The first, the clever The Lone Gunmen, a spinoff of The X-Files with some of my favorite characters from that show, is available on DVD today. You can read my review of the series here at Revolution Science Fiction. The series delivers heroism, chuckles, and a lot of heart. Moreover, I am gratified to learn that this collection will indeed include the moody pilot, an episode that was excellent at the time (pre-9/11), but which had the eerie misfortune of centering much of its action around a hijacked plane descending, and only narrowly missing, the World Trade Center.
The second, the brilliant Miracles, which did not even run for a full season, is available with its unaired episodes on DVD on April 19. This visionary show about the nature of Good, Evil, and Free Will deserves careful attention. And yes, I reviewed this show for Revolution Science Fiction, as well.
I highly recommend both series.
And while I'm discussing television, I should mention that I am intrigued by the forthcoming Into the West, a six-week miniseries beginning on June 10 that claims to "tell both sides" of the U.S. Western experience. I am not overwhelmed by trust for either Steven Spielberg or TNT, but the cast is remarkable. Wes Studi, Irene Bedard, and Graham Greene, for example, are some of the most distinguished and talented Native American actors today, and I am impressed that they have joined the project. Added to such accomplished names are Millennium's Lance Henriksen, Firefly's Alan Tudyk, and The Lord of the Ring's Sean Astin; truly, this list reads like a Who's Who (Russell Means, Skeet Ulrich, Beau Bridges, etc.). I withhold judgment, but one thing is certain: I'll be watching.
The quote for the day is short and simple.
"We never gave up. We never will. In the end if that's the best they can say about us, it'll do."
Byers from "Jump the Shark," The X-Files
