Earth 2
Entry updated 21 December 2023. Tagged: TV.
US tv series (1994-1995). Amblin Entertainment and Universal Television for NBC. Created by Michael Duggan, Carol Flint, Mark Levin and Billy Ray. Producers: Cleve Landsberg, Chip Masamitsu, Janace Tashjian and Tony To. Cast includes Clancy Brown, Debrah Farentino, Rebecca Gayheart, John Gegenhuber, Antonio Sabàto Jr, Jessica Steen, Sullivan Walker, J Madison Wright and Joey Zimmerman. One season with 21 45-minute episodes including a pilot in two parts. Colour.
2192 CE: a now barely habitable Earth has largely been abandoned in favour of life in orbital Space Habitats. The rich Devon Adair (Farentino) has a young son, Ulysses Adair (Zimmerman), who suffers from a fatal children's disease known as "the syndrome" (see Medicine) and thought to stem from lack of Earth's environment. Adair senior therefore creates the "Eden Project" to colonize G889, an Earth-like planet 22 light years distant (see Colonization of Other Worlds) with herself as commander (see Women in SF). Surviving an initial bomb sabotage attempt by the Council that rules the habitats, the Eden Project Starship travels to G889 and crash-lands there. Adair and survivors proceed to make their way across New Mexico-like terrain (that being the shooting location) to the planned "New Pacifica" colony site. The journey is complicated by multiple encounters with two species of sentient Aliens, lesser alien fauna, and other humans from previous expeditions including Cyborg and Genetically Engineered killers, Council agents – one in fact a Computer program – and reformed survivors of the world's past use as a Prison colony. Issues of colonialism and Slavery (of the more advanced intelligent aliens, the "Terrians", who have a mystic rapport with their planet) are addressed.
Despite a good initial reception and airings in more than a dozen other countries, Earth 2 suffered from falling ratings and was cancelled after a single season. There was a four-disc DVD release of the whole series in 2005.
Tie authors are Melissa Crandall, who novelized the two-part opening story as Earth 2: A Novel (1994); Deborah A Chester with the original story Puzzle (1995) as by Sean Dalton; and John Vornholt with the original story Leather Wings (1995). [DRL]
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