SCI FI Orders New Lexx

The SCI FI Channel ordered 24 new one-hour episodes of its original series Lexx for 2001, the network announced.

In the new season, the series' dysfunctional crew will find itself on a world that may provide it with its most challenging adventures yet. Production on the new episodes is slated to begin in Germany and Nova Scotia later this year.

The quirky and sexy comedy/adventure series broke ratings records for a SCI FI series with its January premiere. Lexx airs regularly at 10 p.m. ET during SCI FI Prime, SCI FI's Friday night block of original programming.

"Lexx came onto our airwaves with a bang, bringing a deliciously twisted approach to the genre," Bonnie Hammer, executive vice president and general manager of SCI FI, said in a statement. "The producers then approached us about supporting a new season, with a wonderful story arc that delivers more of Lexx's guilty pleasures."

SCI FI To Air Lexx Movies

SCI FI has bought the rights to Tales from a Parallel Universe, the four feature-length SF films that were the basis of the SCI FI series Lexx. SCI FI will air the four films nightly from August 7 to 10, leading up to the first-season finale of Lexx on August 11 at 10 p.m. ET.

Tales from a Parallel Universe follows a group of misfit characters who have inadvertently stolen the most powerful weapon of destruction ever made, a Manhattan-sized, sentient, genetically modified insectoid starship named Lexx.

SCI FI Orders More Lexx

The SCI-FI Channel has ordered 13 episodes of a second season of its hit SF series Lexx from Canada's Salter Street Films and Germany's TiMe Film und TV Produktion, SCI FI announced.

SCI FI had originally ordered 20 episodes of the show, about a ragtag crew of space wanderers aboard an insectoid starship.

Part of SCI FI's Friday lineup, Lexx has become the highest-rated original series on the cable network since its Jan. 7 premiere. Filmed in Nova Scotia and Germany, the series stars Brian Downey as Stanley Tweedle, captain of the starship Lexx; Xenia Seeberg as love slave Xev; and Michael McManus as Kai, a 2,000-year-old assassin. The series is a spin-off from a series of movies that aired in the United States under the title Tales from a Parallel Universe.

This starship sure ain't the Enterprise

Lexx Starring Brian Downey, Xenia Seeberg, Michael McManus The SCI FI Channel Premieres Jan. 7, 10 p.m. ET

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Review by Craig E. Engler

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Lexx is an offbeat SF series that requires a bit of explaining. The show started out as four two-hour movies that aired in the United States with the name Tales from a Parallel Universe. Those movies spawned a TV series called Lexx, which first came to prominence on Canada's Space: The Imagination Station. Somewhat confusingly, the first season of the TV series is usually referred to as Lexx Series 2, and it ran for 20 episodes rather than the 22 that normally make up a TV "season" in the U.S. The four movies taken together comprise Lexx Series 1, while the upcoming Lexx Series 3 will actually be the second full season of the TV show. And there's one more oddity to contend with: The character Zev (originally played by Eva Habermann) transforms into Xev (Xenia Seeberg) during Series 2.

Now that all of that is out of the way, on to the show: the series is about four misfits in the far future who find themselves flying around the universe in a living starship called Lexx, which is also the deadliest weapon ever created. Lexx was built (well, grown) by an evil being called His Shadow, who ruled the 20,000 worlds of the known universe until said misfits came along and killed him, then absconded with Lexx. Now the four spend their time primarily looking for fun, blowing up lots of moons and running into really strange people. The misfits include: Kai (McManus), the last of the Brunnen-G and an assassin who has been dead for 2,000 years; Xev (Seeberg), a formerly overweight and none-too-attractive bride-to-be who has been given the body of a love slave and the blood of a Cluster Lizard; Stanley Tweedle (Downey), a lowly security guard and failed heretic who is now captain of Lexx; and 790, a robot head who is madly in love with Xev.

The first episode that will air on SCI FI is "Nook," which was actually the eleventh episode shown when the series ran on Space. In "Nook," Xev convinces Stanley to put the Lexx down on an island planet inhabited only by men. Xev is hoping to slake some of her love-slave thirst on the local gentry, but things go awry when Kai finds out the boys are involved in a Name of the Rose-style mystery. The second SCI FI episode is "Mantrid," which aired as the first episode on Space. In "Mantrid," Kai and Zev (the Habermann version) travel to a mysterious planet where one of His Shadow's enemies is being held captive. But His Shadow turns out not to be dead after all, and he's still interested in annihilating humanity.

