1973’s Genesis II offered a promising follow up to Gene Roddenberry’s Star Trek, but sadly it was cut short by its network.
What Is It?
This TV movie focuses on scientist Dylan Hunt who gets trapped in suspended animation in 1979 when a project he is working on goes awry, and he wakes up 150 years in the future to find that society has collapsed. He is revived by an organization called PAX which actually consists of the remnants of the group he worked with in the past. They have a goal to seek out the technology and knowledge from the world before the fall in order to build a new and better society. They already have gained control of a vast system of magnetic levitation transports (“subshuttles”) which they use to quickly travel to any point in the world. They utilize this network to monitor other pockets of civilization that have sprouted up across the globe, though they practice a policy of non-interference with the development of these societies.
Aired: CBS, March 23, 1973
Starring: Alex Cord, Mariette Hartley, Ted Cassidy, Percy Rodrigues, Majel Barrett
Created By: Gene Roddenberry
Legacy:
This movie delivered a decent sci fi twist on the Buck Rogers theme along a promising concept that could have developed into a strong sci fi television series similar to Star Trek if the network had been willing to take a chance on the property.
A Closer Look:
Genesis II was Rodenberry’s first post-Star Trek television project, and it definitely hearkened back to that space series for which he was so famous. Both concepts had an organization dedicated to peace and (ostensibly) non-interference which was investigating and interacting with new societies. It’s just that this time around the action is moved from the stars to a terrestrial setting. The concept easily lends itself to the small screen because of its versatility and its budget-friendly economics (post-apocalyptic worlds require fewer sets and less special effects), and the subshuttles stood in for a starship. And the film showed a great deal of promise even if it did have its rough edges as well as its share of 70’s cheesiness.
Genesis II (which aired initially on CBS) introduces us to what at first appears to be a Buck Rogers-style hero in Dylan Hunt (played here by Alex Kord) who we find is anything but the gallant hero from that comic strip. Hunt is presented as a flawed human who must unlearn the ways of violence that led to the downfall of society. In this movie, he and PAX encounter a militant race of mutants determined to maintain control of the nuclear power they inherited. Hunt prefers a harder stance when dealing with these antagonists, but PAX informs him that his more violent tendencies can no longer be tolerated if they hope to rebuild the world. Roddenberry revisited the themes of humanity working toward a brighter future as we had previously seen in Trek, but this time from a post-apocalyptic point of view and with a bit more of an edge. And even though the Genesis II could be a bit clunky at times, it is still enjoyable and showed a great deal of promise.
Alex Cord–with his porn star mustache–is anything but the typical Roddenberry hero, but that is what makes him so interesting. If the pilot had continued into a series, it could have explored his move away from his more reactionary and violent tendencies and into a world dedicated to peace. And while the actor gave a somewhat distanced performance, he certainly could have grown with the role. The film is also populated with some familiar faces with Mariette Hartley, Ted Cassidy, and Majel Barrett all carrying over from Trek, and perhaps other veterans from that franchise would have shown up if the the series had happened.
It is definitely possible that Genesis II would have retread some of the same territory that Trek covered story-wise, especially since three of the six scripts written for the potential series had elements that borrowed from the prior series. “Robot’s Return” had similarities to “The Changling”, “Company B” shared some themes with “The Space Seed”, and “The Electric Company” borrowed some ideas from “The Return of the Archons”(you can read more about those at this link). But then again, maybe Roddenberry could have guided it well enough that it would have charted its own course. The darker edge that he added to the character of Dylan Hunt certainly offered an interesting direction that could have been explored, and perhaps this one could have turned into a major sci fi TV entry. But sadly it was cut short (more on that below) and never got the chance to explore its potential.
Cancelled Before It Began?
Yes. While additional stories had been submitted for the potential series, CBS did not feel strong enough about the concept and decided to greenlight the Planet of the Apes TV series instead. That only lasted fourteen episodes, though, and the network mostly veered away from genre entries for much of the rest of the decade. Two more attempts were made to launch the show (see below), but both of those pilots failed as well.
The Story Continues:
When the first pilot did not fly, Roddenberry reworked the concept a bit for ABC and tried again with 1974’s Planet Earth (Star Trek also had a second pilot before it went to series). This time around, B-Movie mainstay John Saxon stepped in as Dylan Hunt and they tinkered with a few other aspects of the concept as well (i.e., PAX was more technologically advanced), but it was still basically the same storyline. This movie has not dated as well as the first with its very ’70s feminism-gone-wrong theme, but it has its good moments. And John Saxon delivered a more audience-friendly Kirk-like performance as Dylan Hunt vs. Alex Kord’s edgier, more brooding version of the character. The network passed on the pilot, though, again cutting short what had the potential to turn into a decent sci fi series.
ABC took one more stab at the concept with 1975’s Strange New World, but Gene Roddenberry had bowed out by that time. In this movie, three astronauts awake from cryogenic sleep in space and return to an Earth devastated by a massive meteor shower. They travel around the planet in an all-terrain vehicle trying to make contact with the pockets of society that still exist. John Saxon returned, though his character’s name was changed to Captain Anthony Vico. And we still had PAX, though it was very different in this movie. This pilot once again failed to generate enough interest for it to get a series pickup, and the concept was permanently shelved by the broadcast networks afterwards.
There was an attempt to make a graphic novel sequel to Genesis II in the early 2000s titled Genesis II: Alone Against Tomorrow. It was shopped around to several comic companies, but never completed and published. A few pages of the artwork still exist and were published in Theodore Rickles’ Catching Lameds: Reflections on an Unconventional Life.
Should It Be Rebooted?
Yes. Yes. And yes. This was a great idea, especially the first movie that worked in some interesting moral quandaries and showed more of a willingness to explore the flawed nature of the lead characters than Star Trek did. Gene Roddenberry’s name is still bankable and we are getting a rapid-fire onslaught of reboots and revivals these days, so why not give some attention to a property that had plenty of promise and was never given the chance to realize its potential? This one is definitely ripe for a reboot and it’s almost criminal that no one has seriously considered bringing it back.
Interesting Facts:
Fans of Gene Roddenberry’s Andromeda (which ran in syndication from 2000 to 2005) will recognize the name Dylan Hunt. It was revived for the character played by Kevin Sorbo as an homage of sorts to the ’70s pilots. Andromeda had a similar concept to these Genesis II and Planet Earth with a hero from an earlier era helping to rebuild civilization in the future, but it was based on a different story idea that Roddenberry worked on in the mid-70s after the two pilots failed.
Genesis II sparked a short-lived sub-genre of sci fi TV shows that I have dubbed “Land Trek” which offer a more grounded version of the Roddenberry space series. You can read more about those at this link.
Ted Cassidy played the same character in Genesis II and Planet Earth, the only actor that recurred across films. Majel Barrett appeared in both as well, but as different characters.
Where Can You Watch It?
Genesis II and Planet Earth have both been released on DVD and they were collected together on Blu-ray. Genesis II is available to stream for free with ads on The Roku Channel.
