Action Man (2000 TV series)
Action Man is a 2000 Canadian CGI animated TV series based on the toy line of the same name.[2] The show is unrelated to the 1995 show. In this series, Alex Mann is an extreme sports athlete known as "Action Man" and is a member of Team Xtreme. A video game named Action Man: Search for Base X was released based on the 2000 series. The show's theme song "Amp it up Action Man" was written and performed by Saban Entertainment's Paul Gordon.
| Action Man | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Also known as | Action Man – The Greatest Hero of them All |
| Genre | Animation Action Biopunk Cyberpunk |
| Created by | Hasbro (original toys) |
| Developed by | Marty Isenberg and Robert N. Skir |
| Starring | Mark Hildreth Michael Dobson Tabitha St. Germain Peter Kelamis |
| Theme music composer | Paul Gordon |
| Composers | Shuki Levy Kussa Mahchi Michael Whitaker Paul Gordon |
| Country of origin | Canada |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 26 |
| Production | |
| Executive producers | Ian Pearson Paul Sabella Jonathan Dern Carol Monroe |
| Producer | Mark Ralston |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Production companies | Mainframe Entertainment Saban Entertainment |
| Distributor | Saban International[1] |
| Release | |
| Original network | YTV Fox Kids |
| Original release | August 5, 2000 – August 20, 2001 |
| Chronology | |
| Related shows | Action Man (1995 TV series) A.T.O.M. |
Synopsis
Alex Mann, Action Man's civilian identity, is an extreme sports athlete of Team Xtreme, taking part in the Mastervision Network's Acceleration Games, a series of unconventional televised sporting activities all over the world. Danger and adrenaline trigger hidden mental powers called AMP (Advanced Macro Probability) Factor, a result of secret experiments by his former high school coach Simon Grey. With it, Alex is able to calculate all future possibilities, choosing the best course of action. Alex "Action" Mann, Desmond "Grinder" Sinclair, Agnes "Fidget" Wilson, and Ricky Singh-Baines must stop arch-enemy Doctor X, a brilliant geneticist and bio-engineer, who will stop at nothing to duplicate Alex's AMP Factor to rebuild Earth with the genetically enhanced neo-humanity.
Cast
Main
- Mark Hildreth - Alex "Action Man" Mann
- Michael Dobson - Desmond "Grinder" Sinclair
- Tabitha St. Germain - Agnes "Fidget" Wilson
- Peter Kelamis - Ricky Singh-Baines
- Christopher Judge - Coach Simon Gray
- Tyler Labine - Brandon Caine
- Michael Kopsa - Dr. X (new body)
- Campbell Lane - Doctor X (original body)
- Andrew Francis - Templeton "Tempest" Storm
- Janyse Jaud - Asazi
- Garry Chalk - Dr. Wolfgang "Gangrene" Greenholtz
Supporting
- Mackenzie Gray - Nick Masters
- Venus Terzo - Agent Diana Zurvis
- Michael Donovan
- Kirby Morrow - Jimmy Woo
- Ian James Corlett
- Brian Drummond - Craig
Episodes
Season One (2000)
Dr. X captured and physically tested Alex Mann repeatedly, as well as his best friend Brandon Caine. Dr. X also added nanotech enhancements to Brandon, making him superior to Alex in battle and in athletics. The culmination of the experiments was to mind transfer Dr. X into Brandon's body to become a nanotech cyborg, able to change his appearance and infect others. Following the ninth episode the series becomes more simplified.
| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original airdate | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Competitive Edge" | James Taylor | Marty Isenberg & Robert N. Skir | August 5, 2000 | |
| First Appearance of: Alex Mann (Action Man), Grinder, Fidget, Ricky, Brandon Kaine, Doctor X (original body) and Nick Masters. Coach Grey also makes an appearance only as a voice. | |||||
| 2 | "Building The Perfect Beast" | Steve Ball | Marty Isenberg & Robert N. Skir | August 15, 2000 | |
| Cameo Appearance by: Coach Grey (Voice Only). | |||||
| 3 | "Building Grey Areas" | Steve Sacks | Marty Isenberg & Robert N. Skir | August 19, 2000 | |
| First Appearance of: Coach Grey and Asazi. Cameo Appearance by: Nick Masters. | |||||
| 4 | "Storm Front" | Greg Donis | Steve Melching | August 26, 2000 | |
| First Appearance of: Tempest. Cameo Appearance by: Nick Masters. | |||||
| 5 | "Gremlin In The Gears" | Craig McEwen | Greg Klein & Thomas Pugsley | September 2, 2000 | |
| Cameo Appearance by: Coach Grey, Nick Masters and Doctor X (original body) | |||||
| 6 | "Double Vision" | George Samilski | Marsha F. Griffin | September 9, 2000 | |
|
