`I hope it’s original.”
That’s Michael Easton talking about his new Showtime science-fiction series “Total Recall 2070.”
Originality is television’s kiss of death.
While many viewers complain about television’s plethora of boring, repetitive and uninteresting shows, when something different comes along it almost never stays on the air. (“Buffy the Vampire Slayer” is one of the rare, recent exceptions.)
This fall, ABC’s “Cupid” had one of the most different premises in years: A guy (Jeremy Piven) who may, or may not, be the God of Love tries to match couples.
Great idea; didn’t last the season.
Also unique was Fox’s “Brimstone,” in which a cop (Peter Horton) who previously was banished to hell after committing a murder and dying, tries to redeem his soul by walking the Earth trying to round up 113 evil souls who broke out of Satan’s (played deliciously by John Glover) prison.
Great idea; didn’t last the season.
ABC’s new sci-fi drama “Strange World” is different from usual network television fare. As a consequence, its chances of success fall somewhere between slim and none.
Airing in “NYPD Blue’s” 9 p.m. Tuesday slot on WLS-Ch. 7 for several weeks starting Tuesday, the series about an Army scientist (Tim Guinee) who investigates “criminal abuses of science” (unlawful cloning, artificial insemination, germ warfare, etc.) is dark, moody, disturbing and visually unique.
But it will probably fail.
On the other hand, CBS’ “Nash Bridges,” while entertaining, is nonetheless a routine cop show; but it is seen by more people each week than the superior “Homicide.”
Ken Olin now stars in CBS’ “L.A. Doctors,” but he previously played a morally frayed cop in that network’s marvelously edgy “EZ Streets.”
Olin said that CBS may have wanted to be safe with the traditional “Doctors,” rather than invest any time in another gritty affair such as “EZ,” which few people watched and which was yanked after only a handful of episodes. Ditto for “Brooklyn South,” last season’s prickly occupant of “Doctor’s” 9 p.m. Monday time slot.
Easton, star of another quirky but moribund series, Fox’s virtual-reality-themed series “VR.5,” also was a fan of “Brimstone” and “Cupid.”
“It’s a shame” that (“Cupid”) in particular was canned, he says, referring to both shows’ departure from most series in story and structure.
His “Recall” also reflects originality, at least in its look and style. Except for a few elements, it barely resembles the Arnold Schwarzenegger movie.
Airing at 9:45 p.m. Fridays on the cable network after “Stargate-SG1,” “Total Recall” has more in common with “Blade Runner,” Harrison Ford’s claustrophobic classic about runaway androids, clogged city streets and a multilinguistic culture. Easton says the series recalls the moody writings of author Philip K. Dick, upon whose short stories “Total Recall” and “Blade Runner” were based.
But will the viewing audience accept a show that goes against the grain?
“We sit around here once in a while just having these talks. Is there room for doing something different and original?” Easton says. “You’ve got to hope that there is.”
Easton is lucky “Total Recall” has 20 episodes guaranteed by Showtime–and that it isn’t on one of the networks.
Memory lane: A list of other starkly different, one-season wonders:
– ABC’s angst festival “My So-Called Life” (1994), with the wonderful Claire Danes as a conflicted teenager.
– “Nowhere Man” (1995), UPN’s fantastic bent on “The Fugitive” in which a man’s (Bruce Greenwood) entire life seems to be a lie.
– “Cop Rock” (1990), Steven Bochco’s ABC series where cops and criminals broke into song.
– CBS’ “Under Suspicion” (1994), the darkly interesting adventures about a female detective (Karen Sillas) in an all-male unit.
– ABC’s “Nothing Sacred” (1997), which followed a young priest (Kevin Anderson) navigating today’s complicated morality.
– “Sacred’s” companion series “Cracker” had Robert Pastorelli as a police psychologist whose own problems (gambling, alcoholism, adultery) almost rivaled the crooks whose heads he shrunk.
Upcoming: Greg Evigan of “B.J. and the Bear” fame stars in “Family Rules,” a new UPN comedy about the father of four girls (wow, that’s original!) debuting at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday on WPWR-Ch. 50.
Dancers, singers, musicians and others evoke the legacy of the Native American in “Spirit: A Journey in Dance, Drums and Song,” a new PBS special featuring an introduction by Kevin Costner that airs at 9:45 p.m. Tuesday on WTTW-Ch. 11.
CBS’ “More True Stories From: Touched by an Angel” is, unfortunately, just that. It’s on at 7 p.m. Wednesday on WBBM-Ch. 2.
