User Reviews

It's been 16 years since the planet Quadris was conquered. Prince Matthew Star (Peter Barton) was only a baby when he escaped to Earth with his guardian Walt Shepherd (Louis Gossett Jr.). The plan is for Matthew to develop his special powers and return to free his people. On Earth, Walt is outwardly a normal teenager. Pamela Elliot (Amy Steel) is his girlfriend. Walt gets a job as a teacher. They are pursued by intergalactic assassins. General Tucker uncovers their secret and offers to maintain it for friendly cooperation.

I am almost certain that I watched parts of the show since I seem to recognize the space battle intro. It's also possible that I simply remember a long forgotten trailer. I am glad that I don't remember the show. It's pretty bad. The writing is clunky. There are questionable logic leaps in the setup. Even with the boring expositions, the premise still has plenty of holes. The lead is charismatically challenged. Thank God for LGJ. Then there are the episodes themselves. They are generally not good and the show is cancelled after one season.

The first twelve episodes have Matthew going to school with girlfriend Pam. The general premise is good but I don't like the side trips. It should be a high school drama with a dash of superpower. Instead of staying at the school, the show seems intent on going off every which way away from the school. It doesn't develop the romantic relationship or the other main student characters. Monica could have been a good Scooby gang member. It's obvious that he should slowly develop his powers but he's powerful right from the start. The tension comes when he is forced to use his powers in public. While it's nothing good, this still has potential. With time at the school, some semblance of interpersonal drama could develop. For some unknown reasons, the show does a jump in time and story after the new year.

Major Wymore takes over from General Tucker sending Matt and Walt on various missions. Pam is long gone. In addition, Matt has new powers and a signal ring. Even the intro is changed leaving out their home world and escape. I'm guessing that the show wasn't doing well and that's why the sudden retooling. It doesn't help in any way and only made things worst. The show worked best with the kids and the school. Episode 12, Fugitives, is probably the best of the bunch and it's crazy to have the makeover right after. It becomes a different show and dies. The first half is a six but the second half is much lower.

... it is much bigger and grander in my memory than it actually is. I guess its power, at least in my case, is in its nostagia, so YMMV.

Peter Barton stars as Matthew Star, a normal-looking high-school age teen who is secretly a fugitive prince from a distant planet. Lou Gossett Jr co-stars as Walt, also an alien, who has acted as Matthew's guardian on Earth, where the boy has lived most of his life. Being part of the alien royal family, Matthew has various super powers, such as telekinesis and limited telepathy. Matthew just wants to live the life of a normal Earth teen, spending time with his high school sweetheart Pam (series regular Amy Steel), while Walt goes undercover as a science teacher at the school Matthew attends. Matthew and Walt have to deal with assorted troubles from the mundane (drag-racing teens, trouble on the football team) to the extraordinary (alien bounty hunters, inquisitive scientists).

At the half-season mark, the series underwent a soft reboot, with the high school setting eventually dropped, and Amy Steel being dropped from the cast. Matthew and Walt are now working for the government, in the person of skeptical contact James Karen. They are assigned missions searching for valuable technology, stopping terrorists, or fighting other sundry crimes. Matthew also exhibits a bunch of new powers, such as being able to project an astral body version of himself that can walk through walls; shoot laser blasts from his hands; and even transforming items with a wave of his hand.

The series has a reputation as one of the worst science fiction shows in television history. I was prepared for worse than it is, but it's still not good. The stories range from silly to stupid, and there's a lot of early-80's network cheese on display (plenty of laughing freeze-frames to close out episodes). Barton and Steel (who had both starred in different Friday the 13th movies) are blandly pretty, while accomplished pro Gossett is definitely slumming (he was appearing in this when he won his Best Supporting Actor Oscar for An Officer and a Gentleman). The producers included Harve Bennett who had worked on Star Trek (Leonard Nimoy directs an episode, and Walter Koenig wrote one), and Bruce Lansbury, brother of Angela Lansbury. Bruce's daughter/Angela's niece Felicia Lansbury appears in one of the last episodes.

Poor Peter Barton what he went through to get this show on the air. I remember the stories about him being burned during the taping of this show and the whole thing had to be put on hiatus while he recovered. Then after the first season it was gone.

Like Kalel from Krypton Barton was a refugee from the planet Quadris who comes to earth with powers and abilities far beyond any teenage kid around. He also comes as a teen not an infant and he didn't come alone. His protector and adviser like Mentor was to Billy Batson is Lou Gossett, Jr. and they establish identities as typical teen kid and the school science teacher.

