163 replies to this topic

[briiian]

this show, charlie jade, is coming to SPACE in a few weeks. does anyone know more about it? anyone seen any video or anything? rumours are there's some pretty good CGI.

it's supposed to be about interdimensional travel. and a private investigator or a cop gets trapped in a dimensional shift and figures out that international corporations are running out of resources to exploit, so they're trying to rip off other parallel universes.

hmmmm...

[Hegel88]

From TV Tome:

Charlie Jade (Jeffrey Pierce, The West Wing, JAG, Boston Public) is a rogue private detective in a world dominated by greedy multinational corporations. When Charlie sees the corpse of a beautiful young woman he realizes she embodies the impossible: she has no identity, something inconceivable in Charlie's world.

While tracking her suspected killer, the trail leads Charlie to a secret desert facility. A massive explosion propels him into a parallel universe, our own chaotic twenty-first century world where he is both baffled by its differences and seduced by its similarities. Charlie is soon drawn into a conflict that not only involves his home universe and the one he now inhabits but also includes another, a pristine pacifist universe with unsuspected terror at its heart.

Three worlds... One hope

Created by Robert Wertheimer (Due South, RoboCop: Prime Directives) and Chris Roland (Stander, Man to Man, The Bone Snatcher), the series is written by Guy Mullally (The Lost World, Little Men), David Cole (Cold Squad, Due South) and Stephen Zoller (Super Rupert, Anne of Green Gables). Executive Producers are Robert Wertheimer, Chris Roland, Izidore Codron (The Bone Snatcher, Stander), Robin Spry (Big Wolf on Campus, The Lost World), and Jacques Pettigrew (Galidor)

Charlie Jade is filmed in Cape Town, South Africa.

You can get a trailer and more at Charliejade.com.

[lagendyk]

I watched the premiere - much to my regret. When it wasn't mystifying, it was stultifying. I'll give it one more try, but if the next episode is anything like this was - forget it.

[Hegel88]

The premiere was a bit hard to follow at times, but I think it has promise.

[Richard Burns]

I'm surprised that there isn't more talk about Charlie Jade. That show is original and intelligent. I guess its limited availability is hampering the talkback. A person involved with the show is present on Space's forums and is giving some very good insight on the characters and the three universes.

I have to say that O1 Boxer is one of the most original characters i have seen in a long time. Apparently he is a child in Alpha, an adolescent in Beta and an adult in Gamma. He really acts differently in each universe. The only thing i find weird is that we got to know more about him than Charlie in the first five episodes that have aired.

[briiian]

yeah, it's hard to figure out how characters know things about one another sometimes. and when they're shifting to those in-between spaces, i'm not sure if the conversations are taking place metaphorically or not.

i think charlie and boxer are shadows of each other.

this show is kind of more fantasy than sci fi... especially after the first ten episodes. but i like it. it's ambitious. and it's trying to be relevant...

[Richard Burns]

On the SPACE forums, we have a Charlie Jade writer that shares his insights on the show. It's very interesting.

I really love that they emphasized the importance of a natural resource as simple and yet as vital as water.

[Unusual Suspect]

I'm having trouble getting into this show, it's kinda dull. But I admit, Charlie and 01 Boxer are hotties.

[briiian]

hotties? i don't think boxer's very hot. although he does pick up a LOT. charlie is ok, but they're always trying to make him look so aloof. sometimes his expressions are a little overdone.

[leethomson]

Well, the season wraps up this weekend and I have to say that, after struggling for it's opening half dozen episodes, this show really found its feet around episode seven and has been absolutely terrific since then.

My only criticism is that the show has too much ambition. Certain characters and storylines have occasionally been given short shrift, which has been a little frustrating.

Here's hoping re-runs or DVDs are in the works, because Charlie Jade really deserves to be seen.

[caper24]

I just started getting into this show with the clip-show they did a couple of weeks back. It's kinda weird, because I just started reading a book where the main character is a world-walker.

It seems to have a lot going for it. I'm looking forward to seeing the rest of the episodes when Space inevitable reruns them.

Edited to add: Apparently CHUM's A-Channel stations will be showing Charlie Jade Season 1 this fall. (CHUM owns Space as well.)

