The list of Steph-unfriendly items on our Netflix queue is still quite extensive. Since I've finished all of Friday Night Lights, I've moved onto obscure sci-fi shows that I've piled up on our instant list. First up is a crazy little show called Earth 2.
I LOVED this show when it first aired and I watched it religiously. It's from the mid-90's and it's somewhat cheestastic. The story and most of the characters are interesting, but the delivery is a little hammy. (Why are there so many food-related words with similar meaning? ("I'm totally gonna blog about that!")) Where was I? Oh yes, Earth 2.
It's the year 21-something and Earth is all jacked up environmentally (big surprise), so everyone lives in giant space stations. A new disease has appeared as a result of living like this, called the Syndrome. The main characters are part of the Eden Project which is trying to find a suitable planet to colonize. So they jet out from this giant station headed for the planet G889. Apparently there was some drama when the colony ship left cause someone was trying to delay the launch, but they left anyway. I didn't quite catch the whole story. They then all get in their little cryo beds and head for this planet, which takes 22 years.
They wake up when the ship gets to the planet and as they're approaching, something goes horribly wrong and the ship goes down. They jettison as many supply pods as they can, and most everyone gets in emergency pods and crash on the planet.
At this point I will introduce the characters. We have:
Devon- the leader
Uly (as in, short for "Ulysses", pronounced "Yule-y", as in, "It's Christmas time and that log is very Yule-y")- Devon's son, has the Syndrome and has to wear this crazy bio-suit
Danziger- the engineer/co-leader
True (I don't know what that's short for)- his daughter
Yale- an ex-con-turned-brain-washed-cyborg/tutor/spiritual leader
Morgan & Bess Martin- the couple (Bess is played by Rebecca Gayheart)
and finally Alonzo- the cocky pilot
I remembered this show as interesting because it had Sarah Jessica Parker. I find that interesting/odd because of the roles that she's famous for now. Well as it turns out, my memory was wrong because who I thought was SJP is actually this chick, who was also in Armageddon. (Side note: If you were hoping to see SJP in a sci-fi role, go watch Flight of the Navigator. That movie will also make you more awesome.) Well, I was kinda close. But! It does have Rebecca Gayheart. She's not that special, but it was
OMG!!!! So as I sit here watching and writing this blog, who should show up but TERRY O'QUINN!!! WHAT???? It's now even more obvious why this show is awesome, I'll probably make Steph watch it later. And it's funny because I was planning on making connections to LOST anyway, but we're not there yet.
So back to Rebecca Gayheart, I thought it was cool because she was also in Urban Legend and I was totally into the whole teen slasher movie craze back then. Except, as I look back on IMDB, it turns out she was on Earth 2 before Urban Legend. So basically my entire memory of this show makes no sense. I also thought Uly was the kid from Jurassic Park.
Uly in his sick kid suit
Big Tim, the human piece of toastAgain, close but not quite. The big surprise watching this again was the actor who plays John Danziger- Clancy Brown! You know him as good ole' Kelvin Inman:
Back to the story: After getting their stuff together, they set out to find one of their supply pods so they can start heading towards their intended colonization spot called New Pacifica. They get to the pod, which is basically a giant shed, and find that it has been broken into and something has stolen some of their equipment. It is at this point, at the end of the first half of the pilot episode that Danziger looks at the damage and theft of the pod and says, "We're not alone here." And then Charlie says, "Guys, where are we?"
Along the way they discover and native alien race who communicate to Alonzo through dreams. Did I mention he's played by Antonio Sabato Jr.? Well he is.
This is least shirtless picture I could find of this dude.
Along the way they discover and native alien race who communicate to Alonzo through dreams. Did I mention he's played by Antonio Sabato Jr.? Well he is.
This is least shirtless picture I could find of this dude.This alien race travels through the ground much like worms or graboids. Alonzo finds out through their telepathic dream-talk that they're called Terrians. No no, not Terrans, TerrIans. They end up being the big continuing mystery of the show. The colonists keep trying to understand the Terrians in order to learn to survive on this mysterious planet.
There's some internal drama as the pilot and show goes on, addressing such things as the real reason the ship crashed, how to ration water, who's the real leader, etc. The big surprise at the end of the pilot is that there's another human already on the planet!! Who is this character played by? Tim Curry, that's who!
I would post a picture from Stephen King's IT, but that would just be mean.
Morgan Martin (Rebecca Gayheart's husband) fills the role of the whiny/useless character. He's constantly either criticizing everyone else or doing whatever is least helpful to survive. Sound familiar?
So that's my lengthy, rambling overview of Earth 2. I'm not saying that it's the best and you should watch it, but if you did choose to, I would defend you when your friends start calling you lame.
Music of the day: see yesterday, work wasn't great today either, so I kept with the Linkin Park
There's some internal drama as the pilot and show goes on, addressing such things as the real reason the ship crashed, how to ration water, who's the real leader, etc. The big surprise at the end of the pilot is that there's another human already on the planet!! Who is this character played by? Tim Curry, that's who!
I would post a picture from Stephen King's IT, but that would just be mean.The character is crazy/evil, and if anyone can play crazy/evil, it's Tim Curry. This character is way sketchy, like sketchier than an architecture job fair. He fills the role of the crazy mysterious stranger, which is necessary for these shows sometimes.
Morgan Martin (Rebecca Gayheart's husband) fills the role of the whiny/useless character. He's constantly either criticizing everyone else or doing whatever is least helpful to survive. Sound familiar?
So that's my lengthy, rambling overview of Earth 2. I'm not saying that it's the best and you should watch it, but if you did choose to, I would defend you when your friends start calling you lame.
Music of the day: see yesterday, work wasn't great today either, so I kept with the Linkin Park
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