Earth 2 at 30: A look back at NBC’s big swing at sci-fi in the early ’90s

Thirty years ago this month, NBC did something that it rarely does: It tried to launch a new sci-fi TV series. The network that ran the original Star Trek and Quantum Leap (both versions) hasn’t always had the best of luck with science fiction. Look up NBC’s 2005 sci-fi series Surface for an example of what happens when the Peacock network tries to imitate another network’s hit genre show. That’s why it was so remarkable that NBC tried to do something different in November 1994 with a show called Earth 2.

During its single season on television, Earth 2 wasn’t simply another Star Trek clone. If anything, it seemed more reminiscent of Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry’s initial description of his show as a “Wagon Train to the stars.” Earth 2‘s creators Billy Ray, Michael Duggan, Carol Flint, and Mark Levin came up with a story that resembled a frontier tale as a group of colonists struggled to survive on a world very much like our own … but with alien creatures that were native inhabitants of that planet.

Earth 2 was a gamble from the start at a time when sci-fi series were rare, especially on network television. But that gamble didn’t work out and the show was canceled. Three decades later, it’s hard to find anyone who ever watched Earth 2, especially since so many shows have come after it. We’re not going to argue that Earth 2 is some lost classic of the genre. In fact, it’s pretty rough by modern standards. However, this is a show that deserves to be remembered for some of the ways it pushed sci-fi TV forward.

Partners with Darwin

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We can’t talk about Earth 2 without bringing up SeaQuest DSV, a sci-fi series that premiered on NBC in 1993. Future Farscape creator Rockne S. O’Bannon also created this family-friendly science fiction series, which featured Jaws star Roy Scheider in the leading role as Captain Nathan Bridger, the commanding officer of a titular submarine in the then far-off year of 2018.

Steven Spielberg produced the first two seasons of this show through his Amblin Television banner, and the series initially had a much lighter touch than its later stories. The late Jonathan Brandis was briefly a teen idol sensation for his role as a young genius, Lucas Wolenczak, and the show even had a dolphin named Darwin who could communicate with the crew.

Because SeaQuest DSV was initially a hit for NBC, the network wanted a show that could air on the same night as a companion series. That’s ultimately how Earth 2, which was was also produced by Amblin TV, landed at the network. Although Spielberg wasn’t directly involved in this series, some of the themes from Earth 2 resurfaced in Terra Nova, another Spielberg-produced sci-fi drama that premiered on Fox nearly two decades later.

Unfortunately for everyone involved, Earth 2 was not the hit that SeaQuest DSV was, and it was canceled after only a single season. But with 21 episodes, it lasted a lot longer than the average streaming series. As for SeaQuest DSV, that show only ran for three seasons due to declining ratings. But that’s a story for another time.

Life on another planet

Like SeaQuest DSV, Earth 2 also took place in the future, but almost two centuries after its companion series. More adventurous creators might have been tempted to narratively link the two shows, especially since the barren Earth of Earth 2 represents the failure of the SeaQuest’s crew to secure and protect our world’s environment. But that might have been too downbeat for SeaQuest. The reason the colonists left Earth for space is because their world could no longer support human life on a massive scale. Their only hope was to find a new world that could.

That world turned out to be a planet called G889, a close, but not an exact match for the world they left behind. The colony’s leader, Devon Adair (Debrah Farentino), was a billionaire who had the resources to finance an expedition called The Eden Project to colonize this new world. However, the mission became a disaster almost immediately after their ship arrived and crashed on the planet. That left the colonists without many of their supplies, and only a limited time to reach their planned landing site before the rest of the colony families arrive. They also learned that the Council — the government body that controlled humanity after its exodus from Earth — wanted to exert its control over G889 as well.

Earth 2 was ahead of its time

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Casting Farentino as Devon made Earth 2 one of the first sci-fi series to feature an actress as a show’s leading performer. Kate Mulgrew famously played Captain Kathryn Janeway on Star Trek: Voyager, but that series didn’t debut until January 1995, two months after Earth 2‘s premiere.

While that represented a major step forward, Earth 2‘s true contribution to the genre was its serialized storytelling. Because of the nature of the colonists’ mission, each episode took place in chronological order, as opposed to episodes that could be aired in a haphazard way. That was what often happened with the Star Trek series from this era. Babylon 5 embraced serialization earlier in 1994, but even that show’s stories didn’t always flow directly into each other until the second and third seasons.

