Intro - Anniversaries 2024

2024/10/10

Like the last few years, this year I also want to highlight  a certain number of shows because of their (upcoming) anniversay. We already had a few like Babylon 5; Farscape; Stargate Atlantis; Crusade and Defying Gravity. This particular blog I have five anniversaries as you can see in the banner. For these blogs I did have less to say but I still wanted to highlight these, that's why I've put them in one big blog. All the way below I will add all shows I could find which have an anniversary in 2024. I will put a link to the ones I have written a blog for.

The 4400 (2004 - 2024) - 20th Anniversary

On July 11^th, 2004, The 4400 aired for the first time! At first as a miniseries but it turned out that the miniseries was received very well, well enough for the USA Network to renew the show for a 2^nd season with 13 episodes.

The 4400 tells the stories of 4,400 abductees after they are returned to earth. In the words of the executive producers, these are stories of people dealing with traumatic changes, driven by the mystery of what happened and why. Some of them have been affected in mysterious ways, and some will have certain abilities, both good and bad, so part of the drama will be watching them adjust to these changes within themselves. The series kicks off with a ball of light sailing toward Earth, but rather than the expected catastrophic event, thousands of returned abductees are left with no memory of their otherworldly experiences. Each has been gone anywhere from a few months to several decades but none has aged a day.

It ran for 4 seasons, unfortunately the show ended on a cliff-hanger. The reason for the cancellation was of course a decline in ratings but also the 2007 writers strike as also budgetary problems. It is possible that if the writers strike hadn’t happen, we at least gotten some closure in the form of a miniseries or a shortened season. But it is what it is, it was a good show with some very experienced actors: Joel Gretsch; Mahershala Ali; Laura Allen; Billy Campbell; Samantha Ferris; Kavan Smith and Peter Coyote.

What I did not know until recently, that 4400 books have been published! 4 Books in total, two books are set in the period of the 4 seasons, 2 books are set after the series, so it is more than likely that you get more answers regarding the series finale, perhaps even a satisfying closure to the series, I don’t know because I never read the books. Few years ago The 4400 was rebooted but it was already cancelled after one season. I never had any urge to watch it after I’d seen some trailers and later on I also heard very little positive remarks about the reboot so I guess I made the right choice not to start watching it. The 4400 also got a Blu-ray release! I believe it first was released in Germany, a complete series has been released but before that, the individual seasons were released. I have this set and it looks really good, of course an English soundtrack as well as English subtitles. The 4400 has also been released in the US and in Australia, New Zeeland on Blu-ray.

Final Word

It’s been 20 years already, time goes by so fast indeed. I recently watched the 4 seasons on Blu-ray and it still holds up pretty well, yes it is a shame that it ends with a cliff-hanger but it is worth it to do another rewatch. It will take a few years for me since my last rewatch ended in May 2021, Happy 20^th Anniversary!

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LOST (2004 - 2024) - 20th Anniversary

On September 22, 2004 LOST came to our TV screens! I absolutely loved LOST, except for the season finale, which I really hate! It Ruined an almost perfect show if you ask me! Same feeling I had with Dexter, but that is another story. When we (my wife & I) first started to watch LOST, we were a bit behind with the watching, but we watched the first 6 or 7 episodes back2back! We loved it, this was something you could consider a unique show, and it grabbed us by the throat, right from the start!

It had a huge cast and even back in 2004, a lot of them already had done other shows which made them familiar to me when LOST started. A big ensembled show and the creators managed to give every character a time to be in the spotlight. Actors like Matthew Fox; Terry O’Quinn; Michael Emerson; Daniel Dae Kim; Elizabeth Mitchell; Ian Somerhalder; Dominic Monaghan; Kevin Durand; Mira Furlan; Sonya Walger; Jeff Fahey; Zuleikha Robinson; Sam Anderson; Nestor Carbonell; Emilie de Ravin; Michelle Rodriguez; Daniel Roebuck; Mark Pellegrino and Titus Welliver, all actors I already knew before LOST started, an impressive cast if you ask me.

