Membership:
Billy Hayes; El
Lincoln; Glo Dinallo;
Johnny B; The
Iceman
Purpose: To learn about their powers and fight crime
Affiliations: Dick Stetmeyer, Humanidyne Institute, Link, Brick Tyler
Enemies: Unknown
Base of Operations: Humanidyne Institute
First Appearance: Misfits of Science #1 "Pilot/Deep Freeze" (NBC, October 4th 1985)
History: Scientists Dr. William Hayes and Dr.Elvin Lincoln were investigating biological anomalies for the Human Investigation Team at the Humanidyne Institute think tank. However their discovery of a man who had survived being frozen for fifty years had their employer, Dr.Strickland, seeing dollar signs. He wanted to use the "Iceman" for military experiments, so he transferred him to a military bunker and shut the HIT down. Discovering from Dr.Momquist, Strickland's predecessor, the military's plans for the Iceman, and that they were illegally working on a neutron beam cannon which could conceivably destroy the world, the two scientist recruited two former patients to break into the base, rescue the captives (Momquist was being held too) and end the experiment.
After a successful first mission, Billy and El were reinstated, and allowed to operate their team out of a basement laboratory in the Institute building, answering to company executive Dick Stetmeyer. When they needed to go out on a case, they would often use the Fundae Sundae, an converted ice cream truck, allowing their colleague, the Iceman, to travel in comfort.
Comments:
A short lived series which only lasted 16 episodes:
-
Pilot (aka Deep Freeze)
-
Your Place or Mayan?
-
Guess What's Coming to Dinner?
-
Lost Link
-
Sort of Looking For Gina
-
Sonar...And Yet So Far
-
Steer Crazy
-
Fumble on the One
-
Twin Engines
-
Grand Theft Bunny
-
Grand Elusion
-
Once Upon a Night
-
Center of Attention
-
Against All Oz
-
The Avenging Angel
-
Three Days of the Blender
After the pilot, the Iceman was never seen again, vanishing without any acknowledgement of his fate. Possibly he went back into suspended animation.
Billy Hayes
Real
Name: William Hayes
Identity/Class: Normal human
Occupation: Scientist
Affiliations: The Misfits of Science, Dick Stetmeyer, Humanidyne Institute, Link, Brick Tyler
Enemies: Unknown
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: None
Base of Operations: Humanidyne Institute
First Appearance: Misfits of Science #1 "Pilot/Deep Freeze" (NBC, October 4th 1985)
Powers/Abilities: Highly intelligent.
History: Billy Hayes was a scientist investigating cases of human anomalies for the Humanidyne Institute. When one of his bosses got involved in unscrupulous and dangerous experiments, Billy and his colleague Elvin gathered a team of "Misfits of Science" to sort things out. Although Billy has no powers of his own, he is considered the leader of the group.
Comments: Billy was played by Dean Paul Martin
Real
Name: Elvin Lincoln
Identity/Class: Human cyborg (has an artificial gland in his neck which releases a mutagenic chemical)
Occupation: Scientist
Affiliations: The Misfits of Science, Dick Stetmeyer, Humanidyne Institute, Link, Brick Tyler
Enemies: Unknown
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: None
Base of Operations: Humanidyne Institute
First Appearance: Misfits of Science #1 "Pilot/Deep Freeze" (NBC, October 4th 1985)
Powers/Abilities: Able to shrink to a height of less than a foot (7' to 9") for approximately quarter of an hour at a time. Since the serum doesn't work on his clothes, her usually carries outfits taken from action figures around with him.
History: Elvin "El" Lincoln was a scientist investigating human anomalies. His initial interest had stemmed from his own "anomaly" - he had a problem with his pituitary gland, and had been six foot tall when he entered 7th grade; by the time he finished growing he was 7'4". His particular area of research was studying growth patterns. El started by working on infant animals, using hormones to control their growth into adulthood; next he worked on adult animals, eventually discovering a way to temporarily reduce their size using a serum he developed. Developing an artificial gland which could produce and dispense the serum, he (somewhat recklessly) had it implanted in his own neck, just above the shoulder blades. When he touched the gland, it would release the serum and he would shrink to less than a foot in height, for approximately 15 minutes.