Edited by caper24, Aug 16, 2005 @ 2:47 PM.

[Unusual Suspect]

I taped the two-hour pilot and the first episode after that, but they'd sat on the tape until I was channel surfing and caught "Through a Mirror Darkly", and it managed to keep my attention enough for me to go back and watch the stuff I taped. Charlie Jade isn't a bad show, but it's not the "Filet Minon" that the actor who plays 01 calls it in those SPACE interviews I keep seeing.

[caper24]

No, it's not Filet Mignon... Heh heh heh... but I think it has promise. Might be one of those shows that really finds a groove in the second season (if it lasts through to a second season.)

[Richard Burns]

I think a lot of people will have difficulties with this show because they are used to being spoon fed. Charlie Jade requires you to think and concentrate on what is going on. It's one of the rare shows that treat you like an adult instead of a child with a limited attention span that requires easy storylines and self contained episodes.

It started slowly but those who persevered were rewarded with one of the most original and compelling science fiction show ever. The choice of South Africa for the shooting made it visually unique. It's a lot less familiar to us than British Columbia which we have seen way too often. They did wonders with a limited budget.

I have two suggestions for those who haven't seen it:
1. Bug the hell out of Scifi channel to get it. It deserves to be seen in the United States.
2. Try to watch all the episodes and see them in order. You can't judge the show after only seeing one or two episodes.

Edited by Richard Burns, Aug 20, 2005 @ 10:34 PM.

[Jiminator]

yeah, and in case you haven't seen starwars, darth and luke make peace and save the universe.

for everyone else, i have to say it is a really enjoyable show. the locations are great. I think it probably took about the 8th or 9th show for things to really start kicking into high gear (or become understandable), but it was fantastic after that. both charlie and 01 play such great characers.... I do hope they are able to swing a second season...

[Unusual Suspect]

Is SPACE gonna repeat this show? 'Cause I missed the finale (got home late, didn't set the VCR) and I wouldn't mind watching all the way through now that I'm more interested in it. I still think the show's biggest problem was glacial pacing early on, it wasn't drawing me in.

[jonathanacohen]

I think a basic problem (I stopped watching after about 5-6 episodes, which is plenty of time to give a show a chance), is that it didn't give the central character a goal to strive for.

Charlie was just plunked down in a new world. So what? He didn't care, just bummed around, and la di dah. His partner didn't even have any cases; how did that detective agency survive?

There were some striking visuals and great concepts, but you need more.

[leethomson]

I completely agree. I was underwhelmed by the first batch of episodes - Charlie kept saying he wanted to go home, but there didn't seem to be any reason why he should. 01 was nothing more than a B-movie psycho. Reena was just, well, a waste of screen-time. But a new writing staff took over as of episode nine, and the whole thing just turned around. Seemingly overnight the episodes were a whole lot tighter, and the characters more sympathetic.

[caper24]

A-Channel Ottawa re-aired the first episode on Saturday. So I'm gonna try catching it this time out. Should be fun, I hope.

[Wyldemusick]

Just coming to this show via outside guidance, but I'm guessing, given the first seaon date, and the date now, that it never got to a second season. Ah well.

[Unusual Suspect]

Plus the actors have moved on, I saw Charlie Jade on the short-lived "The Nine", as the other bank robber. Didn't watch the show, but came to the conclusion that those were a hot pair of bank robbers.

[teraelli]

I just discovered this show as well, and blitzed through all the episodes in just a few days. Slow start, yes, but very rewarding.

Why the hell hasn't the Sci Fi Channel picked this up?

[Bobby Drake]

This just started in the UK last week on the FX channel, will be watching in the next couple of days but does look very interesting. The SFX magazine has just given a free dvd away with latest issue of episode one and i think behind the scenes.

[teraelli]

I saw this several days ago and forgot to mention it here, but there's a report that Charlie Jade is coming to the Sci-Fi Channel. The article doesn't say when, though, and there hasn't been an announcement on the Wire.

[Hagakure]

Well it's ABOUT TIME! The official site is up on SCIFI.COM now. The premiere is on June 8th. I'm so excited!