What was so great about LOST: the mystery, season arcs, personal story arcs of the lead characters, the time jumps. It was so absurd sometimes but that made it so great, these absurd storylines in combination with the personnel storylines made the show so great. I believe I read somewhere long ago that the creators did not even have a clue where the show was heading to, as if they were constantly improvising. Don’t know if this is actually true but if so, makes me wonder who thought up the season finale, did they really think this would be a satisfying end to such an iconic show? Still baffles me.

At one time, I owned all seasons on Blu-ray, my first rewatch also was my last rewatch. I watched it on Blu-ray about 10 years ago now, 2014-2015. And again I loved it, like I have with SGU, I was consumed by it, but when I saw the series finale for the 2^nd time, it bothered me even more than the first time I watched the series finale. I kid you not, the next day I put it up for sale and within a few days I sold my six seasons of LOST. I knew immediately after watching the series finale, I would never again watch the show.

Final Word:

One thing is clear, LOST is a great show and for me, with a terrible finale. This finale makes the show for me not relevant anymore, it is nothing, the finale is a vestibule for heaven, means in essence nothing. A real shame if you ask me, because again, the show is top notch but it is the road to the finale and the finale was ….nothing. Still, I have to have this show in my favorites because I did enjoy the show a lot but I also know I will never again watch it! Happy 20^th anniversary!

Space Precinct (1994 - 2024) - 30th Anniversary

Space Precinct first aired on October 3^rd, 1994. It is of course from the mind of Gerry Anderson who also created shows like Thunderbirlds, Space 1999 and UFO. The show is set in Demeter City on the planet Altor and follows Lieutenant Patrick Brogan (Ted Shackleford -"Knots Landing"), a former New York cop, who is transferred to Demeter City's Precinct 88. He and his wife and two kids have to adjust to life in this new world, which is populated by humans as well as two alien races, the Creons and the Tarns. Brogan is partnered with his partner from his NY stint, Officer Jack Haldane (Rob Youngblood) and his boss is an Irish-accented(!?) Creon called Captain Rexton Podly (Jerome Willis). Brogan and Haldane are well supported by another human officer, Jane Castle (Simone Bendix) who has lived on Altor for a year.

It was a cop show in space you can say, the aliens were a little strange, that for me was a bit difficult to actually believe that aliens like that really exist. In the 90’s it came along with Star Trek: DS9, Babylon 5, The X-files, Space: Above and Beyond and so on. There was a lot of SCI-FI  and perhaps that is one of the reasons it got cancelled after only season. Furthermore, it was not in the same league as the earlier mentioned shows but it still had its moments, Ted Shackleford was an accomplished actor, so he gave the show more credibility. In 2013 a documentary about the show was released named: Space Precinct Legacy, it is a 100 minutes documentary so if you are a fan, I think this is something you will have to see!

Final Word:

I purchased the US DVD set 10+ years ago and I rewatched it since then only once. I was thinking about another rewatch last year but till now it hasn’t happened. There are too many great shows I want to rewatch so it could take a while longer. Happy 30^th Anniversary Space Precinct!

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V (2009 - 2024) - 15th Anniversary

When this was announced, I was very excited! The return of V! Of course, it is difficult to make it as good as the original, it only worked for a few shows, think of Star Trek TOS and Star Trek TNG. Although the remake or reboot, whatever you want to call it, wasn’t so bad, it certainly wasn’t in the same league as the original miniseries though. The new V series first aired on November 3^rd, 2009, it ran for two short seasons before it got cancelled.

The cast was spectacular: Morena Baccarin; Elizabeth Mitchell; Morris Chestnut; Joel Gretsch; Scott Wolf; Laura Vandervoort; Lexa Doig; Rekha Sharma and also Jane Badler came back as Diana and even Marc Singer returned but as another character, Lars Tremont. Guest stars or recurring stars: Alan Tudyk; Nicolas Lea; Samantha Ferris; Michael Trucco; Paul McGillion and many more. You would think with a cast like this, a show has to be successful?!

