2495 replies to this topic

[AimingforYoko]

Coming mid-season from Fox:

From executive producers Steven Spielberg, Peter Chernin, Brannon Braga (24, "Star Trek: Enterprise") and David Fury ("Lost," "Buffy the Vampire Slayer") comes an epic family adventure 85 million years in the making.

TERRA NOVA follows an ordinary family embarking on an incredible journey back in time to prehistoric Earth as a small part of a massive experiment to save the human race. In the year 2149 the world is dying. The planet is overdeveloped, overcrowded and overpolluted. With the majority of plant and animal life extinct, devotion to science has brought mankind to the brink of destruction, but has also provided its only hope for salvation.

Knowing there is no way to reverse the damage to the planet, a coalition of scientists has managed to open up a fracture in the space-time continuum, creating a portal to prehistoric Earth. This doorway leads to an amazing world, one that allows for a last-ditch effort to save the human race...possibly changing the future by correcting the mistakes of the past.

The series centers on the Shannon family as they join the tenth pilgrimage of settlers to TERRA NOVA, the first colony of humans in this second chance for civilization. JIM SHANNON, a devoted father with a checkered past, guides his family through this new land of limitless beauty, mystery and terror. Jim's wife, ELISABETH SHANNON, is a trauma surgeon chosen through a global lottery as a new addition to Terra Nova's medical team. JOSH SHANNON is their son, mourning the girl he left behind, as he's torn between two role models - his father and the charismatic COMMANDER FRANK TAYLOR, the leader of the settlement, and the heroic first pioneer through the time portal. MADDY SHANNON, Jim and Elizabeth's teen daughter, is as independent and adventurous as her parents, but her distrust of authority soon leads her on a dangerous path.


In addition to blue skies, rolling rivers and lush vegetation, TERRA NOVA offers new opportunities and fresh beginnings to its recent arrivals, but the Shannons have brought with them a familial secret that may threaten their citizenship in this utopia. Additionally these adventurers soon discover that this healthy, vibrant world is not as idyllic as it initially appears. The areas surrounding Terra Nova are filled with dangerous dinosaurs, and other prehistoric threats, as well as external forces that may be intent on destroying this new world before it begins.

But perhaps even more threatening than what lies outside the protective walls is the Shannons' realization that something sinister may be happening inside TERRA NOVA as not everyone on this mission has the same intentions of how best to save mankind.

TERRA NOVA is produced by 20th Century Fox Television, DreamWorks Television, Kapital Entertainment and Chernin Entertainment. Steven Spielberg, Peter Chernin, Craig Silverstein, Kelly Marcel, Brannon Braga, David Fury, Aaron Kaplan, Katherine Pope, Justin Falvey and Darryl Frank serve as executive producers.

Kevin Reilly talked about "a major commitment" to the show and it has the Spielberg name attached, so maybe it'll get a fair shot. The premise intrigues the hell out of me, but I fear this may be a one and done situation

[mustbekarma]

Brannon Braga is one of the bastards that killed Trip Tucker on Star Trek: Enterprise, isn't he/she/it?

On one hand, I like Steven Spielberg, so watching this show should be a no-brainer. On the other hand, I hate Braga. Therefore, I want, with extreme prejudice and passion, for the show to crash and burn.

I'm really going to have to think about this.

[paulvdb]

Wasn't Spielberg also somehow attached to Earth 2? I liked that but it lasted only one season so Spielberg's name doesn't guarantee anything. And it is sci-fi on Fox. That means that it's could be good but ratings will be low and it will be cancelled after one or two seasons.

[ChelseaMcQ]

It sounds like Lost in Space reversed.

[AimingforYoko]

Terra Nova in talks with Jason O'Mara.
If this whole thing turns out to be a VR program, I'm going to be pissed.

[DEM]

JIM SHANNON, a devoted father with a checkered past, guides his family through this new land of limitless beauty, mystery and terror. Jim's wife, ELISABETH SHANNON, is a trauma surgeon chosen through a global lottery as a new addition to Terra Nova's medical team.

Elisabeth Shannon is the reason the family is part of this mission, yet she's introduced as the appendage of Jim. Jim has a 'checkered past'. There are teenagers with clichéd iss-ewes. Brannon Braga is involved.

No.

[xaxat]

I wonder how they will explain why it's easier to travel back in time instead of terraforming Mars.

[AimingforYoko]

It's official, 1973 wasn't far enough back:
Jason O'Mara cast in lead for Terra Nova.

