Andromeda (TV series)

Andromeda
Also known as	Gene Roddenberry's Andromeda
Genre	Science fiction Action
Created by	Gene Roddenberry
Developed by	Robert Hewitt Wolfe
Written by	Robert Hewitt Wolfe
Starring	Kevin Sorbo Lisa Ryder Keith Hamilton Cobb Lexa Doig Laura Bertram Gordon Michael Woolvett Brent Stait Steve Bacic Brandy Ledford
Composer	Matthew McCauley [1]
Country of origin	Canada United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	5
No. of episodes	110 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers	Allan Eastman Majel Barrett Jay Firestone Adam Haight Eric Gold Kevin Sorbo Robert Engels
Running time	60 minutes
Production companies	Andromeda Productions Fireworks Entertainment MBR Productions Tribune Entertainment
Original release
Network	Global Syndicated Sci-Fi Channel (2004–2005)
Release	October 2, 2000 (2000-10-02) – May 13, 2005 (2005-05-13)

Andromeda (formally titled Gene Roddenberry's Andromeda) is a space opera television series, based on unused material by Gene Roddenberry, developed by Robert Hewitt Wolfe, and produced by Roddenberry's widow, Majel Barrett. ^[2] The series follows Kevin Sorbo as Captain Dylan Hunt of the Systems Commonwealth, an intergalactic government that presided over an extended period of peace and prosperity until its destruction from a rebellion led by the warmongering Nietzcheans and parasitic Magog. The series premiered on October 2, 2000, and ended on May 13, 2005.

Contents

• Premise
• Characters
• Andromeda universe
• Slipstream
• Systems Commonwealth
• Major star systems
• Major races
• Other races
• Organizations
• Production
• Robert Hewitt Wolfe's departure
• Home media
• Reception
• Awards
• References
• External links

Andromeda was filmed in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada and produced by Andromeda Productions, Tribune Entertainment, Fireworks Entertainment ^[1] and MBR Productions. ^[3] In Canada, the show aired on Global Television Network (Fireworks' parent company) and ran in first-run broadcast syndication in the United States.

Andromeda is one of two television series (alongside Earth: Final Conflict ) produced after Roddenberry's death based on concepts he had created as early as the 1960s and 1970s; Roddenberry died in 1991, nine years prior to the series premiere. The name Dylan Hunt had previously been used for the hero of two television pilots Roddenberry had produced in the mid-1970s – Genesis II and Planet Earth – all of which shared a similar dystopian post-apocalyptic premise.

Premise

Thousands of years in the future, the Systems Commonwealth is a constitutional monarchy spanning the Milky Way, Triangulum, and Andromeda galaxies, with the capital of Tarn-Vedra near Andromeda's core. The Commonwealth is at war with the Magog, a parasitic humanoid species spreading across the galaxies. Peace talks led the Commonwealth to cede a key world to the Magog, that of the Nietzscheans; in response, the Nietzscheans secretly attempted to usurp control of the Commonwealth.

Dylan Hunt is the captain of the Commonwealth starship Andromeda Ascendant. Its computer is a powerful artificial intelligence which Dylan has nicknamed "Andromeda" or "Rommie". Caught in a surprise attack in the first engagement of the Nietzschean uprising, the Andromeda is crippled, prompting Dylan to order the crew to evacuate. During the attack, Dylan's Nietzschean first officer, Gaheris Rhade, betrays Dylan and attempts to kill him. Dylan kills Gaheris as Andromeda is caught at the edge of the event horizon of a black hole, freezing both in time.

303 years later, in CY 10087 (approx 5167 AD), the Andromeda is pulled from the event horizon by the crew of the salvage ship Eureka Maru, captained by con-artist and expert pilot Beka Valentine, super-genius engineer Seamus Zelazny Harper, doctor and alien of unknown origin Trance Gemini, and pacifist Magog Rev Bem (the salvage crew's beneficiary also secretly brings Nietzschean mercenary Tyr Anasazi). The Systems Commonwealth has fallen, and the era known as The Long Night has begun. Hunt recruits the crew to join him in restoring the Systems Commonwealth and to "rekindle the light of civilization".

Characters

• Dylan Hunt – played by Kevin Sorbo, captain of the Andromeda Ascendant. ^[1]
• Rebecca "Beka" Valentine – played by Lisa Ryder, captain of the Eureka Maru ^[1] and first officer on Andromeda.
• Tyr Anasazi – played by Keith Hamilton Cobb, ^[1] weapons officer (seasons 1–3; guest season 4).
• Seamus Zelazny Harper – played by Gordon Michael Woolvett, ^[1] chief engineer.
• Trance Gemini – played by Laura Bertram, ^[1] doctor and life support officer.
• Rev Bem (Reverend "Red Plague" Behemial Far Traveler) – played by Brent Stait, ^[1] science officer (seasons 1–2; guest seasons 3–4).
• Andromeda (Rommie) – played by Lexa Doig, ^[1] ship's artificial intelligence and android avatar.
• Telemachus Rhade – played by Steve Bacic, weapons officer (seasons 4–5).
• Doyle – played by Brandy Ledford, ^[4] Andromeda Ascendant's second android avatar (season 5).

