Sci Fi Genre Gems: Carnivale (2003)

Created By: Daniel Knauf
Cast: Nick Stahl, Michael J. Anderson, Clancy Brown, Adrienne Barbeau, Tim DeKay
Aired: 2003-05 (2 Seasons Totaling 24 Episodes)

Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars (Highest Rating)

What Is It?  This unique supernatural series delivered an epic story that centered around a traveling carnival making its way through Dust Bowl America in the days of the Great Depression.  The focal character is chain gang refugee Ben Hawkins (Nick Stahl) who has healing powers that he doesn’t understand and who joins up with the carnival when it happens by shortly after his mother dies (he is allowed to join because the mysterious, unseen “management” permits it, and we find out later that his parents had a history with the carnival).  Also important to the overall arc is the story of Brother Justin Crowe (played by Clancy Brown with his trademark sincere malevolence) who has the power to control others and manipulate their fears.  Both Ben and Brother Justin share prophetic dreams that they find troubling and that they do not understand.  And neither of them realize that events have been set in motion that will result in their paths crossing at some point in the future.

Why It Stands Out:   Carnivale delivered a rare entry among genre shows that mixed intricately plotted stories, a fully realized setting, and complex, morally ambiguous characters into an ongoing arc that presented the viewer with challenging and engaging television.

At a time when HBO was looking to expand on its original programming and distinguish itself from the episodic fare on the broadcast and cable networks, they took a flyer on this series and delivered one of the most original dramas the genre has known.  It’s really hard to sum up this series, and my synopsis above barely scrapes the surface.  That highlights the primary story arc, but neglects the many, intertwined sub-stories and the colorful cast of characters that help the show stand out as well as the production design that gave it such a gritty, realistic feel.

Carnivale had an epic scope to its tale, as it presented us with a riveting saga of free will vs. destiny, but then it also had many intimate, human aspects to its story as well.  Hawkins and Brother Justin may have been the main focus, but the ancillary characters don’t just fade into the background or provide filler action to pad out the hour.  Each of them come alive and offer their own stories and the actors do more than just play the roles, that actually become the characters.  All involved with this series bring their A-game and help propel it into a rare, nearly flawless production.

True, the show could be somewhat slow at times and the stories were definitely dense.  But this rarely bogs it down, it just encourages the discerning viewer to dive more deeply into the episodes.  And there are many layers to be unraveled here as creator Daniel Knauf works in religious themes along with bits of mysticism to flesh out the mysteries laced into the overall story.  This is a challenging show, awash with moral ambiguities and some not particularly likeable characters, but that never works against the story, only makes it that much more inticing.  And then there’s that driving, alluring soundtrack by Jeff Beal that beat Battlestar Galactica to the punch in incorporating Eastern-tinged musical themes to add to the dark ambiance of the show.

Knauf originally envisioned this as a trilogy of “books” with each book comprising two seasons.  And the series initially bowed to very strong ratings, but would see its numbers drop across its two season run and would find itself truncated after completing only one of the three books.  HBO actually wanted to continue the series, but it had grown too expensive and they insisted that the producers would have to cut the budget for it to come back for a third season.  A deal could not be worked out, and the show ended after completing only twenty four episodes.  Knauf has since indicated that the full story of Carnivale will probably never be told, though I hope he will change his mind on that.  I would love it if he would at least continue this in novel format so that he could complete the story and provide it with the full embellishment  and resolution it deserves.

For genre fans who missed out on this one, it is available on DVD and you can also stream it for free with Amazon Prime membership.  I highly recommend you seek it out, and don’t be too concerned about the story leaving you hanging as the final episode of Season 2 provides a resolution of sorts, even if it does leave you wanting more.  It’s definitely worth your time to watch the full series as it provides a rare example of a first-rate genre production that avoids the compromises we see all too often from Prime Time fare.

Interesting Facts:  Not only is Carnivale a rare example of a first-rate, uncompromising genre series, it’s also a rare case where a newcomer breaks into television with his own series.  Daniel Knauf originally drafted a script for his story with the intention that it would play on the big screen.  But it was too long to run as a movie and he also felt that could not cover the full breadth of his intended story in that format.  He later adapted part of the script as a pilot for a TV series and posted it out on his website.  It was discovered by producer Howard Klein who sold HBO on the idea of the series.  (And I’m sure that after reading this, many aspiring writers are now going to start posting their scripts up on the web in hopes of also getting discovered!)

Those wondering where they previously saw diminutive actor Michael J. Anderson who plays carnival manager Samson, need only go back and watch the first episode of Twin Peaks.  Anderson played the dancing dwarf (aka "The Man from Another Place") in that series.

