Action Man (1995 TV series)

Action Man is a children's animated/live-action television series, created by DIC Productions, L.P. and Bohbot Entertainment, which originally aired on the latter's Amazin' Adventures syndicated block. The cartoon is based on the Hasbro toy line of the same name. The show also featured live action segments before and after the main show, which were filmed at Universal Studios Hollywood and Florida.

Plot
Action Man is a member of an elite multinational task force named Action Force who fight against the terrorist Dr. X and his "Council of Doom". Action Man is also portrayed as being an amnesiac who is trying to unlock the mystery of his past.

Cast

 * Mark Griffin as Action Man / Matthew Exler
 * Rolf Leenders as Doctor X / Dorian Exler
 * Joely Collins as Natalie Poole
 * Dale Wilson as Knuck Williams
 * Iris Quinn as Vira
 * Richard Cox as Jacques
 * David Hay as Professor Gangrene
 * Garry Chalk as Secretary Norris

Additional cast

 * Nigel Bennett
 * Lisa Bunting
 * Christopher Gaze
 * Chris Humphreys
 * David Morse
 * Colin Murdock
 * Rick Poltaruk
 * Simon Pidgeon
 * William Samples
 * Devon Sawa
 * Paulina Gillis
 * Andrew Francis
 * Mark Hildreth
 * Peter Kelamis
 * Michael Dobson
 * Tracey-Lee Smyth
 * Ingrid Tesch

Toys
The show introduced several new teammates for Action Man which were then made into toys. The action figures of Natalie Poole and Knuck have become very rare collectors items. At Joecon 2010, a convention exclusive Q-Force action figure of Natalie Poole was released.

United States
In November 2001, Lions Gate Home Entertainment and Trimark Home Video released two VHS tapes titled "Secret of Action Man" and "Action Man in Space", containing two episodes each. A DVD also titled Action Man in Space was also released, containing the same four episodes as the VHS's. None of these DVDs contain the live-action segments.

In 2003, Sterling Entertainment released a DVD called "Space Wars". It was re-released by NCircle Entertainment in 2007. As with the Lions Gate releases, this DVD doesn't feature the live-action segments either.

In February 2015, Mill Creek Entertainment released Action Man - The Complete Series on DVD in Region 1 as part of their "Retro TV Toons" series. This marked the first time all episodes of the show had received a DVD release.

United Kingdom
In the United Kingdom, the series was released on VHS by Abbey Home Entertainment/PolyGram and later Just Entertainment and Abbey Home Media.

The episodes were also released on DVD by Abbey Home Media, with two releases from Prism Leisure, but the episodes on the DVDs are in a random order, and many episodes have been released numerous times while several have not been released at all. This has caused confusion amongst many fans.

Other countries
In France, Spain and The Netherlands, VHS tapes of the series were released by Buena Vista Home Entertainment, once again usually containing two episodes.