Even though it hit in 1981 I think The Greatest American Hero fits snugly into this trope. Aliens give Ralph a superman suit, but he loses the user manual (amnesia) . Ralph Hinckley is a classic liberal school teacher and so is his lawyer girlfriend and all moral judgement is seen through that lens. Robert Culp plays the FBI handler. The cosmic joker sync is that a certain John Hinckley Jr. shot Ronald Reagan on nearly the same date as the premier. William Katt (TGAH) auditioned for and was seriously considered for the role of Luke Skywalker, which proves that there really is a Force.
Even though it hit in 1981 I think The Greatest American Hero fits snugly into this trope. Aliens give Ralph a superman suit, but he loses the user manual (amnesia) . Ralph Hinckley is a classic liberal school teacher and so is his lawyer girlfriend and all moral judgement is seen through that lens. Robert Culp plays the FBI handler. The cosmic joker sync is that a certain John Hinckley Jr. shot Ronald Reagan on nearly the same date as the premier. William Katt (TGAH) auditioned for and was seriously considered for the role of Luke Skywalker, which proves that there really is a Force.
I was about to say the same thing! This show immediately came to mind as I was reading.
"...there’s something charming about that era’s earnest belief that the future would arrive to scold us lovingly into enlightenment.
They were wrong, of course."
***Looks around at the Longhouse***
Were they, Mr. Herald? Were they?
If you pause to think about it, isn't ripe for superversion?
The Future Man arrives, but instead of hippie granola he's one of those prophets that biblically people preferred to kill.
Or he comes with sword like tongue to bring war and division, so wicked is man.
...
...or he has not tuning fork, but trumpet and he is no mortal man...
That's literally the plot of Heinlein's STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND.
Which is not even remotely superversive.
Now this teller feels dirty. Dreadful.
One more overused fiction trope to avoid...