Cancelled Before It Began: Them (2007)

2007’s Them allegedly aired on Fox in 2007 but it has all but disappeared since then even though it had a great creative team and an interesting premise that could have turned into a good sci fi series.

[Updated]

What Is It?

This telefilm focuses on a sleeper cell of aliens based in Los Angeles who look like humans but who have no emotions and follow orders without question. Emotions infect the aliens like a virus, so they must be cautious in their contact with Earth people. One of the aliens ends up falling in love with a human and the enforcer Cain is sent to hunt him down. Meanwhile, the “assimilator” Ezekial monitors the other members of the cell for any signs of contamination from human emotions.

Aired: 2007 (Allegedly)

Developed By: John McNamara, David Eick

Starring: Cain Johnson, Adam Bridges, Donna Shaw, Ezekial Smits, Tara Spader

Why Didn’t it Fly?

Not to be confused with the 2021 horror anthology series of the same name or the 2006 David Moreau horror film or the 1954 sci fi classic Them!, this pilot was produced by Battlestar: Galactica EP David Eick and was based on the graphic novel SIX by Michael Avon Oeming and Daniel Berman. It allegedly aired in 2007, but I never saw it hit the schedule and I was watching for it. Futon Critic’s Brian Ford Sullivan did review it, so the pilot does exist, and he referred to it as “FOX’s best drama pilot since Prison Break“, and he hoped it would get picked up to series. Sadly, though, the TV movie has had very little exposure and since seems to have completely disappeared. I can’t even find a trailer or any clips on YouTube, nor even any photos that I can definitely link to the movie.

And while the premise of this series sounds a bit derivative, it certainly seemed interesting at the time because of the involvement of BSG’s David Eick as well as John McNamara who had created the intriguing Profit for FOX back in 1996 (which starred future Heroes cast-member Adrian Pasdar). Them could been taken in a lot of interesting directions and used to explore many moral quandaries just like BSG did with its best episodes. And perhaps Fox execs saw that in the pilot and that scared them off from the property.

Network television was not ready then (and still not now) to take the chances that cable shows like BSG and non-genre entry The Shield were at that time. And FOX had cancelled McNamara’s daring Profit after only eight episodes, so if Them was going in the same direction it would have a hard time surviving on the network. Still, this might have made for an interesting series, especially considering the creative staff that was guiding it. But it unfortunately hit the wrong network at the wrong time.

Should It Be Rebooted?

The premise for the series definitely sounds interesting and has a lot of potential if the right creative team is onboard (which was the case for the pilot). This is one that seems like it would do well on one of the streaming services if given three to four seasons to tell its story. And since they tried it once, why not give it another shot? I have to wonder, though, if this one is caught up in some rights disputes. The original graphic novel SIX seems to be out of print and the pilot appears to have been erased from existence. So this is the mystery film that could have been, but maybe at some point they will give the property a second chance.

Where Can You Watch It?

As mentioned, I can’t find this TV movie anywhere. Not on streaming or YouTube or even a bootleg DVD copy. Of course, it doesn’t help that the title is a very generic word heavily discounted by many search engines and that there are three other properties using the same name as well.

If anybody has any information on this film, or perhaps worked on it, please let us know in the comments because it would be nice to find out what happened with it.

Read about more Sci Fi TV pilots that did not fly at this link.

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