Strange New World!

Strange New Worlds is the name of the third and final attempt to launch a series about "Dylan Hunt", a time-lost Rip Van Winkle from the 20th century. Gene Roddenberry had tried twice to tell this story and sell it to the networks (first CBS with Genesis II and then ABC with Planet Earth) but he was not involved with this final attempt, handing it off to others to fret with. John Saxon returns but now he's called Anthony Vico and he is joined by two others - Kathleen Miller as Dr. Allison Crowley and Keene Curtis as Dr. William Scott. These three were astronauts in stasis in orbit above the Earth when meteors struck the planet with devastating effects. They were sent on a one-hundred-and-eighty-year orbit around the sun to return to a changed Earth. 

This movie is actually two episodes slapped together which makes for a strange viewing experience. The look of the show is really different, edgier and rougher than the slick sci-fi that normally graced TV sci-fi. The first half was originally called "Clones" and has our trio run into long-lived medical vampires who live by using replacement parts from clones they grow themselves. Their society is on the verge of fading out as the quality of the materials has deteriorated over time with repeated use. They need fresh blood, quite literally and imagine our trio is a good source. This is a clunky beginning with togas and flowing gowns passing for costumes. Reb Brown plays the heavy or heavies since there are more than a few copies of him. Martine Beswick in this show, but she's largely wasted. 

"Animal Land" is the second half, and the grittiness of the world is abundantly seen in the costumes and settings. This was a different look for science fiction, a dirty world which reminded me of the used universe of Star Wars and such like. The story pits the trio against a gang of wardens who protect the animals with religious zeal from poachers. The show was filmed at the closed Griffith Park Zoo and the crew make good use of this location. This is not a great movie, nor even a good one. The first part is slow and the second part filled with atmosphere comes too late to regain the momentum. 

So in three years or there about one story of a man stranded in the future seeks to find purchase on the network landscape, yet doesn't catch hold. More is the pity. Next time, Roddenberry takes a swing at androids. Not the one you're thinking of. 

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