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Strange New World
| Fandom | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Strange New World |
| Abbreviation(s): | |
| Creator: | Gene Roddenberry |
| Date(s): | 1975 |
| Medium: | Live-action Film |
| Country of Origin: | USA |
| External Links: | Strange New World |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
Strange New World was a Gene Roddenberry project. it was the third attempt to create a TV series pilot based upon a particular Roddenberry concept; the previous attempts being (in order) Genesis II and Planet Earth.
"STRANGE NEW WORLD"...or "GENESIS IV"
ABC's made-for-TV movie on July 13, "Strange New World," starring John Saxon, Kathleen Miller and Keene Curtis, was the story of astronauts returning to a destroyed and changed Earth after 180 years of suspended animation. TV Guide referred to it thusly, "You may recognize this as a kind of spinoff of last year's disastrous 'Planet Earth.' However, except for Saxon's presence in both films and the name 'Pax' being given to a group of survivors, there was no connection with the earlier Roddenberry production, and Mr. Roddenberry had nothing to do with the second and more recent production. [1]
Production
One behind-the-scenes report about the project states:
The film was made up of two stories one taking place in the ruins of, I believe, the San Diego Zoo, with the cast members caught in the middle when the last surviving zoo game warden tries to protect the remaining animals from poachers. The other had a city of androids and their human servants.[2]
This appears to correspond with the overseas release of the film, if the Australian experience is typical: Strange New World was divided into two, separate, hour-long episodes (approximately 45 minutes each, plus 15 minutes for advertisements) on Channel 0 (also called ATV 0, later renamed Channel 10) in Melbourne, Australia:
Episode Names:
- Clones (8 January 1976, 8:30pm)
- Animaland (15 January 1976, 8:30pm)[3]
It is also reported that actor Ted Cassidy declined to appear in this film after appearing in both its predecessors[4].
Fan Response
Fan and critical response to this film appears to have been more muted than it had been for its predecessor films, partly because the material was reworked somewhat, partly because Gene Roddenberry's involvement appears to have been minimal, and partly because the story was generally regarded as being the weakest of the three attempts to create a TV series pilot based upon the concept.
References
- ^ From A Piece of the Action #30
- ^ Joel Eisner, author of The Official Batman Batbook, quoted in Billy Ingram, Gene Roddenberry's What Might Have Been, TVParty, n.d..
- ^ Unpublished TV notes from Geoff Allshorn
- ^ Billy Ingram, as above