Earth 2

1 9 9 4 – 1 9 9 5 (USA)
1 x 120 minute episode
18 x 60 minute episodes

200 years in the future, a girl named Devon Adair (Debrah Farentino) is born – like her parents and her grandparents before her – on one of the space stations that surround the Earth.

When Devon has a son (Ulysses, called Uly), she discovers he suffers from a disease called ‘Syndrome’ (caused by a lack of fresh air and fresh water).

Devon and 250 other Syndrome families fear the same thing will affect future generations and devise a plan (called “The Eden Project”) to save the syndrome children by colonising the charted New Pacifica area of a planet called G-8-89, which has an 83% habitability possibility

The planet is 22 light-years away, and each pioneer must spend years in hibernation during the journey to New Pacifica.

After years in space, Devon and her advance crew are awakened as their ship approaches the planet.

However, a magnetic disruption of the programmed landing forces the advance party to ditch their main ship and escape in pod crafts. The pods crash-land on an uncharted area of the planet where danger and strange creatures lurk at every turn.

The mothership containing 250 families is due to land in the target area of New Pacifica in 26 months. If Devon and her crew can reach New Pacifica in nine months, it will give them 17 months to establish a homeland.

The series follows their dangerous trek through 3,400 miles of alien badlands to find New Pacifica and build a hospital for the children who can’t survive on the space stations.

Other members of the team include John Danziger (Clancy Brown), a mechanic who has a hard time accepting Devon as their leader but eventually becomes a loyal friend; his daughter, True (J. Madison Wright), who has an extraordinary curiosity about this new world and often goes off alone exploring; Yale (Sullivan Walker), a part-cyborg who had tutored Devon when she was a child; cowardly bureaucrat Morgan Martin (John Gegenhuber) who was supposed to spy on the travelers but was now marooned with them; his beautiful wife Bess (Rebecca Gayheart); and Dr Julia Heller (Jessica Steen), who is torn between her loyalty to her government (to whom she makes secret reports) and her concern for the castaways.

Julia ultimately learns that her holographic government boss is a liar and forever disconnects her communications with him.

Young pilot Alonzo (Antonio Sabato Jr) develops a psychic bond with bipedal subterranean warriors called Terrians, who are fiercely protective of their world and stalk the human interlopers.

Less intelligent Ewok-like scavengers known as Grendlers (who make comical noises with ooze dribbling from their huge mouths) steal food from the colonists.

There was also a yellow metallic robot called Zero (played by stunt coordinator Tierre Turner) who did little but stomp around in the background, occasionally yelling, “Warning! I read an approaching projectile!” or “I have a wide variety of retractors available.”

The locations were stunning (filming took place in the New Mexico desert), the special effects were great – especially the creatures of Oscar-winning designer Greg Cannon – and Tim Curry (The Rocky Horror Picture Show) made a captivating baddie, but the expedition was unable to beat off long-winded plots and attacks of melodrama.

US network NBC eventually suspended Earth 2 with the characters still many miles from their new Eden.

Devon Adair
Debrah Farentino
John Danziger
Clancy Brown
Yale
Sullivan Walker
Dr Julia Heller
Jessica Steen
Morgan Martin
John Gegenhuber
Bess Martin
Rebecca Gayheart
Ulysses ‘Ully’ Adair
Joey Zimmerman
True Danziger
J. Madison Wright
Alonzo Solace
Antonio Sabato Jr
Gaal
Tim Curry
Broderick O’Neill
Richard Bradford
Zero
Tierre Turner
Walman
Walter Norman
Magus
Marcia Magus
Baines
Rockmond Dunbar

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