Working alongside Bully Hayes at the Humanidyne Institute, he joined his colleague in assembling some Misfits of Science when his bosses proved to be involved in dangerous military research.
Comments: El was played by Kevin Peter Hall.
Glo
Real
Name: Gloria Dinallo
Identity/Class: Human mutant, possibly human / extra-terrestrial hybrid
Occupation: Delinquent
Affiliations: The Misfits of Science, Dick Stetmeyer, Humanidyne Institute, Link, Brick Tyler
Enemies: Unknown
Known Relatives: Unnamed father (whom she believed had been an alien)
Aliases: None
Base of Operations: Humanidyne Institute
First Appearance: Misfits of Science #1 "Pilot/Deep Freeze" (NBC, October 4th 1985)
Powers/Abilities: Telekinetic. Her powers were unpredictable, and she couldn't always consciously control them.
History: Gloria "Glo" Dinallo believed her father had been an alien. To her mind, this was the explanation for the telekinetic powers she possessed. Unfortunately her lack of conscious control had caused her to gain a police record for vandalism and assault, labelling her a delinquent and landing her in the custody of a probation officer, Jane Miller. A former patient of Billy Hayes, she was recruited by the scientist into his Misfits of Science. Her desire to stay on the team was influenced not a little by her interest in fellow member, Johnny B.
Comments: Gloria was played by Courtney Cox
Real
Name: John Bukowski
Identity/Class: Human mutate
Occupation: Rock musician
Affiliations: The Misfits of Science, Dick Stetmeyer, Humanidyne Institute, Link, Brick Tyler
Enemies: Unknown
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: None
Base of Operations: Humanidyne Institute
First
Appearance: Misfits of Science #1 "Pilot/Deep Freeze" (NBC, October 4th
1985)
Powers/Abilities: Able to generate electricity, allowing him to throw balls of lightning. Also able to move at superhuman speed for short periods. Contact with water could short his powers, causing potentially fatal burns.
History: Following a freak accident during a concert, when his electrical guitar shorted out and hit him with 20.000 volts, rock musician Johnny B discovered he could now attract, absorb and discharge large amounts of electricity. Finding that water could cause a potentially fatal short circuit, he retired from the music business and sought help from Dr. Billy Hayes, who recruited the rocker for his Misfits of Science.
Comments: Johnny B was played by Mark Thomas Miller
Iceman
Real
Name: Arnold Biefneiter
Identity/Class: Human mutate
Occupation: Maintenance worker
Affiliations: The Misfits of Science, Dick Stetmeyer, Humanidyne Institute, Link, Brick Tyler
Enemies: Unknown
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: None
Base of Operations: Humanidyne Institute
First Appearance: Misfits of Science #1 "Pilot/Deep Freeze" (NBC, October 4th 1985)
Powers/Abilities:
Able to generate intense cold and ice. Heat is now extremely painful to him
and potentially fatal with prolonged exposure.
History: Arnold Biefneiter was a maintenance worker back in the 1930s. In 1937, while working in one of Howard Hughes' warehouses, he came across an unusual box-like object; curiosity got the better of him, and he climbed inside, not realising it was an experimental cryogenic chamber. It was fifty years before he was found, when new owners were having the warehouse cleared out. Believing they had discovered a corpse, his discoverers handed him over to the police. Intending to autopsy him, the police opened the chamber, only to be stunned when he began to thaw out and tried to talk. He was swiftly sent to the researchers at the Humanidyne Institute, who tried to fully dethaw him before they discovered that his body had adapted and could no longer tolerate heat. He briefly fell into the hands of the military, before he was rescued by Dr.Billy Hayes "Misfits of Science"
Comments: Played by Mickey Jones. The Iceman had suffered some brain damage during his freezing, and his memory had been damaged - the only thing he clearly remembered was Amelia Earhart. He stayed in a giant freezer at the Institute. After the series pilot he wasn't seen or mentioned again - either he went back to sleep, or the team decided he couldn't accompany them safely on missions, given his problems with heat (in real world terms, his absence might have been down to his sharing a name with a copyrighted character in the X-Men).