They should call it Sexx

Lexx is one of the more unusual shows in the science fiction pantheon, and not just because of its interesting history. To start with, Lexx has enough sex in it to qualify for a run on the Spice Channel. Okay, maybe there is no full frontal nudity, but the series isn't shy about showing off every other part of Zev/Xev's body, nor is it shy about discussing sex, which is about all Xev and Stanley ever discuss. Viewers are spared the pillow talk when the show turns its attention to Kai, but only because the dead have no urges. However, if 790 ever finds a body to go with his head, there's no doubt how he and Xev will spend the rest of the series. SCI FI has even named its Lexx special Rated Lexx in recognition of the show's risqué subject matter.

Beyond the sex, Lexx also isn't afraid to explore other subjects considered somewhat taboo, at least by American TV standards. For instance, "Nook" is filled with homosexual themes that might make stodgy viewers a little uneasy, especially when Stanley sets out to explore "brotherly love" with a milk-fed boy on Nook. The show can also be a bit more violent and disgusting than American viewers are used to, which is kind of hard to imagine, given the penchant for violence on U.S. TV. This is especially true in "Mantrid," which features flying amputated arms trying to rip out the organs of a rather large and formerly dead insect monster.

Judging from the first two episodes of Lexx slated to run on SCI FI...well, it's not easy to tell exactly how good this show will turn out to be. It's certainly taking a different path than most SF TV series, which is probably better than just rehashing Star Trek. But Lexx's constant reliance on sex to move the plot along seems like it could get old pretty quickly, and it's not clear that the characters have enough depth to compensate for this weakness. The only one of the misfits who is remotely interesting is Kai, and he's been dead for 2,000 years. Not promising.

However, Lexx has a loyal following outside the U.S., so the series must be doing something right. And even if this isn't a show for everybody, everybody should probably check it out at least once.

As with the four Lexx movies, I'm just not sure what to make of this show. It probably beats watching the Spice Channel, though. -- Craig

SCI FI Adds LEXX To Its Lineup

The SCI FI Channel has picked up the rights to the offbeat SF series LEXX and plans to add the show to its prime-time lineup in January 2000. LEXX is based on the unusual movie series of the same name, which aired in the United States with the title Tales from a Parallel Universe.

Both the movies and the hour-long TV show follow the adventures of four futuristic misfits who steal the most powerful weapon ever created, a giant insect named Lexx who doubles as a space ship. The TV series stars Brian Downey as Stanley Tweedle, the bumbling, self-serving captain of Lexx; Xenia Seeberg as Xev, a former love slave; Michael McManus as the 2,000-year-old assassin Kai (who also happens to be dead); and Jeffrey Hirschfield as the lovestruck robot head 790.

SCI FI has acquired the rights to the first 20 episode of the series with the option to pick up additional seasons. "LEXX is a unique and unconventional series that adds to our roster of original, cutting-edge fare," said Bonnie Hammer, the senior vice president for SCI FI Channel Programming and USA Original Productions.

LEXX is a co-production of Salter Street Films and Germany's TiMe Film und TV Produktion. It's produced in association with CHUM Television and is executive produced by Paul Donovan from Salter and Wolfram Tichy of TiMe.

Sci-Fi Europe Announces New Series

Beginning this month, the Sci-Fi Channel Europe will be adding three new series to its lineup of original programming.

The first show to debut will be Lexx: Tales from the Dark Zone, which has been described as "Monty Python meets Alien."

Lexx will kickoff its Sci-Fi Europe run with a series of made-for-TV movies that will air in one-hour installments. Those will be followed by 22 episodes of the new Lexx TV series, which stars Xenia Seeberg in the lead role of Xev, a beautiful but deadly woman.

In November the channel will begin running Highlander: The Raven, a spin-off show centered around the immortal woman Amanda, who was a regularly recurring character on the Highlander TV series. In December, Sci-Fi Europe will begin running Mercy Point, a new SF drama that has been described as "ER in space."

Sci-Fi Europe also plans to unveil a "major new look" to complement its programming additions.

Space Picks Up Lexx, Airs Lost Dr. Who

Canada's Space: The Imagination Station will produce 20 one-hour episodes of LEXX: The Dark Zone, a new SF series based on four two-hour television movies currently airing on Space (the movies aired in the United States on The Movie Channel under the title Tales from a Parallel Universe). The series "continues the darkly weird, edgy and sexy intergalactic voyage of the Lexx, a dragonfly-shaped bug about the size of Manhattan that has been genetically altered to be used both as a spaceship and as the most destructive weapon in two universes."

The series is being written and directed by Paul Donovan for a fall premiere on Space. In addition to its original cast of Zev (Eva Habermann), Kai (Michael McManus) and Stanley Tweedle (Brian Downey), Lexx will get two new characters in its hour-long format, a shape changer named Wist (Doreen Jacobi) and a machine inhabited by the mind of the evil but brilliant Mantrid.

