Sci Fi TV Obscurities: Hypernauts (1996)

Sci Fi TV Obscurities: A look at sci fi and fantasy TV shows that made it to the air only briefly before getting cast to the television wasteland.

[Updated]

What Is It? After a hyperspace jump gone wrong, three young cadets from the Academy of Galactic Exploration are sent hurtling across space to a distant part of the Galaxy. They encounter an alien race known as the Triiad that commands a massive robot fleet and that is bent on destroying intelligent races in order to acquire their resources. They also come in contact with an alien known as Kulai who’s race–the Pryan–have been mostly wiped out by the Triiad. The cadets cannot return to Earth because the Triiad will follow and wipe out the human race. So they decide instead to explore that part of the galaxy while also trying to find a way to defeat the Triiad.

Aired: ABC, 1996, 1 Season Totaling 13 Episodes

Starring: Glenn Herman, Heidi Lucas, Marc Brandon Daniel, Carrie Dobro, Ron Campbell

Created By: Ron Thornton, Douglas Netter, Christy Marx

Is It Must Watch Sci Fi? No. But it is worth watching a few episodes to see a show that had promise and that shares a similar look and feel to Babylon 5 because of the lineage of its creative team.

The Skinny: This sci fi series showed up briefly on Saturday morning during the Spring of 1996 and some may have mistaken it for Babylon 5 (which usually aired Saturday evenings) because the CGI special effects and production design shared many similarities to the J. Michael Straczynski show. Even the aliens looked very much like the ones that populated B5, but there was a reason for that.  Hypernauts came from Ron Thornton and Douglas Netter, both of whom had previously worked on B5, as well as Christy Marx, all of whom had worked on the earlier JMS series Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future. They definitely drew heavily on those past shows, but also set Hypernauts on its own course that could have turned it into a notable genre entry if given more of a chance to find itself. The series was definitely more intense than the average Saturday morning fare and had an ongoing arc that added a broader story to its episodic approach.

But as with any Saturday morning show, its budget was limited and its production values were strained. The CGI was comparable to Babylon 5 (which was excellent for its time), but the show still had a rather cheesy feel overall. It delivered the typical overacting expected of a series directed at younger viewers, and the dialogue and plots offered plenty of genre copy-and-paste elements. It also had its share of YA story cliches and threw in a cute alien for good measure (though the creature was kept mostly in the background). The expectedly diverse cast of mostly unknowns did a competent job, but none ever stood out (the stiff direction may be to blame there) nor did they go on to bigger things. Still, despite its drawbacks, the show had promise much like Captain Power (more on that one at this link) and could have improved if given another season or two. But with other space-based shows on the air like B5 and the Star Trek entries, competition was stiff for that audience and Hypernauts failed to make much of a mark. Still, it likely acted as a gateway show for younger fans developing an interest in more mature sci fi entries (consider it B5-lite), and it is well-remembered by those who stumbled across it during its brief run in the mid-90’s.

Cancelled Too Soon? Yes. The series was slotted into ABC’s Saturday morning lineup in the 10 AM EST hour and apparently did not perform well in that timeslot. It was yanked from the schedule after only eight of its thirteen episodes had aired and never managed to resolve its ongoing story. Perhaps a later timeslot would have helped, but the broadcast networks were not too supportive of sci fi shows at that time (and still today), so Hypernauts was never given a chance to find a wider audience.

Should It Be Rebooted? Possibly. It had an interesting premise even if it was somewhat derivative. If a reboot was geared to an older audience, though still retaining some of its youthful appeal, it could turn into a decent sci fi series. But since the show never developed much of a following, it is unlikely this one make it to the shortlist for reboots, unless its creators just wanted to give it another try and made a push for a revival.

Interesting Fact: ABC aired the first episode in Prime Time on Friday March 1st at 9:30 PM EST. Apparently the ratings were not sufficient to convince the network to keep the show in the evening hours, and it also performed poorly on Saturday mornings up against animated competition on the other networks (an afternoon timeslot might have worked best for the show).

Where Can You Watch It? The series has never been released on DVD or Blu-ray and it is not available on any of the major streaming services. All of the episodes can be found on YouTube, but the video quality is not the greatest.

Read More About the Show: Wikipedia | IMDb.com

More Sci Fi TV Obscurities at This Link

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