Westworld Spawned A Forgotten TV Sequel Series Decades Before HBO's Reboot

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HBO's "Westworld" was a big deal when it first premiered, but the expensive sci-fi series' legacy started fading once the show was unceremoniously canceled and later removed from HBO Max. Things could have been much worse, though. HBO's series at least ran for four seasons, unlike the "Westworld" TV show from the early '80s that was canceled after three episodes. Premiering on CBS on March 5, 1980, "Beyond Westworld" was a sequel to the 1973 feature film "Westworld." 

Written and directed by Michael Crichton, the author behind "The Andromeda Strain" and "Jurassic Park," the original movie took place in a futuristic theme park where humanoid robots allowed guests to experience their fantasy of life in the Wild West until the androids malfunction and actually start killing people. Crichton had no involvement in "Beyond Westworld" other than signing over the rights, and the series ignored the events of the 1976 film sequel, "Futureworld." Instead, it starred Jim McMullan as John Moore, the security chief of the corporation behind Westworld who was tasked with stopping Simon Quaid (James Wainwright), a rogue scientist who wants to use his robots to take over the world. Connie Sellecca, better known for the primetime soap "Hotel," played Moore's assistant.

"Beyond Westworld" had the potential to be something of a sci-fi spy series, with John Moore traveling around the world to stop Simon Quaid and his robots' latest evil scheme. It never reached that potential. CBS made five episodes, but canceled the show after airing just three. In Mark Phillips and Frank Garcia's book "Science Fiction Television Series," star Jim McMullan explained that the pilot had a great script and got good reviews. The problems really began when the network started making them rush to write and shoot the subsequent episodes.

"It was like asking someone to deliver a weekly show like 'Mission: Impossible' and not give much time to write these intricate scripts," McMullan said. "They could have been wonderful. We were very disappointed because each time we would get a new script, we were rushing to get it finished. So, we ended up with all this junk and you could feel each show was a little worse than the last one. We tried hard."

McMullan felt that the characters on the show, especially his protagonist, weren't afforded any characterization. Instead, "Beyond Westworld" became an underwhelming chase show — and due to the effects needed to make people look like robots, an expensive one. Ratings fell and so too did the axe. Despite the cancellation, "Beyond Westworld" was nominated for two Emmy Awards: Outstanding Achievement in Makeup and Outstanding Art Direction for a Series. It lost the latter for another now-forgotten series that starred Michael J. Fox.