Strange World (TV series)
Strange World | |
---|---|
Created by | Howard Gordon Tim Kring |
Starring |
|
Composer | Michael Hoenig |
Country of origin | United States |
Original language | English |
No. of seasons | 1 |
No. of episodes | 13 (10 unaired) |
Production | |
Executive producer | Howard Gordon |
Running time | 43-44 minutes |
Production companies | Teakwood Lane Productions 20th Century Fox Television |
Original release | |
Network | ABC (1999) Sci-Fi (2002) |
Release | March 8 March 16, 1997 | –
Strange World is an American crime drama television series created by Howard Gordon and Tim Kring for ABC. 13 episodes were commissioned, of which three aired on ABC in March 1999 before the network cancelled the program. The remaining ten episodes produced subsequently premiered on Sci-Fi in Spring 2002.
In a web-chat during the 2002 run on Sci-Fi, Gordon stated that, since the producers felt ABC was not going to support the show, they had the opportunity to write a conclusion to the story.[1]
Plot
[edit]- USAMRIID was created in 1970 to counter the threat of chemical and biological weapons.
- Section 44 of the charter permits it to investigate criminal abuses of science.
—Text at the beginning of the pilot episode.
Captain Paul Turner (Tim Guinee) is a doctor for The United States Army Medical Research Institute for Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID), who suffers from a rare form of aplastic anemia as a result of exposure to chemical weapons during the Persian Gulf War. USAMRIID lures him out of his sickbed with the opportunity to bring justice to others suffering from unethical uses of science and technology. Unknown to his superiors, he is given a temporary cure for the symptoms of his disease by a mysterious woman who is an agent of a shadowy organization that may be trying to thwart the goals of USAMRIID. He requires periodic doses of the cure to remain functional, a weakness that the shadowy organization occasionally uses to control him. Both the machinations of the "shadowy organization" and Turner's dependency on the "cure" are ultimately resolved in the final episode of the series.
Cast
[edit]- Tim Guinee as Captain Paul Turner
- Kristin Lehman as Dr. Sidney MacMillan
- Saundra Quarterman as Major Lynne Reese
Title sequence
[edit]The opening-title sequence was added to the permanent collection of the American Institute of Graphic Arts[2] in 1999. It was created by Imaginary Forces.[citation needed]
Episodes
[edit]No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | Prod. code |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | "Pilot" | Mick Jackson | Howard Gordon & Tim Kring | March 8, 1999 | 1ACG79 |
Turner is summoned to investigate the disappearance of a small child. Guest starring Arnold Vosloo. | |||||
2 | "Lullaby" | Joseph Scanlan | Tim Minear | March 9, 1999 | 1ACG03 |
Turner discovers that the Japanese Woman's superiors are using a pregnant girl (Monet Mazur), in Sydney's care, as a pawn in a bizarre case of surrogacy. | |||||
3 | "Azrael's Breed" | Vern Gillum | Manny Coto | March 16, 1999 | 1ACG08 |
Turner assists the Baltimore PD in tracking down a couple (Robert Knepper, Missy Crider) who get their thrills from brain tissue stolen from corpses. | |||||
4 | "Spirit Falls" | Peter Markle | Story by : Todd Ellis Kessler Teleplay by : Todd Ellis Kessler & Tim Minear | March 1, 2002 | (Sci-Fi)1ACG05 |
Turner uncovers a secret hidden behind the mass suicide of a reclusive community -- and tests the loyalty of the Japanese Woman at the same time. | |||||
5 | "The Devil Still Holds My Hand" | Tucker Gates | John Chambers | March 8, 2002 | (Sci-Fi)1ACG06 |
Turner's investigation of a possible viral outbreak leads him to a reunion with a former mentor whose antagonism of the Army matches Turner's own. | |||||
6 | "Skin" | Brett Dowler | Jessica Scott & Mike Wollaeger | March 15, 2002 | (Sci-Fi)1ACG07 |
When Sydney is blamed for the death of a patient, she takes it upon herself to discover the real cause of his death and winds up stumbling onto a secret experiment instead. | |||||
7 | "Man Plus" | Peter Markle | Howard Gordon & Thania St. John | March 22, 2002 | (Sci-Fi)1ACG02 |
Reese assigns Turner his first case when a prominent pianist's death is linked to a mysterious implant in his brain. | |||||
8 | "Rage" | James Whitmore Jr. | Manny Coto | March 29, 2002 | (Sci-Fi)1ACG01 |
A series of unmotivated road rage incidents convinces Turner that some external force is causing the seemingly irrational violence. | |||||
9 | "Aerobe" | Dan Lerner | Story by : Manny Coto Teleplay by : Hans Tobeason & Manny Coto | April 12, 2002 | (Sci-Fi)1ACG04 |
When a Gulf War vet asks Turner's help in clearing his name, Turner flexes USAMRIID's muscle to stop an insidious cover-up at a nuclear plant. | |||||
10 | "Eliza" | Vern Gillum | Tim Minear | April 19, 2002 | (Sci-Fi)1ACG10 |
A series of apparent I-War attacks hit Washington, D.C., prompting Turner to join a Department of Defense team in tracking down the source of the attacks. | |||||
11 | "Down Came the Rain" | Ian Toynton | Manny Coto & Jose Molina | April 26, 2002 | (Sci-Fi)1ACG11 |
An ancient Native American ritual, a rare blood disease and an undiscovered species all come into play when Turner investigates a series of deaths in a Seattle high rise. | |||||
12 | "Food" | Tucker Gates | Story by : John Chambers & Thania St. John Teleplay by : John Chambers | May 3, 2002 | (Sci-Fi)1ACG09 |
Turner's vacation turns into work when a man's death is linked to his genetically engineered crop. | |||||
13 | "Age of Reason" | Dwight Little | Howard Gordon & Tim Minear | May 10, 2002 | (Sci-Fi)1ACG12 |
The mysterious Japanese Woman calls on Turner one more time to investigate the abduction, six years ago, of a "wunderkind" named Adam Wasserman. |
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ "Howard Gordon". (Chat transcript) SciFi.com. February 8, 2002. Archived from the original on June 14, 2002.
- ^ "AIGA's Strange World exhibit". Archived from the original on July 20, 2006. Retrieved December 20, 2008.
External links
[edit]- "Strange World". Official site (Sci Fi Channel). Archived from the original on December 19, 2002.
- "Strange World Opens Well". Sci Fi Wire, (Sci Fi Channel). February 13, 2002. Archived from the original on April 13, 2002.
- Strange World at IMDb