Thirty years ago this month , NBC did something that it rarely does : It seek to launch a young sci - fi TV series . The internet that run away the originalStar TrekandQuantum Leap(both versions ) has n’t always had the adept of circumstances with science fiction . depend up NBC ’s 2005 sci - fi seriesSurfacefor an example of what pass off when the Peacock internet tries to imitate another internet ’s slay writing style show . That ’s why it was so noteworthy that NBC tried to do something unlike in November 1994 with a show calledEarth 2 .
During its single season on tv set , Earth 2wasn’t simply another Star Trek clone . If anything , it seemed more reminiscent of Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry ’s initial verbal description of his show as a “ Wagon Trainto the lead . ”Earth 2‘s God Almighty Billy Ray , Michael Duggan , Carol Flint , and Mark Levin come up with a story that resembled a frontier fib as a grouping of settler struggled to survive on a world very much like our own … but with alien creatures that were native habitant of that planet .
Earth 2was a gamble from the scratch line at a time when sci - fi series were rarified , especially on web TV . But that gamble did n’t work out and the show was invalidate . Three decade later , it ’s grueling to find oneself anyone who ever watchedEarth 2 , especially since so many shows have total after it . We ’re not going to reason thatEarth 2is some lose classic of the genre . In fact , it ’s moderately rough by modern standard . However , this is a show that deserves to be think for some of the ways it pushed sci - fi TV forward .
Partners with Darwin
We ca n’t spill the beans aboutEarth 2without bring upSeaQuest DSV , a sci - fi serial that premiered on NBC in 1993 . FutureFarscapecreator Rockne S. O’Bannon also created this family - favorable science fiction series , which featuredJawsstar Roy Scheider in the leading role as Captain Nathan Bridger , the command officer of a titulary submarine in the then far - off year of 2018 .
Steven Spielberg produced the first two seasons of this show through his Amblin Television streamer , and the serial publication initially had a much lighter touch than its later stories . The late Jonathan Brandis was in brief a teenager perfection sensation for his part as a youthful genius , Lucas Wolenczak , and the show even had a dolphinfish named Darwin who could communicate with the crew .
BecauseSeaQuest DSVwas initially a hit for NBC , the web wanted a show that could air on the same Nox as a companion series . That ’s ultimately howEarth 2 , which was was also produced by Amblin TV , land at the web . Although Spielberg was n’t flat involved in this serial , some of the themes fromEarth 2resurfaced inTerra Nova , another Spielberg - produced sci - fi drama that premier on Fox nearly two decennary later .
alas for everyone affect , Earth 2was not the hitting thatSeaQuest DSVwas , and it was canceled after only a undivided season . But with 21 episodes , it lasted a mass longer than the median streaming serial . As forSeaQuest DSV , that show only ran for three season due to decline ratings . But that ’s a account for another time .
Life on another planet
LikeSeaQuest DSV , Earth 2also took place in the future tense , but almost two centuries after its comrade series . More adventurous Lord might have been tempt to narratively link the two show , specially since the barren Earth ofEarth 2represents the failure of the SeaQuest ’s crew to stop up and protect our populace ’s surroundings . But that might have been too downbeat forSeaQuest . The reason the colonists leave Earth for space is because their world could no longer digest human lifetime on a massive scale . Their only promise was to incur a new world that could .
That man turn out to be a planet called G889 , a close , but not an exact peer for the earth they leave behind . The colony ’s leader , Devon Adair ( Debrah Farentino ) , was a billionaire who had the resourcefulness to finance an expedition send for The Eden Project to colonize this new world . However , the mission became a cataclysm almost straightaway after their ship arrived and crashed on the planet . That left the colonists without many of their supplies , and only a modified time to reach their planned landing site before the rest of the dependency families make it . They also learn that the Council — the administration body that controlled humanity after its exodus from Earth — want to exert its control over G889 as well .
Earth 2 was ahead of its time
vomit up Farentino as Devon madeEarth 2one of the first sci - fi series to feature an actress as a show ’s leading performing artist . Kate Mulgrew excellently played Captain Kathryn Janeway onStar Trek : Voyager , but that series did n’t debut until January 1995 , two month afterEarth 2‘s premiere .
