From: Edward_Lee_Whiteside@cup.portal.com
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.tv,rec.arts.tv,rec.arts.startrek.current
Subject: REC.ARTS.SF.TV New SF TV Series Info
Date: Mon,  7 Sep 92 23:43:43 PDT
Organization: The Portal System (TM)


REC.ARTS.SF.TV NEW SF TV SERIES INFO

Info file on new science fiction tv shows for 1992/93 tv season.  
Cross-posted to rec.arts.tv and rec.arts.startrek.current.

Shows are listed in order of planned initial air-date.

1. Highlander
2. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
3. Time Trax
4. Babylon 5

This file is intended to answer (at least partially), the
"What the heck is [Insert series name here]?" questions.
References to other sources of info are include, where known.

1. Highlander : Debuts Oct, 1992

The Highlander syndicated, one hour, TV series will debut the first
week of October, 1992. The series is based on the Higlander movies and
features Christopher Lambert in the first episode, reprising his role from
the movies as Conner MacLeod.  Conner will be the mentor to Duncan MacLeod,
played by Adrian Paul, who will be the main character in the TV series.
Paul appeared in the War of the Worlds TV series second season as Kincaid.

Duncan is a nearly 400 year old immortal who has been seeking refuge from the
eternal battle between good and evil.  Events in the pilot reunites him
with Conner MacLeod, who he hasn't seen in 60-70 years.  Alexandra Vandernoot
plays Duncan's love, Tessa, who has been with him for 12 years.  She knows
he is an immortal, but does not know that he can be killed by another
immortal.  Stan Kirsch plays a teenage cohort, Ritchie, who has discovered the
Highlander's secret by being caught by Duncan breaking into Duncan's
antique shop.  The major villian, an evil immortal who is out to kill all
immortals, both good and evil, is Slan Quince.  Slan is played by Richard
Moll, best known as Bull on Night Court.

(The Highlander info comes from the Electronic Press Kit.  I do not yet
have any info on the sat feed. )


2. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine : Debuts early Jan, 1993

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine is a syndicated spin-off series of Star Trek:
The Next Generation.  It will start the first week of January, 1993, with
a two hour movie, with 18 additional one hour episodes this season.
Filming started on August 18th, and Paramount formally announced the cast
on August 31st.

Background: After over a hundred years, the Cardassian Empire has
finally tired of fighting Bajoran terrorists and guerillas, and has
withdrawn unilaterally from Bajoran space and the Bajoran homeworld.
Before they left, however, the Cardassians stripped the planet of most
of its usable resources, and left only scorched earth behind.  The
planet is only beginning to recover, and rebuilding will be a long
hard journey indeed.

     At about the same time, a stable wormhole has been discovered in
the Bajoran star system.  It's similar in many ways to the wormhole in
the TNG episode "The Price," except that this one really _is_ stable.
The wormhole has given Bajor the chance it needed to rebuild, by
becoming a center of commerce and trade.

     Bajor has hired the Federation to administer the wormhole, and
given the assigned Starfleet unit an old Cardassian space station.
The station is a wreck; the Cardassians stripped it before leaving,
and there's very little left that works.  The Starfleet unit's first
responsibility is to get the station operational, but in fact there's
little chance all the problems will ever be worked out.  (Translation:
Mechanical breakdowns will be a frequent complication in many
stories.)

Deep Space Nine Casting:

AVERY BROOKS (Commander Benjamin Sisko, in charge of DS9): His most memorable
role was as Hawk on the ABC series "Spencer: For Hire" with Robert Urich.

NANA VISITOR (Major Kira Nerys, Bajoran first officer): Played the role of
Bryn Newhouse on the short lived series "Working Girl" (based on the film)

RENE AUBERJONOIS (Odo, he shapeshifting alien and "special character" of
the show): Well known as Clayton Endicott III on the long-running ABC sitcom
"Benson", he was also Colonel West in "Star Trek VI", the role that was put
back into the film for the video version.

TERRY FARRELL (Lieutenant Jadzia Dax, the Trill science officer): Long list of
credits including the films "Hellraiser III" and the Rodney Dangerfield film
 "Back to School"; her major TV credit was as Laurie Caswell on the Lloyd
 Bridges/ABC series "Paper Dolls"

COLM MEANEY (Chief Operations Officer Miles Edward O'Brien): We all know him
from the same role in ST:TNG.

ARMIN SHIMERMAN (Quark, the Ferengi administrator): Long list of TV guest
credits including "Beauty and the Beast," "Quantum Leap," "Murder She Wrote,"
"LA Law" and "ST:TNG" (he played Ferengis in both "Last Outpost" and "Peak
Performance" as well as the uncredited Wedding Box in "Haven") (yes, that was
Armin's face)

SIDDIG EL FADIL (Dr. Julian Bashir, Lieutenant J.G.): A British-born Arab actor
  for which DS9 marks his American acting debut.

CIRROC LOFTON (Jake Sisko): A twelve year old African American actor seen in
  the film "Beethoven"; this marks his TV debut.