Our government is well aware of who they are and occasionally gets some unwilling missions from them. Otherwise he's dealing with the usual problems of a kid fitting in. Although with Barton's looks I doubt if getting girls was a problem. He did have Amy Steel whom he was constantly having to leave to do some mission.

Sadly the show was not picked up for another season and that's a pity because it had a following. Had Matthew Star had a comic book following the way Superman did the show might have hung around a bit. Look how many incarnations of that franchise there've been on the big and small screen.

This is one of those shows that never make it pass their first season but is far better than the rubbish now. With great guest directors/writers like Star Trek veterans Leonard Nimoy and Walter Koenig this underrated gem from the early 1980's is a treat for fans looking to take a break from the Trek universe or just fans of great sci-fi TV. It also has a enjoyable cast, which for me is becoming harder to find in TV or film these days. Even the lovely Julie Newmar makes a small guest appearance in a episode. Granted it may not be the best sci-fi show ever, but The Powers Of Matthew Starr is a fun and entertaining show that you could watch with the family. It truly deserves to be on DVD.

This is another show that sort of landed under the radar, once again not a sci-fi classic but could've been had just like Matts power been developed a little more and kept on the right course. The premise is good as its alien visitation sci-fi mixed with a little superhero genre. It's sort of ironic as this show came out near the same time as the movies "E.T." and "Starman" which both made the alien visitation sub-genre take off once more.

In a way the show predates TV shows "Roswell" (original version), "Supergirl "as their premises are slightly similar. I do like the premise which was mixing in alien visitation sci-fi, the superhero genre, and teen agust and you have this show in a nutshell. But also, was a unique concept at the time, putting a sci-fi spin onto the coming of age tale.

The effects are solid for what they are at the time, it was kind of cool seeing Matt using some of his superpowers like telekinesis mainly as well as teleportation later on. And the action is decent, we do get to see Matt and even Sheep take a proactive approach on things with and without powers. It even has a pretty good theme song which has sort of a out of this world optimistic vibe.

Matthew is a solid protagonist whom is a good-natured person much like Archie Andrews whom wants to do the right thing and just see the best in people and himself. His developing superpowers are obviously metaphor on coming of age which by its nature is what the show really is; the superpowers represent Matt's constant growth during teen hood.

I really like how he reacts and utilizes his powers, where he' s fascinated but at the same time a tad unsure as it's something new and foreign that entered his life, which is like with us when we go thought he motions of change. He's also not perfect with the powers as we see at times, he has trouble making them work right, at the right times, or even unaware of it's limits which also is part of what change is a constant learning process.

But what really makes the show work are the characters themselves. From seeing the father son like chemistry between both Matt and Shep. The fact that the mentor/surrogate father figure Shep is played by Louis Gossett Jr. makes it all the better, he's another of those underrated actors I really like. I really like how both really do have a father and son like bond which I found believable and how both have agreements and disagreements on things from how things go on their life on earth and life from their planet.

But also like the chemistry between Matt and Pam played well by Amy Steel whom of course is well known for "Friday the 13th part.2" but that film is another story, though I never even knew about her staring in that film at the time, as the first time I saw here was really this show. I really like Pam as she just has this sparky persona but also possess warmth and understanding. The romance between both is solid and does develop a little. Which is part of what makes this show unique where we see a teen couple in an actual relationship which I always found more interesting than seeing the typical GF or BF of the week, which is tedious and pointless.

But despite the show gaining altitude on its saucer, there are some things that just hold it back from going up the stratosphere. The only problem with the show is there's no plot development as the situation on Matts planet isn't touched upon much and we don't really see both Matt and Shep in danger much or at all from the alien assassins.

But the main problem with the show is that it's a little uneven, right about in the middle of the season the show drifted off course for a while which suddenly came out of the blue. Not to say that most of those episodes in the middle were bad but they weren't as both Matt and Shep we're still themselves and doing their thing, but it wasn't the same as if both suddenly jumped into a different TV show which was the same problem "Andromeda" had with its fifth season. This along with the absence of Pam sometime within the season, really hurt the show for me, though by the season finale the show got back on the right track, but it was too little too late.

I honestly wouldn't mind a revival but maybe have a little depth on the home planet and the war going on. And as Billy is developing his powers have him kick a little more ass fight some of those alien assassins and not just deal in human situations all the time. And have a season where he's not just saving his planet but also Earth; this is a thought worth considering anyway.