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Sci Fi Genre Gems: E-Man (1970’s Comic Book Series)

What Is It?  In this short-lived series from Charlton Comics, we are introduced to the superhero E-Man, a sentient being of pure energy created out of a super-nova.  This being traveled through the galaxy and came in contact with Earth, where he meets the human Nova Kane and decides to take human form himself as a superhero.  The two then set off on action-packed adventures fighting villains that threaten the planet.

Why Does It Stand Out?  This whimsical little series hit the stands at a time before superheroes had gone dark and grim and it delivered a fun set of comic book tales with a sci fi bent.

The Skinny: Co-creator Nicola Cuti had the idea of creating a superhero similar to the whimsical Golden Age character Plastic Man, and artist Joe Staton helped bring to life this modern hero with a sense of fun.  The transformable E-Man would morph into any of a numbers of shapes as needed, not dissimilar from his Golden Age predecessor.  But it was the banter between E-Man and his opponents as well as side kick / partner Nova Kane (she would later become a superhero herself) that made this strip so much fun.  Unlike the revivals of this character that would appear in the 80’s and 90’s, this series was less interested in parody, and more in just telling a good fun tale.

It would also introduce the private eye character Mike Mauser who would later get his own series, plus it also had regular backup stories that highlighted tryout characters for Charlton.  Steve Ditko’s Mr. A-like character Killjoy showed up in two issues and John Byrne’s Rog 2000 also had several appearances.  Unfortunately, E-Man would only last for ten issues in its original run.  The sales for the book were not great and the publisher decided to cancel the series, though the character would have a final appearance from its original creative team in the fourth issue of the Charlton Bullseye fanzine.

E-Man would live on in the decades that followed with several revivals at other publishers, but in my opinion those never quite matched up its original run that was quirky and funny and just trying to tell some good fun comic book tales.  The first ten issues have yet to be collected in a trade paperback, but they recently appeared in eBook format available through Amazon.com and Comixology.  You can also find the back issues pretty easily and you won't have to spend an arm and a leg on them.

Did You Know?  Joe Staton based E-Man’s face on James Bond actor Roger Moore which he described as “charming and heroic looking, but kind of generic”.

Sci Fi Genre Gems: It! The Terror from Beyond Space (1958 Movie)

What Is It? This little B-Movie gem came out in 1958 and takes a somewhat realistic look at space travel as it chronicles the consequences of a failed mission to Mars. The first manned rocket crash-landed there, and only the commander survived, claiming that he and his crew were attacked by some sort of creature. A second ship arrives and takes the commander back with them, where Earth authorities plan to Court Martial him.  But the creature boards the ship before it leaves Mars and begins to kill off the ship’s crew members one by one.

Why It Stands Out: This one is a better than average B-Movie and provides us the basic template for movies like Alien and other films where some sort of creature runs amok on a ship picking off the crew.

I rediscovered this movie a few years ago on Netflix, and it's one that all fans of classic sci fi movies  should check out. I’m sure I saw this as a kid because I devoured this sort of thing in my younger years, but it did not stick in my brain so it must not have been part of the regular rotation on the old UHF channels like Them! and The Thing and The Day the Earth Stood Still. Despite its superficial similarities to Alien, Dan O’Bannon denies that It! provided any inspiration for his film (he claimed he wanted to do a darker version of the alien beach ball sequence from his own Dark Star), but it undeniably foreshadows that 1979 movie and you can see where it has been imitated (unintentionally or not) many times since in other genre films.

Apart from its influence and significance in film history, It! is a good, if not spectacular, piece of science fiction film-making. As with many genre films from that time, especially those featuring a monster of some sort, it is a B-Movie through and through. The special effects are rather cheesy, though judiciously used, and the monster himself probably ranks as one of the worst among the more important early genre films, giving us one of the least memorable of the rubber-costume, Halloween-mask baddies of that era (quick check: can you even picture this monster in your head if you have not seen the movie in the past year or so?). But surprisingly, despite its production limitations, It! delivers a halfway decent science fiction tale. The script came from Jerome Bixby who penned many science fiction short stories and also contributed several episodes to The Twilight Zone, Star Trek and several other genre TV shows (and he also wrote the script to one of my all-time favorite science fiction movies The Man from Earth). The movie handles space travel rather intelligently for the time and also gives a plausible explanation for the monster and why it’s such a vicious killer (though not necessarily for why it is so indestructible). On the down side, the acting is nominal, though not bad for a 50’s B-Movie, and the directing and pacing is plodding and slow. But for those like me who love cheesy old sci fi films like this, it’s worth catching. And as B-Movies go, I would rank this rather highly compared to its ilk, maybe 4 or 4 ½ out of 5 stars. But on the larger scale I would give it more like a 3 ½ score.

