Man from Atlantis
American science fiction television series
Man from Atlantis is an American superhero television series that ran on the NBC network from 1977 to 1978. It began as four TV movies that aired in Spring 1977. The movies achieved high ratings which led to the commissioning of a weekly series for the 1977–78 season, but it was cancelled after 13 episodes due to a declining audience and high production costs.
Series description
The series stars Patrick Duffy as an injured amnesiac man found on a beach after a storm. He possesses exceptional abilities, including the ability to breathe underwater and withstand extreme depth pressures, the ability to understand cetaceans, and superhuman strength. His hands and feet are webbed, his eyes are unusually sensitive to light, and he swims using his arms and legs in a fashion similar to a dolphin kick. Dr. Elizabeth Merrill, working at the Naval Undersea Center, a US Navy research facility, is the first to realize his nature and helps him return to health. She enters all known data into a computer, which speculates that he is the "last citizen of Atlantis ? ?
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Man from Atlantis” is american science fiction television series. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Atlantis, American and science, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “american science fiction television series” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Object files, edition statements, performance records and contemporary criticism preserve different stages of the work’s history. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 10, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1195481. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1977 and 1978.
Later fame can flatten the distinction between original context, subsequent adaptation and institutional collecting history. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.
- Identifying works and editions
- Tracing reception history
- Finding collection records
The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Man from Atlantis”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Man from Atlantis primary sources, Man from Atlantis archive and Atlantis research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Man from Atlantis”?
- How did later circulation or interpretation alter the work’s reception?
- Which edition, object, performance or recording is being described?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Man from Atlantis” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.