Overall if you're into alien visitation sci-fi from the 80's this show like any of Matt's powers, it's worth a try.

Rating: 3 stars

The Powers of Matthew Star was hastily put together as ABC's answer to NBC's hit-series The Greatest American Hero. They tried to use the same basic formula; buddy crime-fighters, one of whom has super-powers. However, Matthew Star lacks the bumbling comedy of TGAH, not to mention the strong character performances of Katt and Culp, (as well as a young Michael Pere!) and vastly superior writing.

While Louis Gossett Jr. Is always reliable, and manages to be the only thing that makes this show at all watchable, even his acting heroics can't make up for every other dull and cheesy aspect of the show. The plots are very outlandish yet so simple they could be told in a half-hour format, which means they have to pad each episode with plenty of unnecessary side-trips and excursions (usually using Matthew's powers) before they get around to wrapping up the episode by catching the bad guys.

An even more fundamental issue with this show is that it's ostensibly all about Matthew's powers, according to the title, yet whenever Matthew uses his powers it's often to do something he could've done slightly less conveniently without them. As the series trudges along through its first and only season, the powers become more and more of a cheap deus ex machina to fill in various plot holes. By relying on the powers this way, the two leads don't get the opportunity to move the plot along in a way that is entertaining; for example a clever ruse combined with con-man techniques like on Rockford Files, to get into a building, would be far more entertaining than Matthew simply 'astraling' himself there. The powers end up dragging the show down; the one thing that was supposed to make the show interesting turns out to be a stinking albatross of bad special effects and an even worse script. The powers actually make the show more dull than it would be without them.

My husband and I were dating when this show came on. He worked a late shift, so I would go over to his place and hang out with his father. Bud (my FIL) and I would watch Matthew Starr and Miami Vice together. I can still hear Bud say, "OK, let's see how Matthew dumps Pam THIS week!" We recorded the shows so that my husband could see them, too, but original airings (and a mutual love of music) were something special between Bud and me, and helped us develop a lovely friendship.

We were both crushed when first they changed Matthew to an agent ("Work for us or everyone will know your secret!" Duh duh DAAAAAA!) and then cancellation (mercy killing?).

My father-in-law passed away in 1999. I wrote a poem for him, and, on the bottom, simply wrote, "Goodnight, Matthew Starr." My husband, of course, got it.

Don't remember the show but do remember the cast from other things.

I was never into sci-fi but this show looks like it's family friendly.

If you want to watch it? ME TV on Sundays.

I remember on this how that Matthew Star's powers were helped in part by the fact that he had two hearts and apparently his heart and people from his planet's hearts beat like 16 times per minute. I think about this a lot considering that whomever wrote that had a pretty good idea that if this were actually true in real life then the physical and even mental strength of human beings would be considerably stronger than they are now and in a sense could possibly create some of the almost telepathic like powers that were so sci-fi on the show. It seems like a lot the one season shows are gaining popularity again via discussions like this on the internet. It would be nice to see the companies that own them to begin putting them out on DVD. They put the really old ones out ( they even color them ), why not these type of shows?

Hi from Holland.

I watched some Matthew Star episodes when I was about 9 or 10 years old, but I never found video's of this great series.

I remember some things of the program, but not many. All I know is that I was very interested.

In Holland I still cannot find any video of Matthew Star, I hope someone is willing to send me a videotape of this series. I'm willing to pay for it.

Please write me if you can help me.

Jan

Hundreds of shows have come and gone, but Matthew Star remains my favorite. The acting by the cast (especially Peter Barton, considering the fact he was around 26 playing a 16 year old) is superb and the original story lines up until the point mid-season when the show was revamped (at the network's request, I'm presuming) are fantastic.

The idea that as if growing up on Earth isn't hard enough, Matthew Star was expected to lead a planet of people to freedom some day, was inspired. There are great emotional scenes when you realize that despite being a prince with special powers, Matthew was humble and very unsure of himself at times.

My big regrets are that the show ended so abruptly and that the show isn't available on DVD to be enjoyed by our new generation of Sci-Fi fans (hint, hint). I sure would have looked forward to Season 2: The Return to Quadris!