While that represented a major step frontward , Earth 2‘s reliable share to the genre was its serialized storytelling . Because of the nature of the colonist ’ mission , each sequence assume place in chronological order , as opposed to episodes that could be aired in a haphazard fashion . That was what often materialize with the Star Trek series from this era . Babylon 5embraced serialization originally in 1994 , but even that show ’s tarradiddle did n’t always flux directly into each other until the 2nd and third seasons .
world 2actually has a lot more in common withLostthan any of its coeval . The island onLostmay not have had alien creatures , but both appearance were about character who were try out to survive while trapped in a mysterious landscape . Lostoften shift view among the main quality , whichEarth 2also did . It might be a stretching to say thatEarth 2influenced one of the most defining genre show of a multiplication . But some of those law of similarity are uncanny .
The guest cast was particularly impressive
speak ofLost , one of the stars of that show , Terry O’Quinn , had a recurring role onEarth 2as Reilly , the inter-group communication for Dr. Julia Heller ( Jessica Steen ) , the traitor within Devon ’s group . Among the regular plaster cast , Steen was one of the most - challenging to watch because of Julia ’s split loyalties .
And when Devon and the others learned the truth about Julia ’s ties to the Council , they deal with her in a manner that was shocking for the clip . Basically , they abandoned Julia and go out her to become flat . That banishment did n’t last long , but that was a nifty ending for the episode in question .
Tim Curry actually bear witness up in the early episodes asEarth 2‘s first real baddie : Gaal . He claimed to be an spaceman who had gate-crash on the planet , but Gaal was actually a criminal who had been sent to G889 when it was used by the Council as a penal colony .
That piece of selective information allowedEarth 2to rotate in some more client stars . Among the famous actor who appeared wereCandymanstar Virginia Madsen and Rockmond Dunbar , who had major roles on9 - 1 - 1andPrison Break .
Aside from Farentino and Steen , the other primary mold member ofEarth 2who stood out was Clancy Brown . In most of his other projects , Brown has been typecast as a baddie . But in this show , Brown ’s John Danziger was a unmarried father who was the protector of his fellow colonists . Brown is swell in almost everything he does , and he elevated his part in the series every time he was on the screen .
Dream-timing with aliens
The thing to keep in thinker aboutEarth 2is that the humans are the aliens on major planet G889 . The two elementary species encountered on the planet are the gremlin - same Grendlers and the Terrians , who can ostensibly move through the soil at will .
Some of the colonist were able to shew trade with the Grendlers , but the Terrians never at once spoke . or else , they relied on telepathic dreaming connexion they made with Devon ’s son , Ulysses Adair ( Joey Zimmerman ) , and a pilot , Alonzo Solace ( Antonio Sabàto , Jr. ) . Those two role had the dreamlike encounters with the Terrians that allowed them to bridge over the gap between the two species .
It was also shown that Ulysses had an unbreakable link with the Terrians , and his well - being calculate on theirs . Those were scheme touches that were only partly explored in the show ’s single season .
The unresolved cliffhanger
AlthoughEarth 2was serialized , two of the episode did n’t atmosphere in their intend order . Episodes 6 and 20 would n’t make their broadcast debut until after the season coda . Because the show was canceled , that call on out to be the serial publication finale as well . Episode 21,All About Eve , really conclude some of the show ’s long - run subplots about Reilly ’s identity operator and the Council ’s schedule for the colonists . More significantly , it set up a story that would have in all probability been a major focal point for season 2 .
Near the end of the episode , Devon is warned that the planet itself will resist its human settler . Like a canary in a coal mine , Devon ’s rapidly deteriorate condition proves that this hypothesis was accurate . Devon ’s dependency has no way to save her other than by position her in stasis . That ’s where the show forget her , and the series as well . IfEarth 2had been renewed , it ’s very probable that Devon would have been come to very early in season 2 . But without a renewal , the show ends on a very ominous note and a cliffhanger that will never be resolved .
The future of Earth 2
Needless to say , there has n’t been a muckle of activity withEarth 2since the show was canceled in 1995.Ten years later , Earth 2was released on DVD , which revived some interest in the series . Those DVDs are still available on Amazon and eBay , if you ’re willing to compensate above - market place prices for phonograph record that are nearly two decades old .
Earth 2was in brief streamed on Netflix , but it ’s no longer uncommitted through any digital electric receptacle . There are complete installment on YouTube , but the quality of the TV is frightful . It ’s just not an idealistic way to watch over the series . Universal and Amblin still own the series , and they could theoretically send it back to streaming someday .
But the reality is that there just is n’t much requirement to revisit these characters and this story . Not every dealership gets a 2nd chance . And unless something drastic change , the only people who are going to rememberEarth 2are the viewing audience who see it when it was fresh 30 years ago .
