I read the columns last week about 20 series that the Futon Critic ( http://www.thefutoncritic.com )would like to see on DVD. This column will deal with any TV series that has anywhere from six episodes
to three seasons made (and TV pilots that never aired) that I would like to see on DVD and/or on TV again. There
are many forgotten shows and some that have a fan base still in place. With the many different cable channels
and some of the cheap costs to acquire of some of these short-lived series, I just wonder why we don't see most of these again
somewhere. Here is my list of hopefuls for DVD and/or to see on TV again.
FOREVER KNIGHT: It has been aired and currently reruns on the Sci-FI Channel.
The three seasons need to be on DVD. Fans want this one bad. (UPDATE: season 1 came out on DVD on 10-21-2003).
MILLENNIUM: This overlooked and under watched Chris Carter series (starring Lance
Henriksen as Frank Black) was running on FX for three years and it isn't airing anywhere at the moment.
Only the first season was made available on VHS years ago if you lived in the UK. This show is overdue for DVD
sets (of the three seasons that were produced) since The X-Files is currently having DVD sets being put out. MILLENNIUM
won't sell well as The X-Files, but it will sell as a cult item that Millennium fans will buy.
SPACE: ABOVE AND BEYOND: This cult Sci-Fi show that was created by James Morgan
and Glenn Wong who went on to do movies such as Final Destination and The One (and executive produced the best season of Millenium-
season 2) has occasionally been shown on Sci-Fi. It is about U.S. Marine pilots fighting aliens known as Chigs in outer
space and other planets at the end of the 21st century. Only one season was made due to a poor time slot and pre-empts
by FOX when the series first aired. All 24 episodes deserve a DVD release beyond a doubt.
THE OTHERS: This short-lived series produced by Dreamworks lasted for only
13 episodes (and one episode was aired weeks after the season finale and probably many didn't see it due it was aired out
of order), and Morgan and Wong were chosen to executive produce the show after the pilot was picked up by NBC to be made into
a series. It is a supernatural series about people with paranormal abilities who help the dead get through to their
loved ones and there are evil forces that want to stop them. Sci-Fi should pick the show up or Dreamworks
should put out a DVD set (or both might be better).
MICHAEL HAYES: David Caruso played Michael Hayes (a former cop turned lawyer for
the U.S. Attorney) in a show that really just kept getting better and better by the end of it's 22 episode run. Even
worse one pre-empted episode aired out-of-order after the season finale. Of course, CBS pulling it from the schedule
and changing timeslots didn't help this how. This show at least deserves to see life again on Court TV or A&E.
Maybe it would be a better companion to CSI reruns on TNN on Mondays. David Caruso is the star of the new CSI
spin-off, CSI: Miami, and the show starts this fall on Monday at 10 pm ET on CBS. CSI reruns are on TNN just after
11 pm ET on Mondays (following WWF wrestling), so wouldn't it be nice to have Michael Hayes on TNN after midnight following
CSI?!
C-16: Eric Roberts played the head of a L.A. FBI unit called C-16. D.B.
Sweeny also stars as one of the agents under Roberts' command and Angie Harmon is one of the two rookie FBI agents.
C-16 suffered for two reasons and only lasted for 13 episodes because it aired on Saturdays and was cancelled after seven
episodes. The remaining six episodes did air on Thursdays at the end of May through June. Eric Roberts continues
to star in various movies, D.B. sweeny pops up in other movies, and Angie Harmon was cast in Law Order (and played Abby Carmichael
for three seasons). This needs a DVD release stat, and I wonder why doesn't any cable network re-run the show!!
This is a crime.
EZ STREETS: This is easily one of the best crime drams that ever aired. It
was a shame CBS stuck in on the wrong night (against Law and Order even after bringing it back after cancelling it once).
One episode remains unaired of ten episodes made. The best thing to do for this show before any DVD release
would be to have Court TV, A&E, or USA pick up this series.
VENGEANCE UNLIMITED: I loved this show with Michael Madsen starring as Mr.
Chapel who helps people in trouble on one condition: they pay him $1 million or do him a favor one day by helping him
on another case. If it wasn't for those nasty black bars at teh bottom of the screen, I would say this is a
show made to re-run on TNN. It shows Michael Madsen loved playing Mr. Chapel if you watched any of the episodes.
S.O.F: The first season it was known as Soldier of Fortune, Inc. The second season
it changed to Special Ops Force. Jerry Bruckheimer (production company behind CSI) was behind this action show
that lasted for two seasons in syndication and 37 episodes were produced. Of course, Dennis Rodman starred in
the second season as one of the stars, but don't hold it against this show about ex-military and ex-intelligence operatives
hired to do missions again for the U.S. government. Only the first two episodes were made available on video.
SLEEPWALKERS: This is a series about a team of people who can enter other people's
dreams through technology. NBC cancelled it after two episodes and you may have seen five further episodes later
on if you lived in Canada or on the West Coast of the U.S. Two episodes remain unaired in the U.S.
