Cancelled Too Soon: Strange World (1999)

1999’s Strange World rode in on the X-Files wave of popularity, but it was more than just a clone of that show and deserved better support from its network.

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What Is It?

This series follows a Special Investigator for the Army, Captain Paul Turner, who has been tasked with looking into cases involving the abuses of science.  He himself had been a victim of such abuses when he was exposed to chemical weapons, and now must rely on periodic injections of an antidote from a mysterious woman who has her own agenda for him.

Aired:  ABC, 1999, 1 Season Totaling 13 Episodes

Starring:  Tim Guinee, Kristin Lehman, Vivian Wu

Created By: Howard Gordon, Tim Kring

Why Was It Cancelled?

This series came from Heroes creator Tim Kring and Buffy/Angel producer Howard Gordon and was one of several receiving the greenlight in the late ’90s when networks were looking for their own version of FOX’s successful series The X-Files.  However, it borrowed mostly just the paranoia and government conspiracy aspects from the Chris Carter show (as well as the gritty look and feel) and steered away from paranormal storylines. (And its intro sequence definitely delivered some X-Files vibes, see above).  Strange World was actually quite a good series with its moody stories and brooding lead played by Guinee (Stargate: SG-1, Revolution) and it was heavier on the speculative fiction elements even if it did occasionally fall victim to television’s typical fast-and-loose twisting of science.

Unfortunately, its run was all too brief as ABC scheduled it in the difficult Tuesday 10 PM EST timeslot at mid-season without much of a lead-in and against the popular CBS Tuesday Night Movie. Not surprisingly, it debuted to poor ratings and was yanked from the schedule after only three episodes had aired.  But the producers realized early on that ABC was not going to support the show, and they decided to go ahead and write a resolution to the main story arc so that the final product could be considered more of a self-contained mini-series.  The entire thirteen-episode run would finally be aired on the Sci Fi Channel in 2002, and there were hopes at that time that it would be picked up for additional seasons. But no further episodes were produced for the show.

Should It Be Rebooted?

Since the creators did write a resolution to the series, this one works pretty well as a self-contained genre entry. Still, they had more story ideas, and it might be interesting to see where this one would have gone. They could go the full reboot route, or bring back some of the original characters and pick up the story twenty-five years later. But seeing as this one never even developed much of a cult following, a revival/reboot seems unlikely unless Tim Kring and/or Howard Gordon pushed for it.

Where Can You Watch It?

Strange World has yet to receive a DVD or Blu-ray release, nor is it available for online viewing from any of the major streaming services.  You can find all of the episodes on YouTube, though, and this one is certainly worth seeking out.

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