Don’t go into It! expecting top notch science fiction, and you won’t be disappointed. Just look at it as a decent enough early sci fi cheapie and you will better appreciate its merits. And it only runs 69 minutes, so it won’t take too much of your time to watch. If you already have Netflix streaming, then get it in your queue for when you have an hour to spare and want to revisit an enjoyable little genre film from an age past.

Interesting Facts: The monster was played by Ray "Crash" Corrigan, a frequent western actor who also appeared in many movies dressed in an ape costume including The Ape and Bela Lugosi Meets a Brooklyn Gorilla. It! was Corrigan's last film before he retired. The promo poster for the movie that showed up in many theaters when It! came out (click on image above for larger view) guaranteed $50,000 to the first person who could prove that "It was not on Mars now". Word is that NASA may be trying to claim that prize (that $50k from 1958 is worth about $400k today) to help fund the next Mars mission . . .

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Sci Fi Genre Gems: Gene Roddenberry's The Questor Tapes (1974 TV Pilot)

Directed by: Richard Colla
Produced by: Howie Horwitz, Jeffrey M. Hayes, Gene Roddenberry
Written by: Gene L. Coon, Gene Roddenberry
Cast: Robert Foxworth, Mike Farrell, John Vernan, Lew Ayres, Dana Wynter
Originally Aired: 1974

Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars

What Is It?  Way back in 1974, a television movie from Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry aired called The Questor Tapes which was intended as a pilot for an ongoing series. In the movie, a large government research facility is working on creating an android that closely resembles a human being.  The project was initiated by Dr. Emil Vaslovik who programmed a set of tapes (remember, storage media was still in its infancy in the 70’s) that would be loaded into the android Questor (Robert Foxworth) when he was completed.  Vaslovik, however, disappeared  before the project came to fruition and much of the data on the tapes was erased.  The scientists on hand created their own data bank in its place and tried to load that into Questor’s brain.  This failed, and scientist Jerry Robinson (played by a pre-M*A*S*H Mike Farrell), who had worked very close with Vaslovik throughout the project, insists that they load the original tapes, even though they have missing data.  This also appears to fail.  However, after everybody has left the laboratory thinking their work a failure, Questor activates himself and proceeds to complete his design to take on a human likeness.  He knows that he must find Vaslovik to complete his programming, so he seeks out Robinson to assist him in this task.  This leads the two to London where they find a monitoring station that Vaslovik set up to observe events throughout the world and see how diverse situations might cause synergies that can turn negative outcomes into a positive one.  Questor also finds that from here he would have access to a private jet that could quickly transport him to areas experiencing turmoil.  It is also here that Questor and Robinson find additional clues on the whereabouts of Vaslovik which ultimately leads to Questor discovering that there is more to his origins than originally suspected.

Why It Stands Out:  The pilot presents an interesting, intelligent, well-written science fiction story with a strong concept that could have developed into a potentially great television franchise.

In the years after Star Trek was cancelled, Gene Roddenberry stayed busy in television first working on the Genesis II pilot (which was followed up by Planet Earth) and then turning his attention to The Questor Tapes.  Like his previous to pilots from the 70's, this one delivered a good science fiction story that hearkened back to some of the better episodes from Star Trek: TOS (he brought in Trek veteran Gene L. Coon to help him with the script).  It also had a good central cast in Robert Foxworth and Mike Farrell and it shined above the typical movie-of-the-week fare that the broadcast networks offered in the 70's.  The story in the pilot did have what I thought were a few lapses (I won't go into detail though because they involve spoilers), but that may have been intentional as a setup for stories that would have been explored in the planned series. 

And of course any Star Trek: TNG fans going back and watching this will quickly see that Questor provided the template for the character that would eventually become Data.   He had many of Data’s super-human powers such as the ability to calculate and analyze at great speeds as well as heightened strength and agility, and he also possessed the desire to understand and be more like the humans he resembles. Foxworth’s portrayal of the android was very similar to how Brent Spinner would later bring Data to life, and it seems possible that Spiner drew some influence from this early Roddenberry pilot.  In addition, you can also see where Questor shares some similarities with Spock and offers the logical bridge between the Vulcan of the original Trek and the android of TNG.

