Spin-Offs of Seattle: Revolutionary(?) Sci-Fi TV

["Jay Moore" <research@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

What do people think about this!? Is James (Titanic -- "It's about class")
Cameron a closet Marxist?

best,
jay
http://www.neravt.com/left/

********

Wednesday, July 26, 2000, 12:00 a.m. Pacific
Kay McFadden / Seattle Times Staff Columnist
Revolutionary reputation earns Seattle starring role in two dark new TV
series

The 2000 "Questions, Questions" press tour is over. But for Seattle, the
apocalypse is just beginning.

With the unlikely spark of last year's WTO riots and a growing reputation
for marching to its own drummer, the Emerald City has become ground zero for
two new fall shows dealing with themes of government oppression and
cyber-fueled rebellion.

"Dark Angel," a one-hour Fox drama from big-screen director and producer
James Cameron, takes place in a Seattle racked by economic collapse and a
nation turned into a military state by the panicky former lords of
techno-capitalism.

As a character looking out at a darkened Space Needle explains in the pilot,
it's a world that evolved after "all the little ones and zeros changed . . .
and only the zeros were left."

To which we say: Cameron's show should be sufficient answer to the reader
who wondered if Seattle's "coolness quotient" went down when "Frasier" got
demoted to Tuesday nights.

No such worries, at least when it comes to dramatic potential. Cameron and
series co-producer Chick Eglee chose Seattle precisely because the region's
current boom makes such a good contrast for turmoil set 20 years in the
future.

"The Space Needle, it's this symbol of 1960s buoyant America," said Eglee.
"And then in the last few years, Seattle is the home of dot-com America. We
thought it would be interesting to take that location to a post-dot-com
world, where the old money is the faded dot-com fortunes and where people
are trying to keep up appearances and keep things together because the world
is broken."

The star of "Dark Angel" is Max (newcomer Jessica Alba), a classic Cameron
heroine: smart, lean and gorgeous. The product of a recombinant DNA
experiment who escaped from government clutches as a child, Max is more than
ready to join forces with Logan Cate (Michael Weatherly), an idealistic
Internet journalist who battles corruption by streaming subversive video
messages from a secret bunker - possibly what used to be the Nordstrom
parking garage downtown.

"Dark Angel," is one of three sci-fi vehicles debuting on Fox this fall and
seems the most likely successor to the the aging "X-Files." The others are
"Freakylinks," a confusing blur of "Blair Witch Project" cliches and
technically flawed computerese; and "Night Visions," a Rod Serling-style
anthology.

Also on tap is David E. Kelley's "Boston Public," a one-hour drama about
high-school teachers that will attempt to help retain Fox's female audience
after the departures of "Beverly Hills, 90210" and "Party of Five."
Kelley's new show in pilot form was rough and rushed, so all bets are off
until it's redone. Nothing, however, may rescue "The $treet," a soapy and
superficial portrayal of young, wealthy traders that makes "American Psycho"
seem profound.

On the other hand, "The $treet" at least had a pilot. It's doubtful anyone
will rush to the initial public offering for what's called the "Untitled
John Goodman Project," a comedy about a middle-aged gay man who returns to
his small Ohio town. "UJGP" had no pilot and its producers and noticeably
unenthusiastic star gave only vague answers when asked for details.

A similar lack of substance pervaded yesterday's presentation by UPN, whose
new name come January - Paramount Network - still won't mask the fact that
the network has no hits besides "WWF Smackdown."
Only one action-adventure, "Level 9," so far has a pilot, a messy one about
highly trained federal agents who must combat high-tech crime.

The absence of pilots for UPN's remaining new shows led to somewhat
speculative press sessions about "Girlfriends," an African-American version
of "Sex and The City," and "Freedom."

"Freedom" is the other Seattle-featured show for fall and any resemblance to
"Dark Angel" is (we are told) strictly coincidental: Four martial
arts-trained freedom fighters wage a battle to "free America from the
clutches of a war-mongering, military elite" under the wizardry of executive
producer Joel Silver.

Like Silver's big-screen hit "The Matrix," "Freedom" will feature special
effects and archetypal characters: studly leader Owen Decker (Holt
McCallany), streetwise Londo Pearl (Bodhi Elfman), self-made African
American James Barrett (Darius McCrary) and "beautiful, agile" Becca Shaw
(Scarlett Chovat).

But the real presiding spirit over "Freedom" is co-executive producer Hans
Tobeason, whose resume reveals a classic geekmaster: B.S. in electrical
engineering and computer science from Harvard, founder of a digital-audio
post-production facility, then on to entertainment show-running for, among
others, "SeaQuest DSV," "Independence Day" and the late CBS drama "Once and
Again."

Tobeason's background informs his work; a computer-savvy maverick, he
believes there's a ready audience for "Freedom's" plot about how the
invasion of government into our lives sets off a rebellion.

And that's where Seattle logically fits in: "It's one of the logical centers
of resistance," said Tobeason, citing our city's recently honed reputation
for not taking official guff.

Well, it's nice to know that whatever way the end of civilization occurs on
TV - crashing Nasdaqor creeping tyranny - there will always be a Seattle.
Now if they could only get the weather right.

Copyright © 2000 The Seattle Times Company