I also watched TPOMS every week here in Holland when I was about 9 years old.The episode I remember best was Experiments,with a dolphin.Later I found out that Peter Barton and I are born on the same day.Jus a few months ago I discovered the whole series on You tube,at the channel of a certain Sierra Moon 131.THe quality isn't that good,but who cares. And recently I ordered a DVD box in America. This is the link for all the fans,including Jan.

http://www.ioffer.com/i/the-powers-of-matthew-star-1982-83-sci-fi-tv- series-116176149

@Jan,in total including transaction costs it will be around €40,-(the price of the DVD in €,transactionfee at a Western Union office(mostly found at a GWK)Money orders aren't available in Holland anymore)and sending the letter with track&trace at the post office).

Have loads of fun,either at You tube or this DVD box(contains 4 DVD's)

IMO this show reminds me of when i was a kid watching battlestar galactica an greateat american hero it wasnt one i remeber but now MeTV has brought it back with their scifi marathon that airs every Saturday night with all the greats Buck Rogers The Invaders Time tunnel lost in space juat to name a few and After all of those at 6am est Matthew Star airs an i love it old adventures in a new day an age come back to.life for my inner child lol i invite you to check it out !!

I remember watching this show every week when it was new. Since I've never seen it in syndication or repeats since then, I now remember very little about it. Louis Gossett Jr. played a strong mentor-type role. The title character's powers evolved as he matured. I'd watch this show again if it were ever aired on TV again.

{Its hard to remember specifics about this show, but all i know is two things. I loved this show when i was younger, and NO ONE ELSE remembers it! Every sci fi geek I ask looks at me like i have two heads when i mention the name Matthew Star.}

I'm so with you chad. I'm so happy to be reading these comments and know that I am no longer alone. I was beginning to think I dreamt the damn show! LOL. I do hope someone will release it on DVD sooner or later. I'm sure they will. Just earlier in the year I was thinking the same for the Bionic Woman starring Lindsey Wagner and "viola" what did I just buy last month? The entire 3 seasons on DVD. So there is hope my powered friends. Be Patient! It will come! LOL

I remember seeing this show when I was about 10 or 11. From what I remember, Gossett Jr. and Barton were from another planet. Barton had a special power to change other people's way of thinking, or actions or something like that. He would close his eyes and some "magic" would happen. Gossett Jr. was his "guide" like. He was there to lead him and teach him the ways of the "earth bound people". Gossett Jr. did not have any powers from what I remember. Also. form what I remember, is that it came on every Friday night. I still think they should put this on DVD anyway, but don't think that will happen. I could not wait to see it, and was disappointed to hear that it was canceled just as quickly as it started.

Even in the fashion-tragic 80's, Matthew Star (Peter Barton), the Alien prince of Quadris looked foolish. The white jumpsuit, the Farrah hair, the pseudo-Michael Jackson glove. Midway through the run of the series, the producers took a good, long look at their Star. Their solution? Matthew became a secret agent. Better solution? Cancellation.

i too recall this show with nostalgia. recently i watched "alive" (for about the tenth time) and the actor portraying "tin tin" looked like someone i remembered from a childhood TV show of mine. it took a few moments to recollect, and i didn't have it quite right as i searched IMDb for "matthew powers." eventually i found the right title to the show, and name of the character, and the name of the actor, peter barton. as a young kid during the (brief!) run of that show, i was rapt with attention, and it made an indelible impression on me, obviously. it's gotta be that that whole thing we have as kids - feeling and fantasizing that we have fantastic powers.

This was a good series but had two problems a low budget and a bland set of writers, it was one of the series that if they had done it correctly would have ran for as long as X-files, with the same cult following but they killed it in the first pilot, then they tried to up grade it but they never gave it a chance to find itself before it was killed off. If any thing they should have played more on Starr discovering his powers and the episode with his mom was great but they never developed it beyond the cute guy saves day teen girl show looking at the cute guy, oh well, maybe they will get it right in another series in the future

Its hard to remember specifics about this show, but all i know is two things. I loved this show when i was younger, and NO ONE ELSE remembers it! Every sci fi geek I ask looks at me like i have two heads when i mention the name Matthew Star. My mother and I used to watch this show religiously. Te best visual i can remember from the show was in the opening sequence where Matthew is seen playing ping pong with himself. He uses his telekinesis to control the other paddle. If you really think of the competition this kid has for alternate teen sci fi heroes in the last 25 years, Matthew doesn't fare too badly. Up against Evie in Out of this World, Wesley Crusher in Next Generation and the fat kid from stand by me in My Secret Identity; my vote is for Matthew Star!