[AimingforYoko]

Terra Nova debut pushed back to Fall 2011.

[Redtracer]

Knowing there is no way to reverse the damage to the planet, a coalition of scientists has managed to open up a fracture in the space-time continuum, creating a portal to prehistoric Earth. This doorway leads to an amazing world, one that allows for a last-ditch effort to save the human race...possibly changing the future by correcting the mistakes of the past.

Will they be able to correct mistakes while 85 million years in the past? I know that everything action has a ripple effect and all that, but how much are they going to be able to change by going back that far?

[Mormegil]

Will they be able to correct mistakes while 85 million years in the past? I know that everything action has a ripple effect and all that, but how much are they going to be able to change by going back that far?

I presume the idea is to create a totally new history for humanity with Civilization starting 85 million years ago rather than a few thousand years ago.

All sounds very similar to Julian Mays Saga of the Exiles, I wonder if in the show there will be an alien race living on Earth of 85 million years ago.

Edited by Mormegil, Aug 3, 2010 @ 2:35 PM.

[Brandon]

A TV show from the minds that brought us Seaquest, Earth 2, Star Trek Voyager, Enterprise, Threshold, and Flashforward? I think I'll pass.

[AimingforYoko]

Regular cast set.

[Tableau]

Oh no. They're doing the the whole humans lived at the same time as dinosaurs thing. Why?? I thought this show would be better than that.

I love Jason O’Mara though. Maybe he will be able to keep his accent.

[Redtracer]

Well, the show isn't saying that at that humans existed at the same time as dinosaurs the first time around. The humans are just traveling back to the time of dinosaurs. I don't think this show is going to be thumbing its nose at the history of evolution, if that's what you're talking about.

[Tableau]

They describe Christine Adams' character as, and I quote, "a battle-hardened resident of Terra Nova who gets to know the Shannon family." I took that to mean humans in the time of the dinosaurs but it could mean something else, I guess.

[DEM]

The extended press release for the series -- included in the first post of this thread -- explains that the Shannons are part of the tenth group of traveller-colonists, and that there is a military presence that's been there since the first expedition. Thus, I assume Adams travelled before the Shannons and that she is part of the military.

(Why the original scientists decided to aim their time machine at the Cretaceous period is something I guess we'll find out when the series debuts. Perhaps their calibration beam was off?)

Edited by DEM, Nov 2, 2010 @ 1:14 PM.

[Redtracer]

They describe Christine Adams' character as, and I quote, "a battle-hardened resident of Terra Nova who gets to know the Shannon family." I took that to mean humans in the time of the dinosaurs but it could mean something else, I guess.

I think that just means that Christine Adams has been living at Terra Nova longer than the Shannons, not that she grew up with the dinosaurs. From the press release:

The series centers on the Shannon family as they join the tenth pilgrimage of settlers to TERRA NOVA, the first colony of humans in this second chance for civilization.

So Christine Adams was in one of the previous pilgrimages.

Edited by Redtracer, Nov 3, 2010 @ 10:47 AM.

[Tableau]

I got that. Wasn't sure how hokey this show was going to be.

[AimingforYoko]

Troubled 'Terra Nova' production lays off writers.
This show always seemed too big for TV, we'll see if they can pull this together.

[ScribblerGuy]

Some articles from the Winter TCA tour:

Steven Spielberg's 'Terra Nova' Is Nothing Like 'Lost,' Producers Insist (The Hollywood Reporter, Live Feed)

The show's producers worked hard to dispel any inclination to pigeonhole Terra Nova as a sci-fi series. The show follows a family as they journey back in time to prehistoric Earth in a daring experiment to save the human race. But when they get to the Cretaceous period, they find the world isn't so hospitable.

The series, which will get a May preview before joining the Fox schedule in the fall, will use CGI dinosaurs and green-screen technology to recreate the prehistoric world.

But it's not a sci-fi show.

"It's really about this frontier family trying to survive," says Brannon Braga, the series' writer/executive producer.

Costly "Terra Nova" sci-fi TV show lands in May (Reuters)

"At the core, it is a very emotional show. It is really about a family surviving in this incredible place, trying to give humanity a second chance.

"The philosophical crux is, can Utopia be built? Is it possible?" writer Brannon Braga told television journalists on Tuesday.

First look at Fox's 'Terra Nova': Will it be 'Avatar' TV? (EW.com - James Hibberd) -- Summarizes the trailer shown to the press, which is apparently not available online, yet (something about the CGI/FX not finished), with some promo stills/photos (click on them to enlarge).