NBC actually originally greenlighted The Questor Tapes to series, and if had happened I believe it had a ton of potential so long as Gene Roddenberry stayed at the helm.  He could have assured quality control on the scripts and used the concept to incorporate the same sort of social commentary he worked into Trek episodes.  And a Questor series could have easily rivaled that franchise.  However, Roddenberry found himself at odds with the network when he discovered that they planned on airing the proposed series in the 10 PM EST Friday “deathslot” (the same timeslot that he felt killed off Star Trek).  NBC also wanted to drop the Jerry Robinson character which Roddenberry felt was a mistake (and remember, that network also tried to kick Spock off the bridge of ST: TOS).  These differences in direction led the peacock network to change its mind and pass on the series, so we can only speculate on how it would have unfolded if it went forward the way they planned (and remember that networks in the 70’s tended to prefer ‘fluff” television like The Love Boat and Charlie’s Angels to shows that tried to engage the mind).  I do have to admit that I have a hard time seeing Mike Farrell as the Jerry Robinson character, but that’s probably mostly because I so closely associated with him as B.J. Hunnicutt from M*A*S*H (where he landed after this pilot failed to fly).  Still, I think he would have been able to grow into the role (but then think of how different M*A*S*H would have been).

There was an attempt by long-time Roddenberry associate Herbert J. Wright to revive the concept in the early 00's.  But those stalled when Wright passed away in 2005.  Then in 2010, Roddenberry's son Eugene (aka "Rod") announced that he was working with Imagine Entertainment (owned by Brian Grazer and Ron Howard) on another attempt to get the show off the ground and word was that long-time Whedon collaborator Tim Minear (Firefly, Angel, Dollhouse) would participate as well.  There has been no further news, though, so that appears to be in development Hell for the moment.  And unfortunately,  But The Questor Tapes has finally received a DVD release, so you can at least go back and revisit the original pilot and imagine how the series would have turned out.

Interesting Facts:  There is another link between the Questor character and Data that probably few Trek fans know about. The infamous “fully functional” line that Data used in response to Tasha Yar’s inquiries in the episode “The Naked Now” (referring to his sexual capacity), originated with Questor. He used it in a similar circumstance and it was equally hilarious when he did it nearly fifteen years early (and it must have slipped past the censors as well).

According to Rob Roddenberry, his father "believed that [The Questor Tapes] had the potential to be bigger than Star Trek" and he considered it "the one that got away".

Leonard Nimoy was originally considered for the role of Questor in the 1974 pilot and Rod Roddenberry has mentioned Brent Spiner as his first choice for the character should the revival series happen.

As with many of Gene Roddenberry's productions, Majel Barrett had a role on this pilot.  And Walter Koenig stopped by for a brief appearance as an "Administrative Assistant"

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Sci Fi Genre Gems: Jeremiah (2002 TV Series)

What Is It?  This 2002 post-apocalyptic series which aired on Showtime came to us from Babylon 5 creator J. Michael Straczynski and was loosely based on the Belgian comic strip of the same name.   The basic premise of the series is that a virus (known as “the Big Death”) wiped out almost everybody above the age of puberty leaving only the youth behind to pick of the pieces of a shattered world.  The series starts fifteen years after the plague and focuses on one of the survivors named Jeremiah (Luke Perry) who is traveling across the remains of the United States looking for Valhalla Sector where his father had told him there might be survivors who can help rebuild the world.  Along the way he teams up with another drifter, Kurdy (Malcolm-Jamal Warner), and these two also join up with a group of survivors who have taken over the Cheyenne Mountain complex (“Thunder Mountain”) which used to house NORAD.  This group plans to use their resources to eventually begin rebuilding the world and they use Jeremiah and Kurdy as well as other groups to scout out the country and find bands of survivors that will eventually unite with them.

Why It Stands Out: Jeremiah never received the acclaim of Straczynski’s Babylon 5, but it had many of the same strengths as that show and delivered a well-made, post-apocalyptic series with strong characters, interesting arcs, and some first-rate stories.

The Skinny:  In the early 00’s sci fi was still mostly anathema on the Big Four broadcast networks, but it was finding much more success in the syndication market and on cable.  During this time, the premium cable channels did some experimenting with genre shows and Jeremiah was one of the ones that landed on Showtime (that network also produced one season of Odyssey 5 in 2002 and had produced the first five seasons of Stargate: SG-1 which began in 1997).  This venue allowed these shows to expand into more adult themes than what the broadcast networks or basic cable channels would explore, and Jeremiah definitely took advantage of the freedom allowed to it.  Not just by amping up the sex and violence (though it did do that), but also by presenting challenging tales that didn’t necessarily lead to the nice, tidy sort of wrap up that Prime Time television typically prefers.