A number of crimes take place with what appears to be Alex Mann and following and second crime Agent Diana Zurvis is determined to have Alex locked behind bars. It is up to Alex and his team to try and prove that Alex is innocent. First Appearance of: Agent Diana Zurvis. Cameo Appearance by: Doctor X (original body), Branden Kaine, Coach Grey, Nick Masters. | |||||
| 7 | "Into The Abyss" | William Lau | Kaaren Lee Brown | September 16, 2000 | |
|
Branden Kaine begins trying to prevent Doctor X from controlling him and seeks help from Alex and his team to try and stop X and his plans. This involves returning to the now sunk oil rig in a bid to access information, but all is not as quiet as first thought. First Appearance of: Doctor X (new body). Cameo Appearance by: Coach Grey and Branden Kaine. Final Appearance of: Doctor X (original body). | |||||
| 8 | "Out Of The Shadows" | Sebastian Brodin | Brynne Chandler Reaves | September 23, 2000 | |
| Cameo Appearance by: Branden Kaine, Nick Masters and Agent Diana Zurvis. | |||||
| 9 | "Lost In The Funhouse" | Steve Sacks | Andrew Robinson | September 30, 2000 | |
| Cameo Appearance by: Nick Masters, Coach Grey and Asazi (regular from here). | |||||
| 10 | "The Hereafter Factor" | Gio Corsi | Eric Karten | October 28, 2000 | |
| Cameo Appearance by: Nick Masters, Tempest (regular from here), Coach Grey. | |||||
| 11 | "Cold War" | Ezekiel Norton | Marsha F. Griffin | November 4, 2000 | |
| Cameo Appearance by: Coach Grey and Agent Diana Zurvis. | |||||
| 12 | "Swarm: Part 1" | Gino Nichele | Kaaren Lee Brown | November 18, 2000 | |
| Cameo Appearance by: Agent Diana Zurvis, Nick Masters and Coach Grey. | |||||
| 13 | "Swarm: Part 2" | George Samilski | Marty Isenberg & Robert N. Skir | November 19, 2000 | |
| Final Appearance of: Coach Grey, Branden Kaine and Agent Diana Zurvis. | |||||
Season Two (2001)
Dr. X founded the Council of Doom with his evil cohorts: Asazi, Tempest, Gangrene, and Quake. Dr. X's nanotech trilobites appeared to gain collective intelligence and rebel against him; but this was actually Brandon Caine's uploaded mind punishing Dr. X.
| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original airdate | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14 | "Green Thoughts" | Andrew Duncan | Eric Karten | February 26, 2001 | |
| First Appearance of: Gangrene. Cameo Appearance by: Nick Masters. | |||||
| 15 | "Thirst" | Sebastian Brodin | Marsha F. Griffin | May 2, 2001 | |
| Cameo Appearance by: Nick Masters. | |||||
| 16 | "Ground Zero" | Angela Ste | Nick DuBois | May 3, 2001 | |
| Cameo Appearance by: Nick Masters. | |||||
| 17 | "Tower Of Power" | George Samilski | Len Wein | May 4, 2001 | |
| Cameo Appearance by: Nick Masters. | |||||
| 18 | "Rumble: Part 1" | Gino Nichele & Colin Adams | Andrew Robinson | May 11, 2001 | |
| First Appearance of: Quake. Cameo Appearance by: Nick Masters. | |||||
| 19 | "Rumble: Part 2" | Ezekiel Norton | Kurt Weldon | May 18, 2001 | |
| 20 | "Search and Destroy" | Chuck Johnson | Sean Roche | May 25, 2001 | |
| Cameo Appearance by: Nick Masters. | |||||
| 21 | "The Triton Factor" | Steve Sacks | Brooks Watchel | June 22, 2001 | |
| Cameo Appearance by: Nick Masters. | |||||
| 22 | "Mann's Best Friend" | Mark Schiemann | Marsha F. Griffin | June 26, 2001 | |
| Cameo Appearance by: Nick Masters. | |||||
| 23 | "Mann Hunt" | Sebastian Brodin | Nick DuBois | July 27, 2001 | |
| Note: Grinder, Fidget and Ricky do not make an appearance in this episode. | |||||
| 24 | "Tangled Up in Green" | Patrick Carroll | Eric Karten | TBA | |
| Cameo Appearance by: Nick Masters. | |||||
| 25 | "The Ultimate Doom - Part 1" | Gio Corsi | Robert N. Skir & Marty Isenberg | August 17, 2001 | |
| Final Appearance of: Nick Masters. | |||||
| 26 | "The Ultimate Doom - Part 2" | Sebastian Brodin | Robert N. Skir & Marty Isenberg | August 20, 2001 | |
| Final Appearance of: Alex Mann (Action Man), Grinder, Fidget, Ricky, Doctor X, Gangrene, Asazi, Tempest and Quake. | |||||
Home Media releases
In many regions, the series was released on VHS by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment and later Buena Vista Home Entertainment, containing three episodes per tape.
The series has only seen DVD releases outside of the United States by many distributors. In the United Kingdom, the complete series was released by Maximum Entertainment throughout 2004-2008.
Awards
In 2001, the show won a Golden Camera Award at the U.S. and International Film and Video Festival for 'Best Animation' in the episode "The Swarm: Part 2".
References
- https://www.awn.com/news/mainframe-toys-action-man-series
- Perlmutter, David (2018). The Encyclopedia of American Animated Television Shows. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 4. ISBN 978-1538103739.