Barely Remembered: Pole Position

Originally posted October, 2016.

Pole Position is one of those shows that's really on the outskirts of my memories. There's only one time I can recall having watched even part of an episode, and even then, the details have become a bit sketchy over the last 35 years or so. I remember it being at a friend's house one Saturday morning, but I can't recall if it was with Wendell or if it was after his family moved someplace and my buddy Nick and his family moved into that same house. I can't even recall the specifics of the episode.

Funny thing is, though, there are quite a few things I do remember about the show in spite of having never really watched it all that much. The general premise of this show was that a pair of sibling race car drivers, a brother and sister, were taken into a secret quasi-governmental spy program after their parents were killed somehow. The races were usually meant as covers for whatever missions the pair were on.

If I try hard enough, I can picture the cars in my mind, though I have trouble actually describing them. Something I do have a better memory of is the onboard computers the cars came equipped with when the heroes took their job with the spy service. I remember them having what we thought artificial intelligence might be like back then, with their own personalities suited to whichever tasks they were supposed to be specialized in, as they were both different. I recall them having little pixelated 8-bit faces in their primary modes as well. I know they both had names, but the only one I recall of hand is Roadie. I also remember that the AI units may well have been portable to some extent, as I do recall them being taken out of the cars to be shown things.

One of the more interesting tidbits here is that it was based on a racing game for either whatever Atari system was current at the time or the very early NES, if not both. Given the nature of the game, it was quite the thing for the show to have developed plots and story lines going on, because at the time, video game plots didn't usually get more involved than the simple “rescue the princess” sort of thing we saw in the various Mario games or “win races and be a champ” like the Pole Position game the show was based on.

As for how much I may have watched this show, I can't really say. I'm sure I did at least try to sit through more than the one episode I mentioned above, but I can't really remember any other times because I'd have more than likely been at home at the time, and this was one of the shows that was either on a different channel or at a time when I was supposed to be goofing off outside instead of in front of the television.

Really, I think I've said everything I can, by now, that would be of much use without going to more effort than would probably be necessary for this particular series. It was certainly an interesting show, with some cool, if very 1980s, ideas to it. I just wish I could remember more about it than I actually do. I may have to check it out sometime, just to see if it's what I'm thinking of.