The pilot television movie of Man from Atlantis has a pre Dallas Patrick Duffy playing Mark Harris.
He is the mysterious stranger washed up ashore, he has green eyes and webbed fingers and critically ill.
Oceanographer Dr Elizabeth Merrill (Belinda J Montgomery) figures that this man is more at home in the water than land.
The US Navy computer deduces that Mark may be 'The last citizen of Atlantis.'
When Mark comes round he is an amnesiac who has no idea where he comes from but wants to return to the sea. The US Navy admiral wants Mark to stay.
Tests shows that Mark has remarkable underwater abilities such as fishing faster than a dolphin.
When a US Navy submarine disappears Mark agrees to go on a mission. He discovers a madman Mr Schubert (Victor Buono) who plans to develop an underwater kingdom and wants to destroy life on dry land.
Man from Atlantis was inspired by The Six Million Dollar Man. Stripped of the nostalgia value, the pilot movie is slow going.
You have a navy hack ordering Mark around when it is not yet clear if he can even speak English. There are Naval people trying to Mark going into the sea, when Mark just needed to jump over the small walk bridge.
The central plot is straight out of a James Bond movie, The Spy Who Loved Me that was also released in 1977.
To be fair the production values are very good especially the set of the underwater lair. Some of the special effects are good for US television. Duffy looks fetching in his yellow swimming trunks even though he probably felt silly walking around with them on.
Overall this is just a fair pilot. However this is just a bit too campy and silly.