A short-lived but promising series that originally aired on NBC, Earth 2 was a hidden gem. The show featured tons of talented actors, a great premise, and some hints at a broader story that were never given the chance to develop.
Earth 2 was a visionary project from creators Michael Duggan (Law & Order), Carol Flint (ER), Mark Levin (The Wonder Years) and Billy Ray (The Hunger Games.) It only lasted one season, but the cast, the crew, and the writers set the stage for an ambitious project that started off strong and then spun its wheels before being cancelled. (Maybe it was Heroes two decades before Heroes actually aired.)
Earth 2 follows an ambitious set of colonists who have left Earth and its remains behind. Earth itself has actually expired and the remnants of humanity are living in satellites orbiting the remains. They have sent colony efforts out from the dead planet. The ship that hosts its characters and corresponding actors crash lands. They are on the right planet but miles away from their determined landing spot. That introduces both the character dynamics and the challenges that face them.
This show, at its heart, is a survivalist story. The primary characters are Devon Adair (Debrah Farentino) and Jon Danzinger (Clancy Brown.) These two leaders are in charge of a rotating group of humans who are trying to find love, acceptance, or even survival. Veteran actors like Rebecca Gayheart and Antonio Sabato, Jr. own plenty of credit to this show for helping accelerate their careers.
This show followed in the footsteps of Babylon 5 and other similar projects when it was decommissioned. Brown and Farentino had a wonderful chemistry on screen. They were, by default, a set of teachers to the rest of their staff. Brown has gone on to decades of work in movies and video games. Farentino played a prominent role in Eureka.
Other cast members of the series include Tim Curry (Clue), Joey Zimmerman (Very Bad Things), stuntman Tierre Turner (Star Trek), Rockmond Dunbar (Kiss Kiss Bang Bang) and Jessica Steen (Heartland.)
The initial character dynamics were well-written and strongly acted. The show was really setting up a number of plot twists near the end of the season, adding in Curry’s mysterious Gaal, and then brilliant character actor Terry O’Quinn as Riley.
Earth 2 never got a chance to show what it was building, but the first season definitely showed promise. It aired on NBC, but seemed to set what would become a far too familiar fate; a sci-fi show that was too expensive to continue. Syfy channel itself has become infamous for this practice, killing shows early like Defiance, Farscape, and Dark Matter. Earth 2 was the earlier generation victim of this approach.