How Gene Roddenberry’s Other Star Trek Style Franchise Was Destroyed By Kevin Sorbo

By Jonathan Klotz
| Printed 10 seconds in the past

Forgotten within the shadow of Star Trek is Gene Roddenberry’s different sci-fi present, Earth: Last Battle, a syndicated 90s sequence that began robust and completed with a whimper. Dropped at life after Roddenberry’s passing in 1991, it was his spouse, Majel Barrett-Roddenberry, who helped develop the sequence off of his notes and descriptions in a partnership with Tribune Leisure.

Initially developed by Gene after Star Trek: The Authentic Sequence was canceled, bringing the present to life was thought of a miracle by sci-fi followers. Whereas the primary season of Earth: Last Battle crammed with promise, all of it fell aside over backstage disputes, price range points, and Kevin Sorbo.

Bringing Alien Politics To Earth

Earth: Last Battle forgoes the vastness of area for an Earthbound story set years after the Taelons arrived, calling themselves “Companions” and elevated Earth with the reward of superior expertise, however not everybody trusts the brand new arrivals have good intentions. A resistance motion is stirring in opposition to the Taelons, led by Jonathan Doorways.

William Boone, a police officer who saves a Taelon from an assassination try, turns into a Protector and is secretly a member of the Resistance. There are betrayals, double-crosses, a number of conspiracies, and an ever-increasing solid of Taelons, Earthlings, and even different aliens. All of this could have arrange an enchanting sequence centered on political intrigue just like Babylon 5.

The Inconsistency Of Earth: Last Battle

Or it might have besides that following Season 1. Kevin Kilner, who led Earth: Last Battle as Boone, left the sequence over a contract dispute. Then Majel Barrett-Roddenberry stepped down as a producer.

This was the beginning of the rotating solid points, which endured till the very finish of Season 5 and made it unimaginable for followers to stay connected to any of the characters. Changing Boone because the ostensible lead of the present was Liam Kincaid, performed by Robert Leeshock, a human/kimerean hybrid who aged quickly right into a middle-aged man in a model of the worst sci-fi trope writers must cease utilizing.

Evidently, this modification went over like a lead balloon. Even Majel Barret-Roddenberry commented on how poor the writing turned in Season 2. Viewers left the sequence in droves, pushing Earth: Last Battle in direction of cancellation when it was retooled once more for the launch of Season 3. Extra solid members had been let go over contract disputes, sad over every season coming with a progressively smaller price range, and Tribune Leisure quickly misplaced endurance with the manufacturing, selecting as a substitute to give attention to their new present, Andromeda.

Deserted For The Shiny New Toy

Starring Kevin Sorbo in his first post-Hercules function, Andromeda had the eye of the media, and so Tribune Leisure pulled writers and crew off of Earth: Last Battle to their new syndicated crown jewel. The consequence was that Season 4 ended with a cliffhanger, by which it wasn’t clear who lived or who died, simply in case any of the solid determined to not return for Season 5.

The price range for the following season was lower than 1 / 4 of the primary season. The Taelon conspiracy was eradicated, the leads modified once more, and the main focus was on preventing a covert battle in opposition to the Atavus, basically a race of “vitality vampires” that had been a precursor to the Taelons.

The present, which began out so robust in Season 1, ended with a whimper after abandoning the unique story define from Gene Roddenberry and, not coincidentally, a tiny fraction of its authentic fanbase.

Earth: Last Battle is streaming without spending a dime on Tubi and Pluto TV, and if nothing else, Season 1 is an enchanting sci-fi story of politics and mysteries, and the actually unknowable Taelons are a standout of the style. It’s additionally a reminder of what might have been, if not for company cost-cutting and a need to hurry outcomes as a substitute of letting a present develop organically and take the time to inform its story the correct method.