As I said, I kind of liked it but there were a few drawbacks, first, the CGI was awful and this is not exaggerated! When you watch a TV show or a movie, you want to believe that what you see is possible. But the blue and / or green screens were so obvious, it was just sad, this was really a big disappointment. The original V miniseries looked better than what we saw in the reboot. The other downside was Erica Evans’ son Tyler, he was so obnoxious, almost a reason to quit the show. There are only a few exceptions where a kid of his age isn’t obnoxious. Jake Sisko (Cirroc Lofton, Star Trek DS9) and Lucus Wolenczak (Jonathan Brandis, SeaQuest DSV).

V 2009 had so much potential, but it should have been looking better at the original miniseries, I don’t mean just copy it but get inspiration from the original. Also the leader, the intro of the show. If you listen to the original intro, especially if you are a bit younger, that intro really gives you the creeps. This isn’t the case with the only 9 second intro of the reboot. What does surprise me, when I look at the IMdB page of V 2009, is that Kenneth Johnson is the creator, he is of course also the creator of the original miniseries. If that is really the case, I am even more disappointed!

Final Word:

Again, V 2009 is entertaining, but it should have been of the same quality as the original miniseries, why is this so hard?! The worst thing for me was the bad CGI which distracted me constantly, even if a story was good, the CGI on the V ship made me realize time and time again that I was watching something that obviously could not be real. Still, I did watch it, even purchased it on Blu-ray and watched it twice since, so yeah, it is flawed, but it wasn’t so bad either, it’s just….so much potential! Happy 15^th Anniversary V 2009!

Earth 2 (1994 - 2024) - Happy 30th Anniversary

Earth 2 started in the same year as Space Precinct, it premiered on November 6, 1994 on NBC. It is set two hundred years into the future, Devon Adair embarks on a mission to save her son's life and to provide humanity with a second chance. After traveling through space for twenty-two years, Devon and her small Advance team are forced to crash-land onto the far-away planet known as G-889. They are thousands of miles from their destination: New Pacifica, where they're supposed to set up a colony for the 250 families that are following. The survivors start out on a long and perilous journey toward New Pacifica. During their journey they will learn a lot about the mysteries of their new home and themselves.

It had a big cast, an experienced cast, for instance: Clancy Brown; Rebecca Gayheart; Antonio Sabato Jr.; Debrah Farentino; Tim Curry; Jessica Steen; Sullivan Walker and recurring was Terry O’Quinn. So in that regard you would expect multiple seasons. Unfortunately it was cancelled after only one season. The episodes were a mixed bag, some average, some below average, but there are some really interesting episodes which definitely shows potential. But you know how it is, it a show isn’t a success immediately, it becomes very difficult to get a new season.

NBC did not air the episodes in a correct order, which also did hurt the show, this has been corrected on the German DVD set which was released in 2010. The North American release from 2005 still has the incorrect order. The German DVD set does have an English soundtrack and English subtitles. The show started out with great ratings but soon the ratings dropped which made cancellation inevitable. Not Kathryn Janeway from Star Trek Voyager but Devon Adair was the first female leader on a SCI-FI show. For me, the best thing about the show definitely is Tim Curry as Gaal. He stole every scene he was in. I wouldn’t have minded if we had gotten another season!

Final Word:

Definitely a forgotten show, Earth 2 had great potential, a very strong cast and a very interesting premise. Especially when it becomes clear that the humans have been on that planet long before Devon and her team arrived there! Writing about it makes me want to go an watch it again, but I want to watch too much and have too little time to watch! Happy 30^th Anniversary Earth 2!

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2024 - Anniversaries

If you miss one (or more), please let me know in the comments. If you feel the urge to write a blog for one that I didn't write for, please let me know, I will upload it here and you'll get all the credits!