#8 The Burning Zone (1996 - 1997)

Note: I really was going to just do 7 shows, but, I ran across a bootleg of this show at Emerald City Comicon - well presumably it was a bootleg as I'll discuss below - and out of a sense of nostalgia and procrastination I added this one, enjoy! Regular bloggage shall resume on Tuesday!

Ridiculous doesn't quite do the premise of this show justice. Apparently it premiered about a year after the film Outbreak. I mention this because the success of Outbreak is the only thing I can think of to explain why the hell this show was even greenlit. Now, don't get me wrong, there are worse shows out there but The Burning Zone is just very meh. The only reason I even bothered to hunt for it is because the first 11 episodes star Jeffrey Dean Morgan. And, as we all know, Jeffrey Dean Morgan is sex on legs (even with that dumbass mide-90s Caesar haircut).

Clooney and JDM so hot, the Ceasar cut looks good

The premise of the show is that JDM's character, Dr. Edward Marcase, is the lone gunslinger of level 4 pathogens. He survived Ebola as a child (although it killed his parents) and is a genius in his field. He's also an arrogant douche but he's hot and has a nice car so we don't mind too much.

The first episode introduces us to what I suspect was intended to be the Big Bad of the series. This is an intelligent virus. It takes over a human host, pumps their temp to 108, turns the whites of their eyes blood red and generally wreaks havoc but doesn't kill. It claims it is the last surviving hive of a viral mind that once controlled all other viruses and used humans as a preferred host. An unnamed cataclysm sent the intelligent virus into hiding 15,000 years ago.  Marcase figures out that the cataclysm had to have been the biblical flood and finds a bacterial agent in sea water that can kill the intelligent virus. Day saved.

Later episodes hint that it was also going for a sort of X-Files government conspiracy vibe via sleight of hand and such within the organization. Blah. It could also be argued/interpreted that the groups' work is kept secret because there are an increasing number of pathogens indicating that the intelligent virus has survived to some degree blah blah blah. The show was axed at 19 episodes so we'll all likely die never knowing. 

Marcase's team is comprised of Dr. Kimberly Shiroma (played by Tamlyn Tomita - who, according to IMDB.com's trivia on TBZ chose TBZ over Babylon 5 - as the pilots were shot at similar times - that's gotta hurt), Agent Michael Haley (played by James Black) and Dr. Daniel Cassian (played by Michael Harris) although he doesn't show up until the second episode and they use some wibbly hand waving to excuse the absence of their 'boss' from the previous ep.

Shiroma and Marcase are actively hostile at first, Shiroma because she blames Marcase for the death of her fiance via Ebola and Marcase 'cause he's an arrogant dickwad. Cassian is basically annoying and stands somewhere between the team and the party line, though his motives and true stance are wishy washy. Marcase and Haley are also snarly 'cause Marcase resents having an agent around as he doesn't need a hired gun blah blah. Seriously this show is so robotic it's painful. It isn't bad enough to mock MST3K style, it's just generally bad. Although the credits are super amusing. Lots of dramatic head on shots and glaring artfully at the camera.

Hi, I'll be your woefully inadequate JDM replacement!

For no adequately explained reason the character of Marcase is replaced by the character of Dr. Brian Taft (played by Bradford Tatum) for the last 8 episodes. I believe IIRC Shiroma is also axed at the same time. There may be a line or so of dialogue in the twelfth episode to 'explain' where they went (back to their agents for a good screaming session is my best guess).

The show limps along for those 11 episodes well enough for what it is. It will never be a classic by any means but it is amusing to see younger JDM and also giggle at the ridiculousness of the show in general. Some of the leaps they take with logic and medicine are disturbing - in that they apparently assumed we'd fall for them - and the performances in general aren't bad. The only other notable thing is that it feels/sounds like they got the sound design team from Forever Knight to do this show too. Can't say that was a good idea really.

Anyway, it's not too awful and the first 11 episodes are certainly watchable and fairly enjoyable if you like some canned cheese with your entertainment. Again JDM and the core cast are decent but it's a very passable show. It is interesting that its never been released on DVD and is unavailable on youtube (a little bird told me attempting to upload episodes results in an angry notice of copyright violation) as so many things are.

I did manage to find this teaser trailer on youtube though (remember you were warned):

 

Availability:

Netflix: NO

Hulu: NO

Amazon:   NO

Suggested - Ebay!  (presumably if you're reading this blog you're web savvy enough to have a good idea of just where you *could* find it but as it's still being puppy-guarded on youtube I'm not going to endorse, link, or recommend any sites).