Strange World

infobox television
show_name = Strange World


caption = Intertitle of "Strange World"
format = medical drama
science fiction
picture_format = Color
runtime = 60 minutes per episode (with commercials)
creator = Tim Kring
Howard Gordon
starring = Tim Guinee
Kristin Lehman
Vivian Wu
Saundra Quarterman
country = United States
network = ABC
first_aired = March 8, 1999
last_aired = May 10, 2002
(non-consecutively)
num_episodes = 13
list_episodes = List of Strange World episodes
imdb_id = 0166936
tv_com_id= 283

"Strange World" is a short-lived American television program about military investigations into criminal abuses of science and technology. ABC commissioned thirteen episodes, of which only three aired in March, 1999, before they cancelled the program. By the time ABC officially axed the show, the producers were finalizing the last episode. The remaining ten episodes subsequently premiered on SciFi in the Spring of 2002.

The series was created by former "X-Files", "Buffy the Vampire Slayer", and "Angel" producer Howard Gordon and Tim Kring, creator of "Crossing Jordan" and "Heroes".

In a webchat during the 2002 run on SciFi, co-creator Howard Gordon stated that, since the producers knew ABC wasn't going to support the show before the premiere of the first episode, they had the opportunity to write a conclusion to the story. Thus, he asserts the show is best considered as a completed miniseries rather than a cancelled television program [ [http://www.scifi.com/transcripts/2002/gordon_chat.html SCIFI.COM Chat with Howard Gordon] ] .

All thirteen episodes air on Chiller beginning in March 2007.

Plot

The main character, Captain Paul Turner (Tim Guinee), is a doctor for USAMRIID suffering from Gulf War Syndrome: a rare form of aplastic anemia contracted from chemical weapon exposure during the Persian Gulf War. USAMRIID lures him out of his sickbed with the opportunity to bring justice to others suffering from unethical uses of scientific discoveries and resulting technologies. Unknown to his superiors, he is given a temporary cure for the symptoms of his disease by a mysterious woman who is an agent of a shadowy organization that may be trying to thwart the goals of USAMRIID. He requires periodic doses of the cure to remain functional, a weakness that the shadowy organization occasionally uses to control him. Both the machinations of the "shadowy organization" and Turner's dependency on the "cure" are ultimately resolved in the final episode of the series.

Title sequence

The opening titles were noteworthy for their graphic innovation, drawing the attention of the American Institute of Graphic Arts. The sequence was added to AIGA's permanent collection [http://designarchives.aiga.org/index.html?s1=2|s2=1|eid=1475] AIGA's "Strange World" exhibit] in 1999. It was created by Imaginary Forces, a firm also responsible for the Comedy Central and Lifetime network rebrandings and the "102 Dalmatians" titles in 2000, the "Arlington Road" titles in 1999, and various other AIGA-recognized advertisements and logos.

Episodes

Footnotes