Recurring characters:  Rosalind Chao (Keiko) will be a semi-regular on the
show, as she is on TNG.  Betazed Ambassador Lwaxana Troi (Majel Barrett);
a Bajoran Spiritual Leader; Namm, Quark's son; possibly Guinan (TV Guide
reported that Guinan has a son in DSN's brig).

(Deep Space Nine info: background is as read by Majel Barrett from the
DSN Writer's Guide, casting details from Jim Shaun Lyon.  See the
rec.arts.startrek.current  FAQ list for additional info on ST:DSN).


Warner Bros. Prime Time Network Shows

Starting in January, Warner Bros. will be airing one night of new shows
on a consortium of stations called "the Prime Time Network".  The initial
two series will be "Kung Fu: The Legend Continues" and "Time Trax", each
of which will debut with a two hour movie.  Also being developed is a
two-hour movie of "Babylon 5", which should also go to series sometime next
year.  Following is info on "Time Trax" and "Babylon 5":

3. Time Trax : Debuts Jan, 1993

Time Trax, has Harve Bennett as creator/co-executive producer. Harve was
executive producer/writer of four Star Trek movies, leaving when his idea
for a Starfleet Academy movie was scrapped for Star Trek VI.  Time Trax,
will be produced in Australia, with a two-hour premiere movie in January
with 21 additional hour episodes to follow.

Time Trax (an acronym for Trans-Time Research and Experimentation) is set
two hundered years in Earth's future (2192) where Dr. Mordecai Sahmbi, a
research scientist (played by Peter Donat,) has developed a time machine
after 10 years of development.  However, it turns out that people can
transport for only one round trip.  Any more and the body will not be able
to withstand the molecular bombardment of the journey.

With these limitations, the government stops funding on the project.
Sahmbi decides to continue, obtaining funds by offering criminal fugitives
the chance to transport 200 years back in time (to present-day Earth)
where they can start over with a new identity.

When the government finds out, they enlist Darien Lambert (played by Dale
Midkiff, star of "Elvis and Me" and "Pet Sematary"), a "fugitive retrieval
specialist" from the U.S. Marshall's Office who's job is to round up
Sahmbi and the hundreds of fugitives Sahmbi has sent back in time.
Lambert's assignment is to catch the fugitives, injecting them with a
chemical that enables him to send them back to the future for prosecution
by the authorities. Lambert will not always send the fugitives back, though.
He will be able to make judgement calls and may let them stay if they have
reformed.

Helping Lambert out in his assignment will be SELMA, an acronym for
Specified Encapsulated Limited Memory Archive, a female hologram that is
projected from a credit card sized computer. Selma is being played by
Australian-born actress Liz Alexander and has the "looks and manners of
Julie Andrews in Mary Poppins," according to Harve Bennett.

(Info on Time Trax mostly from Broadcasting Magazine, July 13, 1992)

4. Babylon 5 : Debuts Feb, 1993

Babylon 5 is set on a Space Station in the mid 23rd Century.
It will premiere in February 1993 with a two hour movie, "The
Gathering".  The show was created by J. Michael Straczynski (JMS),
who will be co-executive producer on the show along with Doug Netter.
It has been in development for over four years, having been picked up
by Warner Bros. for their new network.  According to JMS, Warners has
said that Babylon 5 will be given the go-ahead for a series provided
the pilot movie is done on schedule and on budget.  As of early
September, with principal photography finished, it is almost certain.

Babylon 5 is a United Nations-like space station in the year 2257.  It is
nearly five miles long and is run by the Earth Alliance.  It is host to
a wide range of aliens and humanoids, and orbits a planet near a jump
point between Earth and four alien territories.  Jeffrey Sinclair is the
commander of Babylon 5, representing the Earth Alliance.  Also
represented are the Minbari, The Centauri Republic, the Narn Regime,
and the Vorlons.

Casting for Babylon 5 is as follows:

Commander Jeffrey Sinclair -  Michael O'Hare
Vice-Commander Laurel Takashima - Tamlyn Tomita
Carolyn Sykes - Blaire Baron
Narn Regime Ambassador G'Kar - Andreas Katsulas
Minbari Ambassador Delenn -  Mira Furlan
Centauri Republic Ambassador Londo Mollari - Peter Jurasik
Security Chief Michael Garibaldi - Jerry Doyle
Lyta Alexander (the rent-a-telepath) - Patricia Tallman.
Ambassador Kosh - Himself
Dr. Benjamin Kyle - Johnny Sekka

If you would like to get on a mailing list for a Babylon 5 Newsletter
(being produced with the cooperation of J. Michael Straczynski),
send a POSTCARD with your name and address to BABYLON 5 NEWSLETTER,
c/o Moonfire Productions, Box 2325, Oakhurst, CA  93644.  Mid-September
is planned for the first issue.

Much more info on Babylon 5 is contained in the Babylon 5 FAQ, which is
available via ftp at coe.montana.edu in the /pub/TV/Guides/babylon-5
directory.


**************************************************************************

Compiled by Lee Whiteside
            L.WHITESIDE (GEnie), 76044,502 (Compuserve)
            Edward_Lee_Whiteside@cup.portal.com (USENET)
            P14942@email.mot.com
            Sysop of the Magrathea/SEVAC BBS (602)833-9216
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.tv