'Enterprise' among four new sci-fi shows debuting in fall
By Mike Hughes
Gannett News Service
Fantasy is forever and science fiction continues as the basis for many new shows.
United Paramount Network
The fall season brings new episodes of several shows whose air times are subject to change. There's Fox's "Dark Angel" and "X-Files," UPN's "Roswell," the WB's "Angel," and UPN's "Special Unit 2" and "Buffy, the Vampire Slayer."
UPN's "Enterprise" is set a century before the original "Star Trek." Unlike previous series, the cast won't be meeting lots of alien species, the show's producer says.
There will also be four new sci-fi shows.
"Smallville" (Superman as an angst-ridden teen) on WB, "Wolf Lake" (shape-changers in a small Northwestern town) on CBS and "The Tick" (a live-action version of the droll cartoon about a giant blue crimefighter) on Fox.
And let's not forget the highly anticipated two-hour debut of "Enterprise" Sept. 26 at 8 p.m., on UPN.
That's the new "Star Trek" series. Its crew — led by Scott Bakula and Jolene Blalock — starts a pioneering voyage a century before the first "Star Trek" of Captain James T. Kirk. Think of it as a prequel.
"The Kirks of the world tended to take meeting alien races for granted," says producer Rick Berman. "This was their daily work.
"For these seven (characters on "Enterprise"), it's a pretty spooky occasion. It's always something that's filled with awe and excitement."
Until "Enterprise" arrives, however, sci-fi fans can feel semi-satiated with the all those new cable shows on weekends.
At one extreme there's the loopy approach of Sci-Fi's "Lexx," a tale of marauders who keep blowing up planets. This year, alas, they've reached the planet Earth.
"They seem to like a very twisted kind of humor," Sci-Fi network president Bonnie Hammer says approvingly of the show's Canadian creators. "It's clever, fun writing."
At the other extreme is "The Invisible Man." Going far from the original H.G. Wells notion, it makes the central character an angry rebel who's reluctant to help the government. Vincent Ventresca ("Boston Common," "Prey") stars as a man overwhelmed by the possibilities being invisible bring.
Somewhere between those extremes is "Farscape." Its stories — with a spaceship visiting other worlds — are fairly standard, but its look is not. Created by Jim Henson Television, "Farscape" is filled with awesome beings crafted by the Henson company's Creature Shop.
"The original idea was to do a series that could test the limits of the Creature Shop," says Brian Henson, who took over the company from his late father. The series became wildly expensive, especially on a cable budget.
"It's always on the edge," Henson says. "It's always a fight to keep it going."
Along the way, however, the show has drawn a loyal audience.
"I think it's just going to keep getting bigger," Henson says. "And then it's going to spin off into a movie franchise."
That would bring the company back to where it was decades ago when Jim Henson directed the stylish movies "Labyrinth" and "Dark Crystal."
For now, however, his son is content putting whimsy on cable, where — especially in the summer — it's appreciated.