J. Michael Straczynski was of course no stranger to these type of stories as he had already explored some of the same territory with his five plus year run on the Babylon 5 franchise, and he continued very much in the same vein with Jeremiah.  The series began with more of an episodic feel (similar to the first season of B5) as it followed Jeremiah and Kurdy travelling across post-apocalyptic America, and it was in these episodes that Straczynski (as well as some of the other writers who contributed to the show) managed to deliver some hard-hitting tales rife with moral quandaries and challenging ideas (similar to the path that show's like The Walking Dead and Game of Thrones are currently trailblazing).

The second season of Jeremiah changed the format up some as it became much less episodic, and the overall feel of the show seemed to shift as well.  It became more story arc driven, but also less intense and less focused on the moral quandaries presented during year one.  The show's studio MGM had started tinkering with it which led to frictions between them and Straczynski, and that—along with less than spectacular ratings—led to the series getting cancelled after its second season.  JMS had plenty of advance notice on the cancellation, though, so the series does resolve most of its ongoing arcs.  But there was still plenty more story there to tell as JMS had originally envisioned a five year arc for the show.  Still, the show’s two seasons managed to accomplish a lot and it deserves much more recognition than it has received over the past ten plus years.

Notable Stars: Luke Perry, Malcolm-Jamal Warner, Sean Astin, Peter Stebbings, Joanne Kelly

Did You Know:  According to IMDb.com, J. Michael Straczynski was so displeased with his experience working with MGM on the series because of the tight grip they maintained over the production that he claimed that he would never work with them again under that administration.

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Sci Fi Genre Gems: Space Rangers

What Is It?  This short-lived 1993 television series followed the adventures of a misfit band of the Space Rangers Corps stationed on the edge of the explored galaxy at Fort Hope.   They must defend the colonists in their sector from menaces like inter-stellar bandits, an alien race known as the Banshees, and the most dangerous threat of all: budget cuts.

Why It Stands Out:  This blink-and-you-missed-it series was no ground-breaker and it definitely served a healthy serving of cheese with its sci fi.  But it was good, raucous fun that drew a bit on Aliens and also hinted at what would come later with Space: Above and Beyond, and it definitely deserved more than its truncated six episode run.

The Skinny: 1993 was an important year for sci fi television with The X-Files gaining a reputation in its first season and Babylon 5 and Star Trek: DS9 getting their launches.  And amidst that, Space Rangers briefly popped onto our screens before slipping  into cult infamy.  It was a cheesy bit of space opera that often over-stepped the reach of its budget limitations (which the rangers themselves had to deal with within the series), but it had an immediate charm with plenty of potential to develop into a sleeper genre series.  It gave us the well-tread trope of a group of intrepid misfits fighting against all odds to defend the colonists who depended on them from the many dangers of deep space.  And it practically stole the aliens from the Alien film franchise, though it gave them a bit of a twist.  And while none of the episodes delivered what could be called first-rate genre scripts, the collection of colorful characters all had their quirky charms that somehow seemed to elevate the stories to the next level.  Space Rangers delivered the usual suspects for a genre show--the grizzled captain, the vicious yet restrained alien, the kick-butt female, the cranky engineer, the green rookie--but the actors demonstrated an affecting chemistry that just made the series work.  And this set of actors also succeeded at getting the most from the limited scripts.  This wasn’t the more intelligent sci fi we were seeing with Babylon 5 and the Star Trek sequel shows, but it mixed humor with a dour grittiness and went down quite easily.  Unfortunately, the show was out of place on the broadcast networks (especially genre-averse CBS) and would have had a much better chance in the syndication market where sci fi TV was reinventing itself at that time.  It only lasted six episodes, but those delivered plenty of shoot-em-up, swashbuckling sci fi fun and are definitely worth seeking out.  And the series finally makes it to DVD just recently, so I highly recommend you give it a look.

Notable Stars: Marjorie Monaghan (Jojo Thorsen), Clint Howard (Dr. Mimmer)

Did You Know:  This series proved very popular abroad which prompted its full release on VHS the year after it came out, one of the first cancelled shows to have that honor.  It later received a DVD release for Region 2 as well.

Marjorie Monaghan (no relation to Dominic) later appeared in several episodes of Babylon 5 as “Number One”, the leader of the Mars resistance.  She also guest-starred on sci fi shows Quantum Leep, Star Trek: Voyager, The Sentinel, The Pretender, and Andromeda.  And she was considered for the part of T'Pol in Star Trek: Enterprise.  Clint Howard (Ron’s brother), appeared as a child in the infamous Star Trek episode “The Corbomite Maneuver” and has had many genre roles since then.

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