Line #2 Series/Supertrain


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/supertrain-1_7696.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:It's [[AudienceAlienatingEra the new]] Creator/{{NBC}}!]]
3
4	-> ''"You're letting your psychotic fascination with railroads lead you into a suicidal gamble for the future of this company!"''
5	-->-- '''Unnamed Corporate Executive''', "Express to Terror" [[note]]This was in the opening of the first episode.[[/note]]
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7	Hour-long comedy-drama series which debuted as a MidseasonReplacement in 1979 on Creator/{{NBC}}. An attempt at emulating [[Creator/AmericanBroadcastingCompany ABC]]'s success with ''Series/TheLoveBoat'', ''Supertrain'' [[FollowTheLeader was essentially the same show]] with the ''Pacific Princess'' [[RecycledWithAGimmick swapped out for the titular "Supertrain"]], [[CoolTrain a super-broad gauge, nuclear-powered bullet train]] that could cross the United States from coast to coast in 36 hours.
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9	The show was an abject disaster for NBC, who had produced the series by itself (initially with [[Series/DarkShadows Dan Curtis]] in charge) and spared no expense in building both the elaborate sets and the complex, fragile model trains (one of which crashed during production and had to be replaced at great cost). Worse yet, once the series premiered, viewers simply weren't interested; attempts to {{retool}} the series by adding more suspense elements failed, and the series left the air in July 1979 after just five months and nine episodes.
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11	It's often been named the biggest flop in US television history, not just because of the derivative content but because it (combined with the US boycott of the 1980 Moscow Olympics) came so close to [[CreatorKiller taking NBC down with it]]. It's never been released to syndication or home video, and this is unlikely to change anytime soon.
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13	However as of 29 January 2024 the full series can be found on Website/YouTube in a ''very'' poor quality upload.
14	----
15	!!This show provides examples of:
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17	* TheSeventies: The WHAT-ies? We can't hear you over the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUERtAe73NI Disco Funk]]!
18	* BiggerOnTheInside: Fairly obviously, and noted by several reviewers.
19	* CampGay: The train's hairstylist, right down to the hairdryer belt holsters.
20	* CoolTrain: As mentioned above, the Supertrain is a humongous nuclear-powered [[Series/TheLoveBoat cruise-ship]]-on-land. The miniature model work became the main reason for the show's huge budget.
21	* GratuitousDiscoSequence: The original intro showed a dance floor that clearly took its cues from ''Film/SaturdayNightFever.''
22	* JustTrainWrong:
23	** For starters, it was a broad-gauge rail that went for three thousand miles, it was BiggerOnTheInside by a long shot, and despite being billed as a bullet train, a quick calculation puts its speed as less than 80 MPH. That's just the tip of the iceberg...
24	** As noted by Website/TheOtherWiki, the so-called "Supertrain" was much slower than the affordably-priced Amtrak Acela Express, French TGV and Japanese Shinkansen bullet trains.
25	** Furthermore, an onboard ''nuclear reactor'' is [[NoOSHACompliance alarmingly dangerous]] (as Creator/CharlesStross once put it, "nothing makes a locomotive boiler explosion worse like adding reactor-grade uranium to the problem") and also [[AwesomeButImpractical ultimately rather pointless]] when you could just power the thing with a stationary power plant using overhead electrification.
26	* MenAreStrongWomenArePretty: Noticeable in the opening intro in the gym. The (musclebound) man is working out with a dumbbell; the woman is ''polishing her nails''.
27	* PilotMovie: The very first episode was 2 hours long.
28	* PreCap: As appropriate for its era. Had the benefit of showcasing the numerous celebrity guest stars for each episode.
29	* RecycledWithAGimmick: It's ''Series/TheLoveBoat'' on train tracks!
30	* RecycledSoundtrack: NBC would reuse a music cue for the GameShow ''Series/ChainReaction''.
31	* StrangersOnATrainPlotMurder: One episode featured a literal "Strangers on a Train" plot with Creator/DickVanDyke as the psycho who suggests a murder swap with another passenger.
32	* TakeThat: Countering the page quote:
33	-> “So you think it’s a gamble, do you? Well, gentlemen, since I can count my remaining years on the fingers of one hand, from my point of view, it’s not much of a gamble at all.”
34	* ThrillerOnTheExpress: [[TwoLinesNoWaiting Many of the series' episodes]] had an example of this trope as either primary or secondary plots (especially after the retool).
35	* TrainTopBattle: The PilotMovie climaxed with one of these. Obviously the fact it's on top of a nuclear-powered bullet train tried to exaggerate its seriousness.
36	* WritersCannotDoMath: Supertrain had a top speed of 250 mph and cruised at 190 mph, but took 36 hours to cross the United States. As mentioned under JustTrainWrong, that meant Supertrain would have to move at less than 80 mph. Of course, a train that large would take so long to accelerate and decelerate that its ''average'' speed would probably be a lot lower if it stopped at any intermediate cities between New York and Los Angeles... which doesn't make any more sense, because that completely negates the whole point of building a UsefulNotes/HighSpeedRail line from coast to coast in the first place.

Context Series / Supertrain