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Earth 2 actually has a lot more in common with Lost than any of its contemporaries. The island on Lost may not have had alien creatures, but both shows were about characters who were trying to survive while trapped in a mysterious landscape. Lost often shifted perspectives among the main characters, which Earth 2 also did. It might be a stretch to say that Earth 2 influenced one of the most defining genre shows of a generation. But some of those similarities are uncanny.

The guest cast was particularly impressive

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Speaking of Lost, one of the stars of that show, Terry O’Quinn, had a recurring role on Earth 2 as Reilly, the contact for Dr. Julia Heller (Jessica Steen), the traitor within Devon’s group. Among the regular cast, Steen was one of the most-intriguing to watch because of Julia’s divided loyalties.

And when Devon and the others learned the truth about Julia’s ties to the Council, they dealt with her in a way that was shocking for the time. Basically, they abandoned Julia and left her to die. That banishment didn’t last long, but that was a great ending for the episode in question.

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Tim Curry actually showed up in the early episodes as Earth 2‘s first real villain: Gaal. He claimed to be an astronaut who had crashed on the planet, but Gaal was actually a criminal who had been sent to G889 when it was used by the Council as a penal colony.

That piece of information allowed Earth 2 to rotate in some more guest stars. Among the famous actors who appeared were Candyman star Virginia Madsen and Rockmond Dunbar, who had major roles on 9-1-1 and Prison Break.

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Aside from Farentino and Steen, the other primary cast member of Earth 2 who stood out was Clancy Brown. In most of his other projects, Brown has been typecast as a villain. But in this show, Brown’s John Danziger was a single father who was the protector of his fellow colonists. Brown is great in almost everything he does, and he elevated his part in the series every time he was on the screen.

Dream-timing with aliens

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The thing to keep in mind about Earth 2 is that the humans are the aliens on planet G889. The two primary species encountered on the planet are the gremlin-like Grendlers and the Terrians, who can seemingly move through the soil at will.

Some of the colonists were able to establish trades with the Grendlers, but the Terrians never directly spoke. Instead, they relied on telepathic dream connections they made with Devon’s son, Ulysses Adair (Joey Zimmerman), and a pilot, Alonzo Solace (Antonio Sabàto, Jr.). Those two characters had the dreamlike encounters with the Terrians that allowed them to bridge the gap between the two species.

It was also shown that Ulysses had an unbreakable link with the Terrians, and his well-being depended on theirs. Those were intriguing touches that were only partially explored in the show’s single season.

The unresolved cliffhanger

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Although Earth 2 was serialized, two of the episodes didn’t air in their intended order. Episodes 6 and 20 wouldn’t make their broadcast debut until after the season finale. Because the show was canceled, that turned out to be the series finale as well. Episode 21, All About Eve, actually resolved some of the show’s long-running subplots about Reilly’s identity and the Council’s agenda for the colonists. More importantly, it set up a story that would have likely been a major focus for season 2.

Near the end of the episode, Devon is warned that the planet itself will reject its human colonists. Like a canary in a coal mine, Devon’s rapidly deteriorating condition proves that this theory was accurate. Devon’s colony has no way to save her other than by placing her in stasis. That’s where the show leaves her, and the series as well. If Earth 2 had been renewed, it’s very likely that Devon would have been revived very early in season 2. But without a renewal, the show ends on a very ominous note and a cliffhanger that will never be resolved.

The future of Earth 2

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Needless to say, there hasn’t been a lot of activity with Earth 2 since the show was canceled in 1995.Ten years later, Earth 2 was released on DVD, which revived some interest in the series. Those DVDs are still available on Amazon and eBay, if you’re willing to pay above-market prices for discs that are nearly two decades old.

Earth 2 was briefly streamed on Netflix, but it’s no longer available through any digital outlet. There are complete episodes on YouTube, but the quality of the video is horrible. It’s just not an ideal way to watch the series. Universal and Amblin still own the series, and they could theoretically send it back to streaming someday.

But the reality is that there just isn’t much demand to revisit these characters and this story. Not every franchise gets a second chance. And unless something drastic changes, the only people who are going to remember Earth 2 are the viewers who saw it when it was new 30 years ago.