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The premise is simple: A Martian astronaut, played by Ray Walston, is stranded on Earth when his saucer crashes. He is taken in by a kindly but not too bright earthling (Bill Bixby). 'Uncle Martin' fortunately looks just like a human being except for two "rabbit ear"-style antennae which emerge from his head at odd moments. He has some special powers but not enough to keep himself and his human sidekick out of trouble with their feather-brained landlady and her suspicious love interest. Nor is he able to repair his saucer, hidden in the garage, possibly because he's a pilot not a mechanic.
It was also made into a movie in 1999, starring Christopher Lloyd as Uncle Martin.
- Achievements in Ignorance: Lampshaded in one episode, when Uncle Martin explains to Tim why he's so concerned about their landlady's new private detective hobby:
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"An amateur is infinitely more dangerous than a professional. If Alexander Graham Bell had been a professional electrician, he would never have invented the telephone -- he would have known it was impossible!" |
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- Alien Among Us: Uncle Martin, natch.
- Animated Adaptation: A 1973-1975 Filmation series, My Favorite Martians.
- Amusing Alien
- Cowboy Episode: The 2-parter "Go West, Young Martian"
- Fantastic Comedy: One of the Trope Codifiers, in fact.
- Flying Saucer: Martin's spacecraft. It's smaller than an Italian sports car (with much the same lines), and fits easily in Tim's garage.
- Human Aliens
- Idiot Ball: It's a 1960s sitcom, so the idiot ball is a frequent accessory for everyone, but a special mention has to be made of an episode where Martin's (real) nephew has blown the Masquerade and the rest of the cast, in a Torches and Pitchforks frenzy, confuses a Time Machine for a Time Bomb, mainly because they both have "time" in their names.
- Invisibility: Martin could turn invisible when he raised his antennae.
- It Only Works Once: Anything that gets Martin's spaceship working again. The Time Machine in the "nephew Andy" episode.
- Literal Split Personality: In one episode, one of Uncle Martin's machines gets struck by lightning, splitting him into triplets: one who agrees with everything, one who disagrees with everything, and one who can never make up his mind.
- Mind Over Matter: Martin can move things with his mind.
- Monster Roommate: Loosely speaking. Martin's far from a monster, as condescending as he can be about earthlings.
- Pstandard Psychic Pstance
- Psychic Powers: In addition to invisibility, Martin could read minds and levitate objects.
- Reset Button: A literal one ends the episode with Martin's nephew Andy, when Martin sets off a Time Machine to undo Andy's revelation of their true nature.
- Secret-Chaser/Nosy Neighbor: Lorelei Brown
- Stop Trick: At least Once an Episode, and usually more often.
- Witch Hunt: In the episode with Martin's (genuine) nephew Andy, after he carelessly reveals their true nature, the rest of the cast lay siege to Tim, Martin and Andy.
- Worthless Yellow Rocks: Tim O'Hara accidentally breaks some ordinary drinking glasses, and Uncle Martin muses that it's a pity because on Mars, objects made from glass are exceptionally valuable. (This despite glass being made from sand, which Mars has in vast abundance.)