And finally, here comes the show’s tagline: “There is no paradise without sacrifice.”

And, here's the official press release about the May preview event (thefutoncritic.com):

New family adventure-drama series TERRA NOVA will preview during a special two-night event Monday, May 23 (9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT) and Tuesday, May 24 (9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX. The show will then premiere in the fall.

[Eruantien]

Did these people forget the minor detail of the catastrophic climate change and meteor impact that destroyed the dinosaurs? Or are they hoping they'll invent spaceships or whatever before that happens? But yeah, that one poster had a very good point. They have the technology to time travel, but can't just go to another planet and start over? That's kind of absurd. Speilburg's been attaching his name to some real shit lately, this is probably no exception.

[ScribblerGuy]

Did these people forget the minor detail of the catastrophic climate change and meteor impact that destroyed the dinosaurs?

In the EW blog post, there was this, buried at the bottom:

And what about that killer asteroid?

“In the show, they’re acutely aware of that fact, and have a plan in mind,” Braga said.

[Skycatcher]

Not so interested in the show as presented so far, but ......

And what about that killer asteroid?

“In the show, they’re acutely aware of that fact, and have a plan in mind,” Braga said.

...intrigues me with possibilities. If their plan includes diverting the asteroid, what would that mean for the subsequent non-event of the extinction of so many species, and terra forming through ice ages, impact sites (buh-bye Gulf of Mexico!) etc. Not only is history potentially rewritten in the sense of Henry VIII and Cleopatra, time traveler's descendants, etc, but the entire bio system of Earth would be different if not for that pesky little asteroid. It's either divert, or bio-domes.

And - snerk - saying they have a plan in mind makes me think of Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland saying "Hey gang, let's put on a show!!!!"

I may watch the premiere, but so far, I don't see this as something I'll stick with.

Edited by Skycatcher, Jan 12, 2011 @ 8:53 AM.

[Bruinsfan]

The time frame they've mentioned is 20 million years prior to the dinosaur extinction, so they do have some prep time before they have to deal with the asteroid impact. Given that human civilization is only about 10,000 years old, and the actual modern human race only about 10 to 20 times that, there's no guarantee that anything resembling human beings would be alive to worry about it.

[Tulse]

It's either divert, or bio-domes.

Or terraform and colonize Mars -- we are talking 20 million years in the future.

[ScribblerGuy]

HitFix.com has a gallery of 17 promo photos, including the requisite obviously photoshopped group cast photo.

And, Alan Sepinwall (also of HitFix.com) has this tidbit from the TCA panel, which I'd file under "How Not To Win Fans and Influence Journalists:"

On that score, I'd feel a lot more confident if the man in charge wasn't Brannon Braga, whose tenure on the various "Star Trek" spin-offs was... polarizing, to put it kindly...

And Braga's performance during the "Terra Nova" panel didn't really change my impression of him.

When a reporter opened with the not unreasonable question of whether these time-traveling colonists might erase the people who sent them back into the past, Braga winced and said, "Oh my god. I feel like we're at a 'Star Trek' convention," then gave a vague answer about how they'd have to deal with that down the line.

(emphasis added) That vague answer is apparently this (from the EW.com post linked earlier):

Why, the critic wondered, aren’t the future-people worried about having the past-people making changes that will result in the future-people no longer existing?

“They’re hoping to restart humanity through this time fracture they’ve discovered,” Braga said. “What effect it has on the future — they’re hoping it will be a positive one…. Earth can only be saved if people restore themselves. Can Utopia be built? Is it possible?”

So, in other words, grandfather paradox? What grandfather paradox?

[Santo]

Intrigued. Hopefully this one delivers and doesn't become another one of the many failed attempts at creating the next "Lost."

[Bruinsfan]

Brannon Braga is the producer who's ultimately calling the shots on this series? Oh HELL no.

[mustbekarma]

Dinosaurs and time travel, and it's not a science fiction show? You're traveling back in time to change the Earth's future and save humanity, and he doesn't even want to contemplate the possibility that it might erase the very people who sent them back in the first place?

It might help to figure out the answers to that whole "butterfly effect" and "grandfather clause" type questions before you embark on a time travel show. It's not like he has to divulge the answers, but knowing where he's going might just be a good idea.

Braga is a fudging idiot. This show is going to get canceled so fast, his poor little head will spin.