I just wish Sci-Fi would pick this one up. I have only seen six episodes.
F/X: I'm not talking about the channel. I'm talking about the TV series
that was based on the two movies. FX has shown the movies, maybe it is time they show the two seasons (it was
cancelled in syndication). Carrie Anne Moss was in some of the episodes of this underrated show.
THE CAPE: It sounded like a neat concept: a show about astronauts who
go up in the Space Shuttle. Sometimes the episodes were a miss, but the 22 episodes produced should bee seen again
whether on cable or on DVD. The show would have lasted longer if there was better stories for most of the episodes.
TOTAL RECALL 2070: It has elements from Total Recall, but it is more closer to Blade
Runner. Produced Showtime and the episodes did air on Canadian stations weeks before Showtime aired the same episode.
Detective David Hume is paired with a an android detective after his partner is killed by androids. First Hume
doesn't know his partner Farve is an android, but he learns soon and eventually Hume trusts and like Farve in a world where
the corporations control the world. It was a good show that Sci-Fi should pick up. Dimension Films made
the 90 minute pilot available on video and DVD. Hell, I would love to see all of the show on DVD.
THE LONE GUNMEN: The spin-off show about the infamous trio who were first
introduced on The X-Files. The show lasted for a mere 13 episodes (with one episode shown out-of-order a
month after the season finale). FX or Sci-Fi needs to show it. This was one funny show.
THE BEAST: This was a great show about a cable news channel that showed everything
including things behind the scenes because cameras are everywhere (except for the bathrooms which are a safe haven).
The cameras are turned on the reporters to make sure the news is reported right and some footage is even aired on the
internet by the mysterious guy, Harry, who is the one that oversees all of the cameras in the studio.
Frank Langella leads the wonderful cast and was in the first pilot before everyone else was recast for the second pilot
which spawned five further episodes. ABC never showed the second episode because they ddin't want to offend Robert Downey
jr. (due to a similar plot in the episode). It breaks up the serial storyline. It was a big crime that ABc showed
this show during last June and July (instead of a proper mid-season spring slot). There has been talks of
Lifetime showing all six episodes (but not the first pilot). I say the show would fit better on A&E. I would
love to see the first pilot, the five aired episodes, and the unaired episode ABC refused to show on DVD. This
was one great show that didn't get the audience it deserved.
AMAZON: It is about the survivors of a plane crash in the Amazon Jungle.
The survivors try to find a way out, but they might people long forgotten by the outside world including a tribe of Europeans
that started 400 years ago and follow the religious teachings (as they think the boy from the crash is the one who knows the
lost words of The Bible), and Margot Kidder as a crazy woman leading a group of cannibals. This was a show not
enough watched and it deserves a second life on cable or DVD with it's 22 episodes.
BLUE MURDER: This is the best cop show I have seen in years. It is Canadian
cop show about a special unit of detectives (in Toronto) who investigate hot and politically sensitive cases.
I have seen it since I have Global on my cable system in my area (in the US). This show with it's 26 episodes
made so far deserves bigger exposure on a cable network like F/X, A&E, or Court TV. This needs to be
shown in the US!!!! http://www.bluemurder.tv
ULTRAVIOLET: The British series is one of the best vampire series ever made, but
it s time for the pilot for the American version to be shown on Sci-Fi and released on DVD. The 90 minute
pilot is produced by Howard Gordon (who produces 24 and produced Strange World) and it features Idris Elba as Vaughan
(whom Idris also played in the Brit version).
THE INVISIBLE MAN: Dick Wolf (producer of all those Law and Order series)
produced an Invisible Man pilot for FOX which starred Kyle McLachlan. This was done before the other Invisible
Man series (that has nothing to do with the Dick Wolf one) was produced for Sci-Fi. Dick Wolf has a deal with
Studios USA, why can't the pilot of this show be shown on USA? There are other pilots that should be seen that I will
mention another time.
There are so many short-lived shows I would love to see air again (and countless pilots
for series that were never made), but some shows might not deserve to be shown again, but it depends if you're a fan.
Maybe such shows like Total Security, Snoops, Deadline, and countless others will see life again at least on some cable network
again in the future. Many have unaired episodes to pull at old and new viewers. Of course, some shows
like 7 Days will eventually see life on a cable network like USA or Sci-Fi, but keep writing and emailing the cable networks
to tell them what shows you would love to see picked up. Many of these shows are cheap to buy for re-runs.
It is better than seeing an additional hour of Nash Bridges, walker: Texas Ranger, Law and Order, Murder She Wrote, or even
next day reruns of The View! Fight back, fellow viewers and fans. Tell the studios what you want to see
on DVD and the cable channels what shows you would love to see again. FIGHT BACK NOW! Make your voice
heard and your opinions count, and watch the show if a cable network picks it up because that means they might do it again.
Have a better one.
Coming later this week: a 20th anniversary look at BLADE RUNNER
Coming soon: a column on shows I might have missed mentioning in this column and shows
we don't see in the US.