Andromeda universe

Production

Majel Barrett and Tribune Entertainment began developing series from Gene Roddenberry's archive in 1997. Robert Hewitt Wolfe was brought in to develop the series. Fireworks Entertainment was brought in to co-finance and for international distribution. In early 1999, actor Kevin Sorbo was recruited to star in the series while he starred in Hercules: The Legendary Journeys . Eric Gold, and Barrett were also to be executive producers and Wolfe as co-executive producer. ^[5] Bette Chadwick was in charge of casting, while visual effects were initially handled by Lost Boys Studios and Northwest Imaging & FX. ^[1] By September 9, 1999, Tribune had stations committed for two years in 24 of the top 30 markets with 22 Tribune and 38 Sinclair stations for a 60% national clearance giving the series a green light. The show was offered barter terms with an eight national/six local advertising split. ^[5]

The Andromeda theme music used in season one was composed by Alex Lifeson, guitarist for the Canadian progressive rock band Rush.

Andromeda's first episode was aired on syndication in the United States on October 2, 2000 ^[1] while being carried on Global Television Network in Canada. ^[6] Tribune Broadcasting station signed on to carry the show in its first season. On January 20, 2002, Andromeda was renewed for two seasons, its third and fourth, having gotten two year deals with stations in 39 out the top 40 markets. ^[7] By January 31, 2003, the show was renewed for its fourth season, 2003–2004, in 148 markets representing 88% of the United States. ^[3] The show was averaging 2.2 rating for the 2002–2003 season, third behind Stargate SG-1 . ^[8] For the 2003–2004 season, the show is one of only four first-run scripted series in syndication along with its Tribune stable mate, Mutant X . ^[9]

On January 14, 2004, the Sci-Fi Channel made a deal for the show and all its episodes plus fellow Tribune syndicated but discontinued show Beastmaster . In March, the cable channel would start showing season four episodes which would then be seen in syndication seven to ten days later. With the deal, the series was renewed for its fifth and final season. ^[10] The show began its run on Sci-Fi with a re-airing of the two-hour pilot episode. ^[11]

On April 23, 2004, CanWest Global Communications announced the closure of Fireworks Entertainment and placing Fireworks' library up for sale. With Fireworks being the primary production company, this was effectively the show's cancellation notice. ^[12] However, two of Fireworks' shows were shifted to fellow CanWest subsidiary Global Television. Tribune had ordered the show and Mutant X into production for the 2004–2005 season under the show's contract options. Fireworks Entertainment took Tribune to court to get an order releasing them from production and financing the two series. ^[13]

Home media

By 2003, ADV Films had home video/DVD rights for the show in the USA. ^[21] The company released the entire series on DVD in region 1 between 2003 and 2006. In December 2003, ADV released Season 3, Collection 2. ^[22] On October 3, 2006, they released a complete series DVD box set known as Andromeda: The Slipstream Collection.

Alliance Home Entertainment (under license from CanWest Global Communications) has released all five seasons on DVD in Canada only.

In Region 2, Revelation Films has released the first four seasons on DVD in the United Kingdom. ^{[23] [24] [25] [26]} The fifth and final season was released on November 24, 2014. ^[27]

On January 26, 2015, Revelation Films released a complete series set on DVD in the United Kingdom. ^[28]

In Region 4, Beyond Home Entertainment has released all five seasons on DVD in Australia. In 2007/2008, they re-released all five seasons in new collector's editions that featured new packaging and all episodes were digitally re-mastered in widescreen format. ^[29]

A region B Blu-ray release of the first season was released on June 24, 2013, in the United Kingdom, with the next two seasons following by the end of that year. ^[30]

The all-region Blu-ray release of the complete box set of all five seasons was released on September 19, 2016. ^[31]

Reception

The first season received mixed to negative reviews. Starburst described Andromeda as a "delightfully motley cast of characters, and the scripts by Wolfe and his writing team are brimming with witty interplay." ^[32] A mixed review from Variety says Andromeda "could offer a few campy laughs on a weekend afternoon". ^[33] In a retrospective, Digital Spy remarks "this show hasn't exactly aged that well... but if you remotely like sci-fi, we also bet you'll find yourself sucked into this nostalgia-fest in no time". ^[34]

Andromeda received negative reviews from the Los Angeles Times ("Don't expect much excitement... 'Andromeda' isn't intended to be taken too seriously, but that doesn't excuse its penchant for dopey dialogue"), ^[35] Entertainment Weekly ("After surviving a hilariously bad slow motion fight sequence.. Sorbo meets up with a band of misfit scavengers who may not be as bad as they seem, but make up for it by being twice as annoying"), ^[36] Common Sense Media ("this series lacks the spark that made Star Trek so much fun. The politics sometimes seem overly confusing, and some of the characters are thinly developed"), ^[37] SciFiNow ("It's a cliche but decent enough... but the problem is that Andromeda falls into Star Trek: Voyager territory by playing it safe and not doing enough to develop its characters") ^[38] and Pittsburgh Post-Gazette ("it's kiddie-minded science-fiction with average special effects... and a set that was clearly built on a lower budget than the 'Star Trek' shows."). ^[39]

Awards

Andromeda was nominated for 39 awards at organizational events spanning the years 2001 to 2006. The nominations comprised six Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films, USA awards, five Chicago International Film Festival awards, eight Gemini Awards, fifteen Leo Awards, and five WorldFest-Houston International Film Festival awards. The show won 18 of those awards.

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References

External links

Wikiquote has quotations related to Andromeda .

• Andromeda at AllMovie
• Andromeda at IMDb
• "Gene Roddenberry's Andromeda". Official site (Sci Fi Channel). Archived from the original on August 20, 2005. Includes detailed episode guide.