How Gene Roddenberry’s Alternative Star Trek Style Franchise Was Destroyed By Kevin Sorbo
Posted by Jonathan Klotz | Published
Forgotten in the shadow of Star Trek is another sci-fi show by Gene Roddenberry, Earth: The Final Conflicta 90s compilation series that started strong and ended with a whimper. After Roddenberry’s death in 1991, it was his wife, Majel Barrett-Roddenberry, who helped develop his series of notes and frames in partnership with Tribune Entertainment.
It was created by Gene in the background Star Trek: The Original Series was cancelled, making the show’s survival considered a miracle by sci-fi fans. While the first season of Earth: The Final Conflict full of promise, all fell apart due to stage conflicts, budget issues, and Kevin Sorbo.
Bringing Foreign Policy to the World
Earth: The Final Conflict gives up the vastness of Earthbound’s story space set many years after the arrival of the Taelons, who call themselves “Friends”nd uplifted the world with the gift of advanced technology, but not everyone hopes that the newcomers have good intentions. An opposition organization rises up against the Taelons, led by Jonathan Doors.
William Boone, a police officer who saves Taelon from an assassination attempt, becomes a Protector and is secretly a member of the Resistance. There are betrayals, double crosses, lots of intrigue, and a growing number of Taelons, Earthlings, and other aliens. All of this should have made for an interesting series focused on political truths like these Babylon 5.
Global Incongruity: The Final Clash
Or it would be except that it follows Season 1. Kevin Kilner, who was the lead Earth: The Final Conflict like Boone, he left the series over a contract dispute. After that, Majel Barrett-Roddenberry stepped down as producer.
This was the beginning of the changing cast issues, which continued until the end of Season 5 and made it impossible for fans to stick with any of the characters. Replacing Boone as the show’s visible lead was Liam Kincaid, played by Robert Leeshock, a human/chimerean hybrid who quickly grew into a middle-aged man in a version of the worst sci-fi trope the writers need to stop using.
Needless to say, this change went over like a lead balloon. Even Majel Barret-Roddenberry commented on how bad the writing was in Season 2. Viewers left the series in droves, pushing Earth: The Final Conflict about to be canceled when it was rescheduled for the launch of Season 3. More actors were let go due to contract disputes, unhappy with each season that came with a continually smaller budget, and Tribune Entertainment quickly lost patience with the show, choosing to focus on it. their new show, Andromeda.
Abandoned Shiny New Toy
Featuring Kevin Sorbo in his first post-Hercules role, Andromeda they had media attention, so Tribune Entertainment released the writers and staff Earth: The Final Conflict in their new integrated crown jewel. The result was that Season 4 ended with a cliffhanger, where it was unclear who lived or died, in case any of the characters decided not to return in Season 5.
The budget for the next season was less than a quarter of the first season. The Taelon conspiracy was foiled, the tracks changed again, and the focus was on waging an underground war against the Atavus, essentially a race of “power vampires” that preceded the Taelons.
The show, which got off to a strong start in Season 1, came to a screeching halt after ditching the original story line from Gene Roddenberry and, incidentally, a small portion of its original fans.
Earth: Final Conflict is streaming free on Tubi and Pluto TV, and if nothing else, Season 1 is an interesting tale of politics and mystery, and the mysterious Taelons are definitely a standout in the genre. It’s also a reminder of what could have been, if it weren’t for the cutting costs of the business and the desire to rush results instead of letting the show develop organically and take the time to tell its story properly.
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