IN OTHER NEWS, Space announced that it would air the four-part Doctor Who serial "Tomb of the Cybermen," which was thought lost years ago when the BBC purged its vaults. A Space press release said the episodes were rediscovered in Hong Kong in 1992, and they will air on the channel beginning February 3. The episodes star Patrick Troughton as the Doctor and are reportedly the first Who installments that were shot in color.

Space Adds First Wave, Lexx

The Canadian SF channel Space: The Imagination Station has signed a deal to broadcast an original, Canadian-produced science fiction series from Vidatron Entertainment called First Wave. The hour-long drama, which will air in late 1998, is being touted as the SF version of The Fugitive, with a plot that revolves around one man who can save the Earth from a hostile takeover by aliens who disguise themselves as humans.

The show was created by Chris Brancato (Species 2, The X-Files, The Outer Limits), who will executive produce along with Academy Award winner Francis Ford Coppola and Larry Sugar of Vidatron. CHUM Television, which owns Space, will also broadcast First Wave on other CHUM-owned TV stations.

In other news, Space announced it will air the SF movie series Lexx: The Dark Zone Stories at 9 p.m. on consecutive Friday nights beginning Jan. 9, 1998. The series of four two-hour movies, which aired in the United States under the name Tales from a Parallel Universe, focuses on a group of likable misfits who steal the galaxy's ultimate weapon from an evil power known as His Shadow.

A unique new series in the form of four two-hour movies

Tales from a Parallel Universe Starring Brian Downey, Eva Habermann, Michael McManus The Movie Channel Nudity, Violence Episode 1, July 19, 9 p.m. ET/PT Episode 2, July 26, 9 p.m. ET/PT

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Review by Craig E. Engler

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His Shadow is an evil being who rules the 20,000 planets of the known universe. He consists of two parts: an ethereal spirit inhabiting a human host. When the body of one host wears out, His Shadow's spirit leaves this "predecessor" for a new body that has had its personality cleansed from it.

In the far, far future one of the predecessors has killed the last of the Brunnen-G, seemingly putting an end to the prophecy that a member of the Brunnen-G would one day kill the dark lord. Another 2,000 years pass before the most recent incarnation of His Shadow -- this time melded with a psychotic criminal whose personality was not fully cleansed -- decides to test the prophecy...by creating the very conditions necessary for the prophecy to come true. This includes reviving the last of the Brunnen-G, who was turned into an almost indestructible murderous automaton but who has regained his memory from the predecessor who killed him (each predecessor lives on as a disembodied brain).

At the center of it all is the Lexx, a living starship capable of destroying entire planets. It is the most powerful weapon in the galaxy and answers only to a genetic code key held by His Shadow. But a group of rebels that His Shadow allows to run rampant have their own code key, and soon their key will deliver the Lexx into the hands of three galactic misfits who may be the catalysts for the prophecy...or who may just be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Livers and intestines and brains, oh my

From the outset one thing should be made absolutely clear about this new series: It's gory. Really gory. Cannibalism, evisceration, the removal of still-living brains from sawn-open skulls...that's just the beginning. And it should also be said that this series doesn't have a huge budget. There are certainly some excellent special effects in the first two movies, but they contrast sharply with some of the cheapest rubberized costumes ever to make it on the air.

And it's definitely oddball. The main characters are a galactic loser named Stanley Tweedle (Downey), a dead guy named Kai (McManus) who's managed to hang around for 2,000 years, a woman named Zev (Habermann) who's been given a body that's part love slave and part Cluster Lizard but without the love slave programming, and a discorporated robot head that accidentally received the love slave programming and is now in love with Zev. And the big, dark, scary shadow guy. And a truly horrifying cannibal. Plus lots of brains. And the Lexx.

Throw it all together and...it's good. How good? Even the most cynical fan of SF will have to admit that this series has something unique going for it. Of course, defining that something is entirely another matter. There is the visual look and feel that's part Gilliam and part Besson, the story line that ranges from outrageous humor (much of it bad) to earnest intensity, and the acting which is by turns horrible, witty and inspired. Overall it is such a mishmash of...things...and a clash of styles that, taken individually, any one part is barely comprehensible, but taken together the whole is well worth watching.

It doesn't suck, but then again it's not great. I'd have to heartily recommend this with severe misgivings. Make sure to keep an eye out for guest stars Barry Bostwick, Tim Curry, Rutger Hauer and Malcolm McDowell. -- Craig E.