Future Cop is an American crime drama television series that starred Ernest Borgnine and Michael J. Shannon. It was based on the TV movie of the same name and predated RoboCop by ten years. The series was aired on ABC in 1977 and was re-piloted as Cops and Robin on NBC in 1978. A veteran street cop gets an experimental android that has been programmed by the police lab for his new partner. Cast Ernest Borgnine – Off. Joe Cleaver Michael J. Shannon – Off. John Haven John Amos – Off. Bill Bundy Episodes TV Movie (1976) Season 1 List of Cops and Robin episodes with airdates "Cops and Robin" (March 28, 1978) Plagiarism lawsuit Writers Harlan Ellison and Ben Bova filed a lawsuit against Paramount Television, ex-Paramount exec Terry Keegan, and ABC-TV, alleging that Future Cop was plagiarized from their own pitch for a TV series, which was based on their 1970 short story "Brillo." The lawsuit was settled in 1980, awarding Ellison and Bova $182,500 in compensatory damages and $154,500 in punitive damages. The story's title was allegedly a pun, as a robot policeman could be referred to as "steel fuzz", like Brillo soap pads. Home media On March 1, 2016, Mill Creek Entertainment released the complete series on DVD in Region 1. See also To date, there have been five other short-lived American TV series with identical premises: Holmes & Yoyo (1976) Automan (1983) Mann & Machine (1992) Total Recall 2070 (1999) Almost Human (2013) References External links American Broadcasting Company original programming 1970s American crime drama television series 1970s American science fiction television series 1977 American television series debuts 1977 American television series endings Television series about robots English-language television shows Television series by CBS Studios