approved lines ("[[DrugsAreBad Say No To Drugs!]]" among other things).

* MagicCountdown: The SciFi Channel once ran a marathon of the series with a humorous voiceover. One episode had a bomb set for five minutes. The running commentary points out that it takes 7:04 for the bomb to eventually be shut off.

* MoodWhiplash: One moment that doubles as a TearJerker is when Robo sees his parents for the first time since he became a cyborg. He flashes back to when he took his first steps, with the two encouraging him. When the flashback ends, she sees him and panics, and her husband, Robo's father, tells him to go away.

-->'''[=RoboCop=]:''' ''"TV has a lot to answer for."''

** Henry Winkler himself gets a FreezeFrameBonus cameo, as an actor from a movie called ''[[Literature/FriedGreenTomatoesAtTheWhistleStopCafe Fried Green Lasagna]]''.

The show takes place in an AlternateContinuity (ignoring the events of ''Film/Robocop3''), where [[GratuitousGreek Delta City]] (the project OCP is trying to complete in the films) is completed. Robocop[=/=]Alex Murphy (Eden) is still working for the Metro South police precinct, along with his partner, Lisa Madigan, and a new set of supporting characters, including precinct head Sgt. Stan Parks, technician Charlie Lippencott and an [[TagalongKid adopted orphan]] named Gadget. The pilot episode (which uses an early script for ''Film/Robocop2'' as its basis) sees Robo running into several new enemies who would make appearances throughout the series, including "Pudface" Morgan, Dr. Cray Z. Mallardo and CorruptCorporateExecutive Chip Chayken.

''Franchise/{{Robocop}}: The Series'' is a 1994 live-action series based on the [[Film/Robocop1987 1987 film]] by Creator/PaulVerhoeven, and starring [[TheOtherDarrin Richard Eden]] as the titular cyborg.

* TheWallsAreClosingIn: Robo once ended up in a trash compactor in one episode. [[YouFailPhysicsForever When the air pressure reached 2000 PSI]], a flashback gave him inspiration, [[BackFromTheBrink allowing him to push back the walls]].

* SmartPeoplePlayChess: Episode "The Human Factor", when visiting his father's home, ended up playing a few turns of chess. Murphy says that machines may know all the moves but are actually predictable. Robocop has a quick flashback to a specific "velakonski gambit", allegedly showing the same game layout. Robocop makes two moves, puts black into check, and the opponent wanted to know where he learned that move.
** That chess scene in particular has a few blunders. The initital board layout shows the white king in check by a bishop, but said bishop disappears when Robocop makes his first move (a king-side castle which cannot be done in check.) There's also a misaligned bishop, implying there's two same-color bishops.

* SmartPeoplePlayChess: Episode "The Human Factor" has a small